Young Adult Fiction

 In our workshop we spent a fair bit of time on genre fiction and finding a word from the Holy Spirit in present day "crime fiction" as well as the legal procedurals of John Grisham (or rather social commentary as legal procedural). For our youth, the main genres they are interested in are science fiction, fantasy and perhaps for girls romance in the narrower definition (as all genre fiction are technically romance). One only needs to look at the best seller lists in the YA category. As Harry Potter has resurfaced, perhaps that is a good place to think through using YA as a learning tool. There is a lot of good stuff in Harry. Again, I make the point that overt Christian messages are not going to appear in YA fiction, they are too economically dependent on public schools. A couple of points. The "magic" of Harry Potter from a purely literary standpoint is the way that the books grow in maturity and complexity as Harry, Ron and Hermione grow and advance through their school years. This is a marvellous way in which literary form follows the content of the story. Secondly, the primary theme of the stories is community. Harry may be the chosen one but without Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the rest of the Weasleys, his teachers and schoolmates, and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry cannot succeed. On the other hand, Voldemort is a community of power and eschews loyalty, friendship and even blood. Or to put this another way, in Harry's world the most powerful magic is that of Love. It even hints that love comes from the creator and is demonstrated fully in the Christian story. Afterall, Christmas is a big deal even among Wizards. The question came up, how can Dumbledore just walk away from the dying of Voldemort's soul at the end of the final book. I think the answer is in the pursuit of power by using Horocrux's. In Rowling's writing, the sacrifice of one's own soul in the pursuit of immortality (and power from immortality) is a step for which there is no return. It goes to the sanctity (or holiness) of the soul and the evil in violating that. Again, I would note how the books fold out into deeper and deeper waters and move from the genre of "Boys own Adventures" into something "magical." Resources for Young Adult Fiction will be coming and tomorrow (unless diaster strikes) we will delve again into the curious case of Crime Fiction.

Welcome APCE Friends

This blog will be updated with the information and learning from the workshop this past Saturday (January 30) in Chicago. To summarize the main point - culture is a neutral force in our society (not everyone in the Church believes that and the argument can be outlined as we go). In fact, I contend that the Holy Spirit can be present in the same work that can carry unconscious messages of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, consumerism, materialism and militarism. Part of being "wise like serpents" is to discern what these unconscious messages are, name them and rob them of their power. The question came up, how do we deal with this with our youth in their groups? I think that once kids see the negative messages for what they are, they can resist these and find the integrity of their own faith in order to be "gentle as doves." But if no one points these out, if all we attempt to do is create shelters where these things are ignored, if we criticize the form and not the message, kids will still assimilate the negative unconsciously and not become the servants the Church needs.

More tomorrow ...