Argument Essay

In 2012 alone, 464 books, for children, teens and adults, were challenged or banned. The books attracting special attention were written for a certain age group- teens, or young adults. Young Adult literature is said to handle topics too mature and disturbing for kids between the age of 12 and 18. Students should be able to have the choice to choose what they read. There is no justifiable reason to completely ban a book from any age group, including young readers. Banning a book is like killing a friend. Why do that to a kid?

One reason why young adult literature should be available to kids is that kids can identify with these books and learn from them. Reading literature that is slightly gruesome or sexual can only widen the minds and horizons of young readers, helping them develop their own perspectives and feel new emotions. One teenage reader posted her feedback n banning books on Twitter. She wrote, "Good literature rips open the private parts of us- the parts people.... have deemed too dark, inappropriate, grotesque, or abnormal for teens to be feeling- and then they stitch it back together again before we even realize they're not talking about us.” This only shows how important this genre is for kids and society.

Another reason why books should not be banned from students is that not only do these books help the kids who identify with the problems, but they also help the kids who don’t. Sherman Alexie, the author of frequently challenged, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” wrote that he met an individual who was wealthy and lacked all of the issues that others who Alexie talked to had. Alexie was confused and didn’t know how to help him with his equally troublesome issues. Alexie’s only answer was to write a book about it. The teen said, “I want to be myself. Just like in your book.” This shows how important Young Adult literature is to teens and how helpful and crucial it is.

Yet people still question Young Adult literature, saying that books might set bad examples for kids who haven’t experienced “horrors”. Megan Cox Gurdon, journalist for the Wall Street Journal, writes that, “self destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue.” This sentence follows two paragraphs gruesomely portraying self-harm, making the reader’s reaction be “Oh no, ‘slic[ing] [their] arms to ribbons!' Never!” But according to Alexie, there is absolutely no point in not allowing kids to view these books, because their lives are worse. So who to believe? The easy answer is Gurdon; parents must protect their children from dreadful, unknown and unnecessary horrors. However, the educated answer is found with Alexie. Alexie was a real world troubled kid, abused, disturbed, and a voracious reader.  He writes, “[Teens] read because they believe, despite the callow protestations of... adults, that books- especially the dark and dangerous ones- will save them.” This quote shows how important books are to kids and how books leave impacts on people- Alexie is an adult, yet he still believes that books are saviors.


All in all, students need to be able to make their own decisions regarding books because we are the readers. As a student reader, I think that all books should be available to everyone. I have read books that I thought were slightly upsetting for me as a reader, such as “Night” by Eli Wiesel. But after discussing the book with my teacher, I was able to understand it and learn from it. This only shows how books can help build community while teaching young readers. If someone reads enough to care, they will be capable of deciding if they are comfortable with the subject of a book.