Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: thoughtful
  • Music: The Decemberists, "We Both Go Down Together."

Okay, one more post about the Hugos: the proposal for a YA Hugo has been put forth again.

Amy McNally has revived the proposal for a "Best Young Readers" Hugo (defining the category as "YA, Middle Grade, and Children's Books"), and has a beautiful, thoughtful deconstruction of many of the arguments against.

Go. Read. And remember...

We complain about younger people not getting into the community. About seeing teenagers pack up their toys and go home at a certain point. About wanting more people to become lifelong readers, and lifelong members of our social hyperspace. But we also tend to write off YA as "juvenile" (as if that were an insult; as if Heinlein and Norton and Gaiman didn't write for young adults), and all too often, shame the people who read it. We scoff at covers that cater to teen sensibilities, instead of adult aesthetics. We don't listen.

There is amazing stuff happening in YA. Concepts and stories are being built and explored there in ways that are difficult to impossible in adult fiction. From the big blockbusters like The Hunger Games to the sneakier stories like Unspoken, it's a medium that's bursting with potential, and bringing our younger voters in by recognizing what many of them are reading, while also bringing more adult readers to this amazing work...I just can't see that as a bad thing. At all.

This is Amy's ballgame, so while you're welcome to comment here, I am declaring comment amnesty, and will only answer if I feel like it. Although I will moderate if folks get snappy. Remember, we're all in this together.
Tags: amy, awards and stuff
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  • 15 comments

jorhett

August 15 2013, 03:11:26 UTC 3 years ago

For all the reasons that Seanan expressed above I deeply support the creation of a YA Hugo. However I do also agree that there are problems of categorization, which this proposal doesn't solve. Worse yet, as written the proposal could be read to disqualify Amy herself so I'm not sure it does what she expects.

I'd really like to see a YA Hugo, but this proposal is too vague and contradictory to implement. Sometimes proposals are fixed by amendment during the business meeting. I hope she can be patient with the process.

And FWIW, screw the complainers. Most of them haven't read any new SF in 30 years. We need to recognize that their job is to wail about progress, like a banshee. They don't wail because their comments have merit, they wail because it's their job ;-)