tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post7160855616776331423..comments2024-03-15T09:26:02.796-05:00Comments on PROJECT MAYHEM: Absent Parents in Children's LiteratureProject Mayhemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05154342399869089664noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-1253711332985034612011-08-27T21:03:14.653-05:002011-08-27T21:03:14.653-05:00I think you've hit on one of the lines that di...I think you've hit on one of the lines that divides MG from Chapter Books, Matt. In chapter books, the parents are almost invariably present, well-adjusted, loving, and supportive. But when kids start reaching the age of 9 or 10 or so, they start to see their parents as mean and controlling, no matter how loving and well-adjusted the parents are. By the time they're teens, kids typically can't wait to get out of the house.<br /><br />So, I think the absence of parents in MG and YA is about the relationship that kids have with their parents at that age. Tweens are looking for other role models who can step back and appreciate them for who they are, in a way that their parents can't because parents are mainly concerned with making their kids into their own parental vision of successful people. (At least, that's the way they think of their parents.) So, it makes sense for the positive role models in MG and YA NOT to be the MC's parents.Ishta Mercuriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17776946702988283453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-80576265660198810052011-08-26T12:14:00.617-05:002011-08-26T12:14:00.617-05:00Great post, Matt. I've thought about this topi...Great post, Matt. I've thought about this topic myself. I can't decide if we do it because it's easier or ingrained for a coming of age stories. Something to chew on. ;)Shannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11640509596922335617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-71904558345860643412011-08-26T09:35:42.409-05:002011-08-26T09:35:42.409-05:00Interesting post. I can't think of any books ...Interesting post. I can't think of any books right off, but I'm sure there must be at least a few out there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-78313266284851191542011-08-25T12:02:54.467-05:002011-08-25T12:02:54.467-05:00Great blog and great responses. I agree with many ...Great blog and great responses. I agree with many of them. Primarily the posts about characters having to earn their place in a story and that well-adjusted parents are simply put 'boring'. The times that I've seen well-adjusted,cool parents (the mom in the entire Percy Jackson series) then the protagonist gets pulled away from them so they can, as Lisa just put it 'make the choices and solve his own problems'. The reality is, many MG & YA stories are exciting coming of age stories where a parent can be used to give advice but ultimately it's about the teen taking action on their own.Melle Amadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11415299085775637304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-55880235061811054582011-08-25T10:42:57.831-05:002011-08-25T10:42:57.831-05:00It's easier for the writer with the parents ou...It's easier for the writer with the parents out of the way, let's be frank. :D We need our MC to do the growing, make the choices, and solve his own problems. That said, I don't think it's impossible.Lisa Gail Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03648323153868702165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-79550989852322193762011-08-24T18:34:37.161-05:002011-08-24T18:34:37.161-05:00I wrote five YA books, and out of ten main charact...I wrote five YA books, and out of ten main characters, three have two loving parents.L. Diane Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06425864276166334896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-14499198927528979182011-08-24T16:41:39.456-05:002011-08-24T16:41:39.456-05:00I guess kids just don't want to read about par...I guess kids just don't want to read about parents. Yeah, go figure!Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-79277412311640279112011-08-24T14:18:02.102-05:002011-08-24T14:18:02.102-05:00We see it a lot 'cause it serves the plot well...We see it a lot 'cause it serves the plot well - from Huck Finn to Mowgli to Bambi to Skywalker, it puts the person on their own.<br /><br />Sometimes the parents are off somewhere, and sometimes they're abusive or clueless, but it clears the space for the young person to find their own strength.<br /><br />And great story, Cynthia.Steve MChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026970188928733645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-60737414027077907762011-08-24T13:42:07.484-05:002011-08-24T13:42:07.484-05:00Wow. What a great series of comments we have going...Wow. What a great series of comments we have going here, thanks everyone! I haven't read them all yet, so forgive me if someone else said this, but I just thought of another example. I've only read the first one, but the dad is pretty cool in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart.Matthew MacNishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03264738483763244969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-7862851970610101202011-08-24T12:38:51.118-05:002011-08-24T12:38:51.118-05:00Actually in my mg, the parents are fairly well adj...Actually in my mg, the parents are fairly well adjusted.<br />That's funny that you mentioned about Harry. Adults are pivotal characters in that book. Sure it's mostly about Harry, Ron and Hermione, but adults aren't hidden at all, just HP's p's.<br />Interesting post and supercute picture!Kelly Polarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10968381456100611120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-32433496393939684492011-08-24T11:54:54.364-05:002011-08-24T11:54:54.364-05:00I think you see parents more often in anime/manga ...I think you see parents more often in anime/manga than in Western English books. Sailormoon sprang to mind first. Her father works, so isn't as evident as her mother who I think is a stay-at-home mom. They're pretty normal.<br /><br />Not that anime isn't also filled with overbearing, secretive, freaky, kooky, eccentric, or evil parents. Because those are fun to play with too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-38812837469259161872011-08-24T11:44:05.619-05:002011-08-24T11:44:05.619-05:00Diane Duane's Wizardry books have parents in t...Diane Duane's Wizardry books have parents in them. After awhile, they're not even parents left in the dark. They know what's going on (as far as they can). But the kids are often popping off to other planets and things, where the parents can't follow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-28879206678660644082011-08-24T11:17:25.932-05:002011-08-24T11:17:25.932-05:00Not very often. I HAVE ONE, though it was original...Not very often. I HAVE ONE, though it was originally written as a family saga--the family is at the center of a sort of conspiracy plot and the teen daughter has figured out pieces, so has to go around dad and stepmom to do her solving thing--the parents provide an obstacle. I guess I wrote a YA mystery that is similar--one helpful parent, one obstacle parent, but both protective. Mostly though, I am not very kind to parents--they are abusive or neglectful--I murdered one... one was abducted... I'm glad I'm not in one of my books... that's what I have to say about that...Hart Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17599570189253229318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-84156860420164944162011-08-24T11:01:58.192-05:002011-08-24T11:01:58.192-05:00I must admit that I prefer books in which the pare...I must admit that I prefer books in which the parents are absent because it gives the characters more freedom to have interesting adventures. But I'm actually working on a project right now in which the parents are very much present, and it's fun to have the parents there as a source of both comfort and conflict. So I guess I like both kinds of stories. :-)Anna Staniszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09316883819771607655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-15296533109481109912011-08-24T10:59:02.555-05:002011-08-24T10:59:02.555-05:00In one of my MGs, the parents are nice, respectabl...In one of my MGs, the parents are nice, respectable, etc., buuuut they're abducted by aliens. Why? Because kid characters can have more fun when the 'rents are gone. <br /><br />Great post!Anitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06333494452915600562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-53917512696022858992011-08-24T10:43:33.021-05:002011-08-24T10:43:33.021-05:00Interesting post. I think about it. Because I am a...Interesting post. I think about it. Because I am as guilty as anyone of killing off the parents. But I think it boils down to the fact that we don't want to read about people who have it easy; we want to read about the ones who struggled and triumphed. <br /><br />however, I do have a tale half written with parents, decent ones. <br /><br />btw, great quote from the daughter, Cynthia.mshatchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06308916014310536449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-34824473132951525662011-08-24T10:30:52.100-05:002011-08-24T10:30:52.100-05:00Random thoughts:
From a writing perspective, eve...Random thoughts: <br /><br />From a writing perspective, every significant character typically needs to earn his or her place in the story. If a parent character does this, we tend to leave them in. If not, we tend to minimize or cut them out. <br /><br />The mainstream vision of traditional family structure (parents + child(ren), though is somewhat narrow in its cultural resonance. In Native American families, for example, grandparents and other extended family members, especially elders, are often more involved. <br /><br />Plus, there's that special relationship between every other generation.<br /><br />As a fiction writer, I've had parents in my casts, and parents out. The Morales parents from Tantalize/Tantalize: Kieren's Story are actually terrific parents who play important plot roles. They don't always agree with their son, but it's not that they're bad people. They just have a different perspective on life.<br /><br />I recall one mother at a library event giving me a hard time about the death of the mom in Rain Is Not My Indian Name. She basically wanted me to account for all the dead mothers throughout the body of youth literature, which was a bit beyond me, though I did my best to respond thoughtfully. <br /><br />Then her daughter sneaked back on her way out and whispered, "Sorry, about that. It's just, you know, everything has to be about her. God forbid that I be the hero." That's stuck with me over the years.Cynthia Leitich Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07650058326282279022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-5587728438866196582011-08-24T09:53:10.547-05:002011-08-24T09:53:10.547-05:00First. Whoever took that picture was BRILLIANT *m...First. Whoever took that picture was BRILLIANT *makes mental note to pass out ice-cream cones before bathtime*. <br /><br />Next. I loved how magical a world without parents felt when I read books with boarding school scenarios or the parents gone for whatever reason. Not because I didn't have solid parents of my own, but because it put the kids in charge. That's part of what makes the setting of books like HP so attractive. Who in their right mind would let hundreds of kids from age 11-18 run around a castle together with little adult supervision? But in a book it's FABULOUS!<br /><br />That being said, there are some MG books with strong families: The Ramona series, A Wrinkle in Time has a pretty cool family (if I remember correctly), The Penderwicks, Bridge to Terebithia come to mind. Also, I think it depends on the genre. Contemporary novels seem to have more space for present parents - whether they're functional or not - and less room for orphans running around on thier own. But fantasy/paranormal or stories with a big quest almost need the mc to be out on their own. There's actually a part in my current WIP where I had children and parents together and realized that, realistically, the adults would completely take charge...which is tough when you're trying to focus on your mc.Marissa Burthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13079821721448782710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-49476570345228311502011-08-24T09:27:10.218-05:002011-08-24T09:27:10.218-05:00So, Ollie's parents in Deathday are both alive...So, Ollie's parents in Deathday are both alive, functional, happy even (insomuch as they can be with what's going on), and that was important to me. Even though my biological parents were divorced, both remarried while I was still young, and I got to grow up with 4 parents in the best way possible. <br /><br />I think absent parents present a lot of opportunities for authors to let their protags do things parents would never, ever allow, but I also think getting those characters into those situations, and then having to deal with the fallout is even better when parents are around in stories.<br /><br />Let's see. Some others... BRUISER by Neal Shusterman has a great set of realistic parents. DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE by Jordan Sonnenblick. THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN by Josh Berk. THE RISE OF RENEGADE X by Chelsea Campbell has a hilarious set of parents. INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Hannah Moskowitz has great, believable parents. Actually, so does her book BREAK. Hannah writes families like nobody's business. LIVVIE OWEN LIVED HERE by Sarah Dooley. INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser has some realistically dysfunctional parents. Books by John Bellairs (THE DARK SECRET OF WEATHEREND, THE CURSE OF THE BLUE FIGURINE) always featured a young protagonist teaming up with an older friend of the family in a way that exemplified the kinds of friendships kids can have with older people.<br /><br />To be honest, I think that a lot of times, absent parents are a literary cop-out. Unless, such as in Harry Potter or Michael Grant's GONE series, the absenteeism of the parents is a pivotal plot point. But I frequently cringe at stories where parents or parent figures are either completely absent or are staged as evil figures. Adults are as nuanced as kids and I love books that show that.Shaun Hutchinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01480241164653893038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-20172249103106314362011-08-24T09:25:25.518-05:002011-08-24T09:25:25.518-05:00Great post, Matt! This is something I've thoug...Great post, Matt! This is something I've thought about a great deal, although not until after my first novel, The Beef Princess of Practical County (Delacorte 2009) was out and lots of reviews were lauding the fact that Libby has two reasonably normal parents. They stay in the place and don't intrude too much in the plot. They are present, still married and still somewhat sane, six years later in the follow up novel. <br /><br />I must be following my own trend because my third novel has two fairly average parents, too, but I had to send them away rather quickly so the magic and drama could unfold sans adults.<br /><br />Whether or not it's for convenience of plot that many of us write out the parents in our MG novels, the truth is that much of audience has a firsthand understandiing of the single-parent or absent parent experience. And who are we writing for? That's right!Michellehttp://www.michellehouts.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-30391339166695765182011-08-24T09:12:39.178-05:002011-08-24T09:12:39.178-05:00I've been thinking about this topic because I&...I've been thinking about this topic because I've heard a couple editors comment specifically on the "dead parent" thing in YA literature. And yeah, like you said, many YA and MG novels don't have functioning parents and often that is integral to the story.<br /><br />I just read and enjoyed "Bestest. Ramadan. Ever." by Medeia Sharif. The MC in this book has a really interesting mother and father. They aren't perfect and normal, but they are fully developed and interesting, and play a pretty big role in the story.Paul Grecihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11340974339238587138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-54386271046330328112011-08-24T09:06:40.710-05:002011-08-24T09:06:40.710-05:00As an MG writer, this is an issue I've wrestle...As an MG writer, this is an issue I've wrestled with on multiple occasions. I think the reason parents are either rotten or absent in MG novels is because it's a fast and easy way to engage reader sympathy. Somehow, I have to make a reader care about my protagonist within the first 10-20 pages. I can do this by: <br /><br />1. Creating a burning, unanswered question. <br />2. Pitting the world against them. <br />3. Making them orphans.<br /><br />Harry Potter does all three of these things within the first 20 pages. Percy Jackson hits the first two and compounds the sympathy by adding Smelly Gabe in place of a father. <br /><br />In Return to Exile (which, I believe, Michael Winchell will be reviewing on this blog around launch time in two weeks), I gave Sky, my protagonist, great parents and turned their very goodness into a roadblock. But this took time. To get immediate reader interest, I relied on burning questions and a cruel world.<br /><br />It's hard to work strong adult allies into an MG novel, and keep them there, because the reader will always be asking "why in the world is that kid in charge?" And most the time, the answer to that question feels very contrived.<br /><br />Wow. That response was much longer than I'd intended. I'm totally using it as my blog post for the week. Thanks for the riff Matthew!<br /><br />Also, if anyone knows of other things that work well in engaging immediate reader interest, other than the three things I've listed, I'd love to hear about it!EJ Pattenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08278748884948255334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-49412829438211518472011-08-24T09:06:07.877-05:002011-08-24T09:06:07.877-05:00Great topic! It also happens to be the topic of th...Great topic! It also happens to be the topic of this week's Twitter chat at #mglitchat. Join us Thursday at 9:00 pm Eastern time!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-82017795839737462102011-08-24T08:47:29.249-05:002011-08-24T08:47:29.249-05:00I would love to see good parents more present in c...I would love to see good parents more present in children's books, too. I read somewhere that MG & YA authors think adults get in the way so it's easier to leave them out. But parents don't have to "get in the way" if you know what you're doing. The Quimby parents are present in Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, and it didn't take anything away from Ramona's hilarious misadventures. <br /><br />Some MG books with single parents that are great: Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. But again, that's one parent because the other either ran off or is dead.<br /><br />Some sort-of-recent books with two present parents I can think of are Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech, Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech, and Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. Louis Sachar's Holes has two parents, but they're hardly in it because Stanley's story takes place at camp.<br /><br />It'd be great to see more present parents, but an author has to be true to the story too. And all these books with one parent or no parent or both parents ended up being so terrific and I couldn't imagine them any other way!Laura S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13934230198562773803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-1354882438218620442011-08-24T08:19:24.399-05:002011-08-24T08:19:24.399-05:00Some of my favorite MG books are ones that include...Some of my favorite MG books are ones that include the parents as part of the story - Edward Eager's stories come to mind, where the parents either get caught up in the magic and have to try to reconcile their adult brains to the impossibilities the children accept so readily, or are needing to be helped by the magic (Mr Smith's bookstore struggling, causing the children to seek the pirate's treasure, in Magic By The Lake, for example).<br /><br />And I personally love the humor that comes from the protagonist getting ready to do something heroic and brave, and having the parents there, completely clueless, saying, "Be back by nine, dear."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com