Journal | Christian Durso

Letter to the Editor Published 9/4/18

Mr. Steve Salerno wrote a thought provoking op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the state of YA fare. His opinion is that the socially relevant texts that are being curated for young people today go too far in celebrating anomalies, unorthodoxies, fictive martyrs, antiheros, and more. He believes that consciously or not young people will try to “seek membership” into the groups showcased in these texts. He thinks this is not a good direction for YA literature.

I disagreed with his opinion and the Wall Street Journal published my thoughts.

Please read Mr. Steve Salerno’s op-ed here: 


And the full slate of letters on this article can be found here: 

Or my letter showcased in screenshots below.




I’d also like to add this thought. The Diary Of Anne Frank (even if one does not consider it “YA” it certainly is a book about a young person that young adults read) did not make readers wish they were a Jew in the Holocaust. It goes one better. Reading her powerful book puts us directly in her shoes during the Holocaust. 

This is how reading creates empathy. The same will be true of young adults reading about socially relevant “anomalies” today.