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

[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!