Williams, Lori Aurelia - When Kambia Elaine Flew in from Neptune

[oyceter]

Shayla's twelve and living in a poorer section of Houston with her mother and her sister Tia. She wants to be a writer, but the poetry classes she wants to take at the community center get cancelled; she loves her sister, but Tia's been hanging around a boy lately and pissing off their mom; and she's found a new friend, Kambia, only Kambia tells strange stories and seems to be in a lot of trouble.

This sounds a lot like a problem novel and feels like one in places, though I'm still not sure if I would classify it as such. It addresses issues like teenage mothers and poverty and abuse, but I was surprised and pleased by how the Tia plot played out. Then again, the resolution of the Kambia plot was obvious from the very beginning, and I could use with fewer "very odd friends who tell stories" characters.

I think what ended up saving it from being a problem novel was how real Shayla felt, particularly her relationships with her mother, grandmother and sister.

Not a horribly exciting book, but not a bad one either, and I'm curious enough to check out the sequel.

On a side note: how do you guys define a YA problem novel? And how can authors balance including issues in their books without making the book into a problem novel? Because I do think it's important to address things like class and race and sexuality, but I hate anvils.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I don't think of "problem novel" as a negative term, but a neutral one. I define it as a book whose primary purpose and the main thing you get out of reading is the illumination of a social problem: teen pregnancy, drug addiction, cutting, racism, etc. If the social problem is present but it isn't the main focus of the book, or if (this is kind of a fine distinction) the social problem drives the plot or protagonist but the book doesn't read as if the social problem is the topic of the book as opposed to being about a particular person whose life is affected by it, it's probably not a problem novel. Honestly, I mostly go by "I know one when I read one!"

Cut by Patricia McKissack, for instance, is a very good novel with good characterization and other stuff going on... but it's still a problem novel about cutting. Nancy Werlin's Rules of Survival is an excellent novel with great writing and characterization, and I don't think it's diminished by saying that it's a problem novel about child abuse.

The Bermudez Triangle, on the other hand, is not a problem novel about being a lesbian or a person of color. Nor is Cures For Heartbreak a problem novel about having a dying parent or being the descendant of Holocaust survivors.

I think it's a matter of focus, which is somewhat in the eye of the beholder.

[oyceter]

*nods* I think I am leaning toward it as a more neutral term as well. Hrm, under your classification, it sounds like the Williams is a problem novel, although one driven by quite a few issues. Although honestly, part of me categorizes it as such only because I went on Amazon to check out Williams' other books, and many of them seem to address things like poverty, teen pregnancy and etc.

I guess I would say Justina Chen Headley's first book is a problem novel about being multiracial, because that's the central issue of the book, whereas Girl Overboard isn't about the tragedies and/or perils of wealth, because it really isn't the main thing the heroine deals with.

Also, now I want good problem novel recs! I mostly skipped over the entire genre when I was growing up and went straight for the fantasy, so I don't have a good grounding in the tradition.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if any of these quality as proper 'problem novels.'

I very much enjoyed Donorboy, (http://www.amazon.com/Donorboy-Novel-Alex-Awards/dp/1400062772/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204252671&sr=8-1) which is about a girl adjusting to her moms' deaths in a car accident and her new life with her sperm donor. It sounds lame, and it can be a bit too...Juno-ish, but it's good and very funny.

The WIld Children (http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Children-Felice-Holman/dp/0140319301/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204252964&sr=1-2) appears to be out of print, but was about throwaway kids after the Russian Revolution. I read it when I was 9 or so and really loved it; not sure how it held up. Slake's Limbo, by the same author, is about a thirteen-year-old kid who lives in a subway tunnel, and I didn't like it as much. I suspect I'd like it more now, actually.

Chris Crutcher was one of my favorite YA authors, and The Crazy Horse Electric Game (http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Horse-Electric-Game/dp/0060094907/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204253105&sr=1-13) was about a boy who had to readjust his whole identity after an accident. Chinese Handcuffs (http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Handcuffs-Chris-Crutcher/dp/0060598395/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204253089&sr=1-9) has a boy trying to cope with his brother's suicide. I read these in high school, and School Library Journal seems to have a hate-on for them, but I suspect they're still good reads.

I also read an excellent book about a young man who was molested during an athletic physical by his doctor. And I cannot remember enough of it to get title or author, and am afraid my Google searches are about to bring the FBI to my door, so I am looking no further for a bit.

[oyceter]

Hey, recs! Donorboy sounds really interesting!

Also, yay more Crutcher recs! I just read his Whale Talk a while back and loved it, and I remember loving Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, but I wasn't sure what to tackle next out of his extensive backlist.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I really liked it once it got going. And there's a running joke with bingo that is love.

Oh, I read Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. I should really start reading him again.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Problem novels date easily, for obvious reasons. I like the genre, generally speaking, especially since the bad ones are often hilariously bad.

I used to like Gloria Miklowitz, including one in which the problem was nuclear war!