I just finished
The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King. (Read it, it's good.) But before I post my review, I have to get something off my chest; a specific something about the kick-@$$ girl pirates that seem both ubiquitous and all too rare in YA fiction.
I'm pretty sure you all know what I'm talking about. How about Jacky Faber in L.A. Meyer's Bloody Jack novels (
which I have already professed both my love and my hatred for), or Deryn in Scott Westerfeld's
Leviathan? She may not be a pirate, but she very much fits into the girl-disguised-as-boy type. The girls that lament the place of girls in history, the tomboy type that just can't get away with the mischief they'd like to because of all those dang rules meant to keep girls in line.
This is a flaw of most YA historical fiction, in my opinion, because I don't think the girls-have-it-so-rough mentality gets the whole picture. (I commented about this over at
Forever Young Adult's post about what's missing in YA.) Trust me, I'm not saying girls didn't have it rough. But let's remember that our modern standards are entirely different than those of the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, heck, even the 20th century. Different than pretty much
any century, actually. Like in any case of terrible oppression, people learn to deal. Women were considered to have their own strengths, "the woman's way" of hardcore flirting and being witty and basically getting men to do what they want them to do. While it's most definitely not YA, this is why I love
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory - she really captured what a woman's life was like back in those days.
And that's why, as awesomely kick-@$$ as they are, most teen girl pirates (and stowaways and soldiers and what have you) bug the crap out of me - it's a sneaky way to have a *historical* character who has a modern mindset that modern girls can relate to. Honestly, relating to characters is great, a keystone of fiction, even. You can't have a readable story without it. But I'd love to see authors focus more on the true similarities between back then and today, instead of inventing some. This was the downfall of the Bloody Jack series, in my opinion - the first four books were great on getting a grasp on the real historical opinions of the time, while by the fifth and especially the sixth Jacky felt like she'd been sent back in some kind of crappy time machine.
The Dust of 100 Dogs got around this problem by having the two different perspectives of a historical and a modern character.
But still. While many women did *escape* from the chains of their circumstances, it wasn't common, and often the people who frowned upon them the most were other women. Teens grew up fast back then, and everyone was expected to know and make the best of their place in society. I think there's a lot that exploring that mentality could teach us today. So take note, writers!
Have you read any really hard-hitting historical YA from a girl's perspective lately? (I thought about including
Octavian Nothing in this post for its fantastic insights into the racial divide, but I decided to focus on gender for now.) I'm always on the lookout for the good stuff, but unfortunately, it's very difficult to satisfy a total history geek like me. If you know of any favorite titles, however, please share in the comments!
I just finished The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King. (Read it, it's good.) But before I post my review, I have to get something off my chest; a specific something about the kick-@$$ girl pirates that seem both ubiquitous and all too rare in YA fiction.
6 comments:
I'm not sure how historically accuurate it is but I'm currently re-reading Pirates! by Celia Rees. The main characters are quite edgy/good fighters. I think part of the reason I really liked it when I was younger was becuase it was one of the few images in the media where a Black woman was a pirate (besides Zoe Saldana in Pirates of the Caribbean).
This was a very interesting post. When I eventually catch up on the Jacky Faber series (i will probably start over), we will have to discuss this!
I do think that it's very convenient though to compare and contrast a modern character with a historical one in a novel. So I'm not always a fan of that method.
I can't think of any historical fiction, but I was writing this steampunkish story and I realized that the only way my character can get the things she wants is to go through the guys in her life. I'm trying to make it so she can have a choice in what she does and it's really a lot more complicated than I thought. I need to do some research on what it was like for women during that period.
I love this post!
I haven't read any pirate YA fiction, and I didn't set out to write a pirate book myself, so I'm probably out of the loop on the pirate parts of this, but I can say, from a writer's perspective, that it's a weird balance to write a historical book and to please publishers' need for it to "relate" to modern teens (irksome, I know) and to make sure you stay true to history and to your readers.
One interesting thing missing from most historical discussions for me, though, hinges on the saying "history is written by the victors." There are always two sides to every story. Or really--many sides.
An example: I got a letter from a woman who said I was a complete idiot for writing Saffron's mother's 1950's Irish background the way I did. NOTHING like that could have EVER happened, she said. She lived in [a nice part of town] in Ireland in the 1950s, and this was IMPOSSIBLE. Uh. Yeah. Maybe for her it was. But I had several students who lived in deep rural poverty at the same time. The horrible things I wrote about? The families being broken up and being sent to the UK, Australia and other parts of Ireland to be worked as virtual slaves? *Actually happened* to them. It's documented. It's REAL. But there are people who live in the same country who just don't believe it because they come from a completely different mindset. I find that really interesting, and I think it's probably true for all eras.
More on topic: I wonder if 400 years ago the feeling of "Hey! Why can't I do that?" was really all that different than it is today? From what I researched, most real women pirates had that mindset and decided to go for it by any means, even if they did have to go the dress-in-mens-clothes route. I have to say, I can't imagine women (or other minorities) didn't know in their minds/hearts that all of us have equal potential. Which is why I LOVED Octavian Nothing--what an amazing concept. And not at all unbelievable. There *were* people back then who believed that African brains could achieve the same as European brains. So the "Hey! Why can't I do that?" question was in many heads, whether documented or not. That's my take, anyway. Without that question, how do we explain, say...Helen Keller and everything she did with her life?
Anyway- awesome discussion! I've been reading mostly contemporary YA these days, so I have no recs, but I can recommend a really great NF book about women pirates, if you're interested! And thanks for reading the book!
Amy
Excellent post! I just had as similar discussion with a history teacher. In teaching history, it's so hard to get students to perceive events and trends in their proper context rather than by how we live today. Someone has to have a keen sense of history to get it.
The same applies when reading books or studying about other cultures.
Wow! I'm pretty bowled over by all the wonderful comments I've received! Including one from A.S. King! *goes starry eyed*
I love Celia Rees, but I've never read Pirates! I'll have to pick it up. (I love Zoe Saldana in Pirates of the Carribbean and elsewhere, too!)
Steampunk is definitely a genre to which this applies. Keep going, Najela! =D
And, to A.S. King: I realize I need to put the emphasis here less on authors and more on publishers. I know authors are very far from having full control over their manuscripts! I really loved how you tackled class differences as well as just race and gender in the book, too. Thank you so much for the great perspective on THE DUST OF 100 DOGS, and yes, I'd be interested in the rec! =)
Campbele, I agree! History is one of my favorite subjects, but I think I've only just recently come to comprehend the whole difference in mindset between back then and today. I also love exploring differences in mindsets between cultures. I'll have to write a post on that sometime, too!
Thanks again for all of the responses, guys! =)
Well. since we're being starry-eyed, let me say I love your blog. :)
Yeah.
If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say, "Oh you should take _____out of the book because teens don't want to read about _____ " I'd have a whole lot of nickels. :) But I'm lucky. I have often been in positions to choose my editors, which means my editors have all been incredibly supportive of what I write and appreciate my difference and allow me to just go for it and be myself.
But you wouldn't believe some of the insane rules some people have for "what teens want to read"
Drives me up the wall.
(And when I see those lists of what's missing in YA, they always include several of these made-up rules. Like college age characters...or parents who don't suddenly die on page one, etc.)
The rec: http://www.amazon.com/Women-Pirates-Politics-Jolly-Roger/dp/1551640589
It's pretty hardcore German-feminist in spots, and it explores a lot more than just women pirates, but I really enjoyed it.
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