The Answers To Your Questions Part 4

Last two questions! From Abby.

How do you feel about your parents? Do they bug you or are you close? Are they nosy or do they give you your independence? What are your preferences when it comes to parent/teen relationships in books?

Me: Thanks you guys, asking all these questions about parents when my parents actually read my blog... haha. :) Just teasing you. But I guess that kind of gives you an idea of how close I am with my parents, since I let them read all this stuff. Anyway, my parents specifically are really great. They give me and my siblings the perfect amount of independence, and they really trust us with pretty much everything (that is probably partially our fault though). Of course sometimes they bug me... that happens with everyone, I think.... but overall my parents and I are close. I trust them and have discussions with them and talk with them a lot. Although I don't tell them everything, either. I share much more with my friends than my parents, but I'm pretty sure that's normal.

As far as parent/teen relationships in books... hm. I have to say that I have yet to read a book where I am like, "that parent/teen relationship was done brilliantly!" but it doesn't really matter that much, because usually a book has a much bigger focus than a parent/teen relationship, I think. I might not even notice if there was absolutely no parent/teen interaction in a YA book. Also, I find a lot of parent/teen relationships in YA are very stereotypical. Either the MC has some sort of problem with their parent (like one of their parents never notices them or something) or the MC is really annoyed with their parents. Since I have neither problem with my parents, I can't really relate. However (as I've said before) it doesn't really bug me that much if a) I can't relate and b) there's no parent/teen interaction. (Sorry, parents. :D)

E: How do I feel about my parents…. Well to tell you the truth I am not close to my Dad at all. My parents divorced when I was really young and my Dad has never really been there for me. My Mom on the other hand is awesome. We fight at times, and get on each others nerves but there isn’t a thing in the world that I love more than my Mom. She gives me a lot of independence, (aka pretty much lets me do what I want – within reason) and she doesn’t bug me about things that I don’t need to be bugged about (she bugs me about cleaning, cause I hate cleaning and never do it). When I read a book I want the relationship between teen and parents to be a good one, but have it realistic too. I mean, no parent is perfect and no relationship between a teen and a parent is perfect. If it is perfect in a book it ruins it slightly for me.

What about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll? How do you feel about it? Is it realistic, or does it offend?

Me: I'm not into any of that stuff, so when I read it in a book, it's basically like reading about a different world. Which is OK. But I find that it's nice that, even if a character isn't into that stuff or tempted by it, then it still occurs around the character. That's more realistic, to me. Yes, a lot of teenagers have sex, do drugs, etc. But a lot of them don't. Not every teen struggles with that kind of stuff. However we are aware it's around -I know there are people in my high school who do all that stuff. And actually, YA does a pretty good job of this. A lot of YA has sex and drugs in it, but a lot of it doesn't. Yay! :)

E: I don’t think that sex, drugs, or “rock n’ roll” help the story. I realise that a lot more teenagers now take drugs and have sex at younger ages, but I don’t and won’t. I don’t like having all of that in books, it ruins the book for me.

Thank you everyone for asking questions! And even though these are the last questions, COME BACK TOMORROW! I have a really awesome post that will help you guys get even further into the minds of teens (I hope). Anyway, "see" you tomorrow! (Right???)

Oh, also, feel free to answer the questions yourself in the comment. And I have a question: What's the best (as in most realistic) parent/teen relationship that you've read in a YA book? What makes it so special, in your opinion?

The Answers To Your Questions Part 3

Hey guys, sorry I didn't get any questions up yesterday... I was super busy. Anyway, here they are.


From Melody K:

What is a common thing that most teens dislike about their parents?

Me: I think that my parents specifically are pretty great (and also they read this :D), but as far as something that most teens probably dislike about their parents... well I'm just going to take an educated guess. When you're a teen, you're older and therefore have more responsibility, etc. You can now go out and do things you couldn't before when you were younger and your mom walked you to school. I think a lot of teens really value that independence and maybe want more independence than they can get at the moment (even if maybe it's not what they need). Parents get in the way of that independence.

E: (Can I answer this… who knows, my Mom might read it. Just kidding.) The main thing that I would think teens find annoying about their parents are their parents telling them what to do. I mean, who likes that? I know that my Mom will annoy me when she keeps telling me thing after thing to do, and I would guess that others feel the same way.

Bro: I don't know. (Although he was disappointed that my dad didn't want to juggle a soccer ball with him...)

From Jenny:

What 1 movie or TV show do you feel represents or resembles your high school well?

Me: Honestly? Absolutely none. I don't know if American high schools are a lot different than Canadian high schools or something but.... yeah. In all movies and TV shows I've watched, the high schools in them don't really come close to resembling my high school. (At least, overall. There's always a few things that are similar. Like, my school has students too. :D)

E: First off, I don’t know what high schools are like in the United States, but I doubt that they are like the ones in movies. There is only one movie that I felt portrayed high school well. There were still some things that were off, but for the most part it was good. This movie was To Save a Life. Basically it is about a young guy who’s previous best friend kills himself at school. That is the main thing that isn’t the same. We have never actually had someone do that at my school. However, all the tough things that happen, and the drugs and smoking that go on during the school day are similar. I do not smoke or do drugs, but there are people at my school who do. I hate that fact, but it is true. So that is pretty much the only movie that I feel properly represents a typical high school situation.

Bro: None.


Who are your heroes?

Mattie Stepanek!

Me: One of my heroes is definitely Robin Jones Gunn, who is a Christian author of some books that I adore. Another one of my heroes is Mattie Stepanek. He died when he was 14, but he was amazing. He had muscular dystrophy but let me tell you that did not stop him from just doing everything he could to help the world. I encourage you to look up his poems, especially one called "I Am".

E:  My heros…. Hum. In writing, my main hero is Robin Jones Gunn, because she changed my life forever. In real life, however, a few of my heroes are Martin Luther King Jr. because he was amazing. Another hero of mine is Bethany Hamilton. I recently did a lot of research on her because her movie, Soul Surfer, caught my attention. The fact that she went through what she did and not once did she get depressed (Anna Sopia Robb acted sadder in the movie,  but in real life, Bethany was always positive) it just lifted my sprits 200%. Heroes to me are not people like Superman who save the day. A true hero is someone who quietly does what needs to be done, not needing to always be über noticed.

Bro: I don't know.

 When you read a story, what character trait do you usually identify with most?

Me: I don't usually identify with certain traits to tell you the truth. I'm not very talkative and kind of shy (yes I come off quite differently online) but I don't really identify with the kind of shyer, I guess what you would call "geekier" characters. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because a lot of the time those characters feel really, really sorry for themselves or all they want to do is be popular. I'm not really like that. But I also identify with certain things that are the same about characters -not really traits, specifically, but things like a character being Canadian, or having a sibling with a disability (because I'm Canadian, and my sister has Down Syndrome). Sometimes I will pick up a book solely on the basis that it's Canadian or there is a character in the book with a disability. Not so much if there's a shy character though, because I think they're kind of boring and very overdone.

E: Character trait… that is interesting. I would have to say that the character trait(s) I most identify with is honesty and purity. I am not saying that I am always honest. (I try but don’t always (or sometimes, often) succeed) I enjoy characters who are honest and pure because it makes me feel all mushy inside and just makes me feel happy. Like once I hit Robin Jones Gunn’s the College Years, Christy was not as annoying (hate to say it, but sometimes she got on my nerves with her naivete :D) and her way of dealing with everything with honesty and integrity really warms my heart. It makes me sad that there aren’t more books like that.

Bro: I don't know. (Me (suggesting character traits): Being shy? Bro: I don't know. Me: Being not talkative? Bro: I don't know. Me: Saying I don't know to everything? Bro: I don't know.)

The last few will hopefully be up tomorrow, and then I have a special post prepared for Monday! Have a good rest of the weekend, everyone.

The Answers To Your Questions Part 2

So for some reason, the file that I saved all of the questions in I named "awesometastic atk [ask the teens] questions". Yeah, I have no idea why I thought there was a "k" in "teens". It's a mystery....

Oh and I've decided to personalize Friend. She is now E. (And she is a real person, by the way. She's one of my best friends and I am very grateful that she did this for me!)

Anyway, on to today's questions:

From Stephanie, PQW:

Are teens put off by a protagonist that is younger than themselves?

Me: Nope! I frequently read middle grade and I love it. Character ages honestly don't matter to me at all, especially if they're younger. I think a big part of this is, because I'm a really weird, odd person, then I don't go through the same things that other kids, middleschoolers, or teenagers go through. Lots of situations that are presented in YA are completely foreign to me. But I still like those books because they introduce me to a new world that's a place I can discover and have fun in while I'm reading. It doesn't bug me all that much if I can't relate one hundred percent to characters or books. I don't think anyone can relate one hundred percent to a book anyway, unless they wrote it (though even then...)

E: I LOVE it when the protagonist is younger (or same age) as me. If they are younger especially, I can relate what is going on. When a protagonist is older, sometimes the things they do don’t make sense because I have not experienced that time of life yet. When the protagonist is younger that makes it more fun to read because you can chuckle at mistakes that they make, and sometimes even go “Hey! I did that too!” which is a really cool sensation.


Bro: I'm pretty sure when I asked him this question he said, "What's a protagonist?" but besides that, I don't think he cares.

From Wub2Write:

Are teens turned off by dated slang in their novels? Does it distract the reader?

Me: First of all, the person that asked this question said it is cool that I said "jeepers" and I think that is awesome. :) Yes, it is true that I often use quite old-fashioned sayings like "jeepers" or "oh my goodness". However, sometimes, yes, dated slang does take me out of the novel. A character might say some weird phrase and I'll be like, "what? Teenagers don't say that." Unless the character is the kind of person that likes to make up funny sayings or use old-fashioned sayings (or there is some other reason for it), then I think that dated slang sounds weird.

E: Dated slang. Quite honestly when I read that I read it as “dating” slang. I was thinking words like babe, and honey and such. Very confusing. I get it now! :D I don’t think that dated slang is at all turn off-ish. In fact, sometimes the words that I read in novels I pick up and start using it myself! I think that it makes a book better because if it is all the same slang that is being used now and at my school it would seem too much like real life. For myself, rather than dated slang distracting me, it pulls me into a book, lets me absorb it, because I am not distracted by thinking that “That sounds like Jordyn! And that sounds like Randy!” and so on and so forth.

I know that's only two and I promised 3-4 per day, but I'll get more to you tomorrow, okay? And don't forget to feel free to answer the questions yourself!

The Answers To Your Questions! Part 1

So a parachute has nothing to do with this post.
But it's pretty. So just enjoy it.
Source

So in case you didn't know, I asked for inquiries for teenagers from YA authors and writers. (The contest results are here if you entered). I received a whopping 11 questions! Sweet, thanks guys. Anyway, since I have about three (mostly two, since my brother's answers usually include one of three sentences) people answering each question, I am NOT going to include all the questions and answers in one post. Over the course of this week your questions will be answered, each post containing three or four questions. At the end of the week, I have a special post with some links that will hopefully help you get even further into the mind of your teenage audience.


Just remember when you're reading the answers that the views expressed are only the views of a few teens. Other teens might (probably) think differently. That being said, anyone else is free to answer the questions in the comments.


The answerers are Me (17), Friend (also 17) and sometimes Brother (15). (Although I can save you the trouble of reading my brother's answers right now. His answers are either I don't know, I don't care, or Whatever.)


On to the questions!


From Lynn:


Do you prefer edgy reads? (Edgy meaning dark, serious situations.)


Me: When I think about it, I don't usually read books like that. I am sure there are teens out there that find much comfort in books that deal with heavy issues, but I don't. I put down The Perks of Being A Wallflower because it was way too intense for me. However, sometimes I can stand those books. I once read this memoir of this woman who went through horrible, horrible stuff before giving her heart to the Lord. It was pretty amazing, and it dealt with some really tough issues.


Friend: To me, books with deep situations like that aren’t always the best books to read. Sometimes it is just too serious for me to take at that time. Usually I would put a book like that aside and read it a little bit at a time. Either that, or I would have an “edgy” read on the go, and have a fun read at the same time. A fun read meaning that it isn’t serious and just is funny and light. That way there is a mix of both edgy and light.


Bro: I don't know.


Does swearing (not overdone but enough to be realistic to a character) offend you?


Me: No, swearing does not offend me. My dad and I often have a discussion about how swears, really, are just words and it's how you use the word that makes it a swear. (But that is a long discussion that isn't really relevant). Anyway, sometimes a character swearing is quite effective. Although if I read a book with zero swears in it, I am never, ever thinking "the author could have added some swears", even if it was that kind of book.


Friend: I prefer that there is no swearing in a book. Especially the worse swears. “Small” swears like crap and such don’t bother me very much, because I find that all books seem to have those now. However, if I am looking at a book and it has too much swearing for me (even if too much to me means not that much to the author) I seriously consider not getting that book. I know that a lot of teenagers would have a different opinion on that though.


Bro: I don't know, no, it doesn't bug me.


From Kristin Bailey:


I want to know what teens think of authors who like to dress up for their own events in costumes, vampires, steampunk etc. Do you guys view it as fun, or silly?


Me: I have never been to an author event. I'm not quite sure what I would think of authors dressing up... it could be cool but it could also be really weird. I think it really depends on the author, and how well they can pull it off. Some people can pull off those kinds of things really well.


Friend: Hummm…. Kristin Bailey, you ask a great question. I have never gone to a book signing, or at least, not a book signing where I wanted to be there. (Having a family friend who is an author means going to their books signings, even if you really don’t want to.) I think that would be kinda cool to see though! That would show how in love with their books an author is, if they are willing to dress up goofily. One thing – I wouldn’t want it overdone. If it is overdone, I think it would just take away from the person themselves. Everybody would remember the costume, not necessarily what was said. [<--awesome point!] Those are my thoughts!

And that will be it for the day. Check back tomorrow for more answers to questions! And anyone else feel free to answer the questions.

Draw Winners!

I decided to perform the draw the old-fashioned way:

With scraps of paper. Except I am horrible at performing draws, apparently. I cut up way too many scraps of paper, for one. (Evidence below).
                                      


Then I got my brother, of all people, to pick the winners. He for one was trying to annoy me, and for two apparently couldn't read my handwriting. Anyway, the winners have been picked.

Winners!

So, here are the winners:

Prize package #1: $25.00 Amazon gift card and a critique (by all the teens who will be answering questions) of anything you want whether it be blurb, first page, etc (max 5 pages)

...goes to.... Jenny!

Prize package #2: The chance to either have you either a) interviewed by me and have the interview posted here on the blog or b) guest post here on my blog... as well as a critique of anything you want (max 5 pages) by the teen team.

...goes to... Lali!


Prize package #3: A critique of anything you want (max 5 pages) by my teen team.

...goes to... Kristin Bailey!

Winners please e-mail me (kazuntai101atgmaildotcom) and tell me what you want critiqued (if anything) and then everything else I will figure out from there. As for the actual questions, I will (try to) post 3-4 questions per day with answers and then I have a special post up my sleeve for the end of it all. Keep checking back to see when your questions will be answered! (I'll be going pretty much in the order the questions were asked on the original post). Also thank you to everyone who tweeted or blogged about this. I'm glad we got so many questions!



Sorry if I kind of don't make sense today... I am quite tired and therefore kind of out of it.