YA as a genre is more popular than ever. Not only teens, but increasing numbers of adults are helping to remove the stigma from the genre and showing the literary world that the stories of young adults are meaningful, revealing, and, yes, quality literature. But at times like these, we can't help but be reminded of how far this newborn genre has to go.
We need a real conversation about the profound lack Blue Öyster Cult lyrics in young adult fiction.
At first it might not seem that obvious, but look at all the young adult books most people are familiar with. Twilight. The Hunger Games. Harry Potter. Even classic greats like Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye. What unites all of them, and actually most of the YA market?
All these books contain zero lyrics from the timeless 70s rock band Blue Öyster Cult.
The great essayist Samuel Johnson once said on fiction: "the greatest excellency of art [is] to imitate nature; but it is necessary to distinguish those parts of nature which are most proper to imitation." What, we ask, could be more worthy of imitation than the multi-platinum powerhouse responsible for such masterpieces as "Astronomy," "Godzilla," and "Black Blade"? Is a YA book really a reflection of the real world if it excludes all mention of Blue Öyster Cult?
Without Blue Öyster Cult, can any book deserve the praise of being "absolutely righteous"?
Let's do a thought experiment.
Look at the covers of the following YA books:
Now turn your volume to its highest setting and play the video below. And ask yourself: is excluding this degree of facemelting from your books fair?
It's on you, YA. We're burning for change.
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