Ignorance of the YA Genre.

Recently, I came across an article that made my blood boil. Said article is THIS, in which Chloe Grace Moretz, the actress playing Mia in the If I Stay movie adaptation, talks crap about the young adult genre. I'm sure many of us have encountered this insulting article, and I'm here to state my opinion.

We have all come across those people. I'm referring to those judgemental, stereotyping, pretentious snobs who think "true" literature is limited only to literary fiction. Other genres are deemed "unworthy" and have "no true literary value." What. What. *punches wall*

Take Moretz, for example. She thinks marketing If I Stay as YA "diminishes the book's value" and is "much darker than I think most YA is." She further goes on to say that she doesn't want people to watch something with a "love triangle" - insinuating that all YA novels are composed of angsty teen drama.

Does she realize how ignorant, how completely insensitive she sounds by making these blatant claims? I highly doubt she has read anything other than Twilight if she thinks so little of this genre. She is making stupid assumptions that not only offends millions of readers (especially us bloggers) around the world, but probably Gayle Forman as well. I've encountered tons of authors who write YA because they love reading the genre. And to deprecate it like that? You've just succeeded in angering a very passionate bunch of readers. Good job.

Furthermore, there are plenty of young adult books out there that, in my opinion, are far better than If I Stay. To me, that book didn't even feel "dark"-but I'm not saying that her opinion is wrong.

Moretz is not the only person who shares a similar, albeit wholly uncalled for, view of YA. I have come across a fair number of people who think less of me because I read books almost entirely from this all-encompassing genre. I won't deny that I've come across quite a number of horrible books, but to characterize the entire genre based on a select few is stereotyping.

I mean, how can you ignore the dozens, maybe hundreds, of young adult books out there that are so well-written, so full of meaning, so full of literary value? YA is frequently looked down upon for the simple fact that it is for "younger readers": but is that truly a fair measure of the value of a book?

I wasn't the biggest fan of If I Stay, but I was contemplating watching the movie. After reading this article, I sure as hell wouldn't want to support someone as obtuse as Moretz.

*Disclaimer: this is not limited to what Moretz stated. It is about ignorance of the young adult genre in general.*