Stories matter. And they are especially important to kids and teens.
I’m a YA author. You may be surprised by that. I’m a mom, way beyond my teen and young adult years. Out of all the genres, why did I start out writing YA?
I’ve always been huge fan of YA. I read it when I was a teen although there wasn’t the choice like there is today: Sweet Valley High, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and a few others.
When my sons were tweens, they wanted to read YA. I thought they were a little young for the content. I picked up the books and read them myself so I knew what was in them.
I was volunteering in the school library and watched kids take out books that seemed a little too old for them. Later I was employed as a shelver at our local library. What an eye-opener those jobs were as to why story matters.
Like anything, there is good and bad in literature. Censoring isn’t the answer – from my perspective as a library worker, it either turns kids off reading or it draws them like a magnet to the thing they were told not to read. Perhaps a gentle warning is some cases. I used to tell my kids, like movies, once you’ve read it your imagination can’t unsee it.
Another idea is to read books alongside our kids and give them a safe space to ask questions. It’s a great way to gently guide and teach.
Also, offer them alternatives—which is why I decided to write YA fiction. I wanted to offer teens stories that were clean (no sex, no language) with a good message full of hope, redemption, and inspiration. I also wanted to write stories that were authentic in content and dealt with struggles our kids face.
Into the Forest, is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s fantasy and adventure with a sub-plot of romance but it also addresses hate, the ‘us vs them’ that many of live our kids through. It also focuses on dysfunction in families and unrealistic expectations from parents.
This is why story matters.
Story is a powerful medium. Jesus used stories to teach the crowds. Why?
Because it’s a non-threatening way to educate people. Ever read a novel and then google places in books that you’ve never visited? Events in history you don’t know.
Story is powerful because that’s how our family histories are told—pictures and stories that go along with them.
Story matters because they inspire us. I’ve read so many books where I wanted to be like the protagonist—brave, bold, adventurous. How about you?
When you read the parables do you put yourself in the story? It stirs our hearts. We start to analyze it and learn from it. Am I the person that crosses the road when someone gets hurt? Am I the resentful brother in the Prodigal?
All of this is good for our kids and teens. How many times did my kids go out and act out in the backyard something that was seen on a superhero show or they read about in comics. Countless times.
I wanted to be Jo from Little Women and Anne from Anne of Green Gables. Look where I am today. A writer.
Stories matter.
Unfortunately, it can go the other way too. Look at the dark stories being told today through video games, books and tv shows. Depression, suicide, confusion, chaos clutter up our lives and the lives of our children.
Stories matter. They affect us—our histories and our future. What kind of future do you want for yourself and for your kids? We need to be telling those stories because they shape our world.