It's not that a lot of YA lit doesn't have meaningful things to say; it does. But I think what I'm about to share with you is so timeless, so beyond age and race and gender, that it warrants sharing with you.
In the end, it's something I know we all already know, deep down. It's something we all feel, I think, but we're afraid to admit it. As adults, we are still so bogged down by this, we can't look left or right without having it pushed into our faces.
So, here it is, from An Na's novel The Fold.
"'It's hard to feel all right about yourself when everything around you is saying that you have to look a certain way, act and love a certain way. Or buy this product or take this pill and it will make you better. Make you happy. It's all bull. The amazing and hard fact is that there is no magic pill or procedure or anything. What might make you happy one minute might not make you happy the next. What is beautiful now won't be later. Everything is always changing. You have to know what is true to you. Know who you are and what matters the most to you in here,' Helen said and pointed to her heart."
I know, right? And some people think YA is fluff. Someday, maybe I'll grow up and be able to take this wisdom into my own life.
