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Tag Archives: Topical Issues
Movie Madness and/or Mania: The Wave (1981)
A number of ABC’s Afterschool Specials (and CBS’s School Break Specials and NBC’s Special Treat) have been made available on YouTube; while usually associated with heavy-handed renderings of TEEN ISSUES (DRUGS! DRINKING! SHOPLIFTING! CULTS! ALL THE GREATEST HITS!) a number of these specials adapted contemporary … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged 1981, Afterschool Special, High School, Title W, Topical Issues
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Crazy Mary By John Benton
The dramatic story of a young girl’s faith that conquered alcoholism and insanity… As far as I’m concerned, John Benton’s YA Christian-scare novels of the 1970s and 80s are legendary around here: in 2014, we were introduced to Debbie, a … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage YA Fiction
Tagged 1977, Author B, Girls Series, Juvenile Delinquency, Mental Health, Religion, Spire, Title C, Topical Issues
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The Son Of Someone Famous By M.E. Kerr
“MY MOTHER SUSPECTS I AM SLIGHTLY UNNATURAL.” We noted the death of YA giant Marijane Meaker, best known as M.E. Kerr, at the end of last year: as one of the writers at Harper & Row under legendary editor Ursula … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage YA Fiction
Tagged 1974, Author K, Family, Gay, Gender, Harper & Row, High School, ME Kerr, Romance, Sex, Signet, Title S, Topical Issues
10 Comments
Movie Madness And/Or Mania: Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones (1971)
Back in 2014 I wrote about the 1967 teens-in-trouble classic Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, in which author Ann Head (the penname for non-YA writer Anne Wales Christensen), tells the story of how two high school seniors cope with … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged 1971, Abortion, High School, Parents, Teen Pregnancy, Topical Issues
6 Comments
Fat Jack By Barbara Cohen
“A person never gets over high school, Judy.” I’ve written before about my general impression of YA fiction moving from topical issues based on shock value in the 1970s (Drugs! Cults! Satan!) and into more internal crises of the characters … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage YA Fiction
Tagged 1980, Atheneum, Author C, Family, Fat, Gay, High School, Title F, Topical Issues
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Movie Madness And/Or Mania: The Late Great Me! Story Of A Teenage Alcoholic (1979)
A number of ABC’s Afterschool Specials (and CBS’s School Break Specials and NBC’s Special Treat) have been made available on YouTube; while usually associated with heavy-handed renderings of TEEN ISSUES (DRUGS! DRINKING! SHOPLIFTING! CULTS! ALL THE GREATEST HITS!) a number of these specials adapted contemporary … Continue reading
I Never Asked You To Understand Me By Barthe DeClements
Stacy didn’t look like a reject, and I didn’t think I did either. We were just having too hard a time… I have reviewed a number of Barthe DeClements’s books over the past few years, starting with the not-quite-Lost Classic … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage YA Fiction
Tagged 1986, Author D, Child Abuse, Drugs, High School, Parents, Point, Sex, Title I, Topical Issues
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Checking In With The Imaginary Summer Book Club: The Burning Bed By Faith McNulty
(Click here for information on the 2021 edition of Molly’s Imaginary Summer Book Club Featuring Classics of Women’s Literature. This week, the first selection The Burning Bed By Faith McNulty) Is it a sign of the times that we’re finally … Continue reading
Posted in Non-YA Fiction
Tagged 1980, Author M, Biography, Child Abuse, HBJ, Imaginary Summer Book Club, Spousal Abuse, Title B, Topical Issues, True Crime
4 Comments
Zanballer By R.R. Knudson
Originally posted on Lost Classics of Teen Lit: 1939-1989:
A girl who would rather call the plays than lead the cheers… At the dawn of the Title IX era, fictional girl quarterbacks were briefly all the rage (even Sweet Valley…
Posted in Vintage YA Fiction
Tagged 1972, Author K, Battle of the Sexes, Dell, High School, Sports, Title Z, Topical Issues
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Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night By Joanna Lee and T.S. Cook
Rowena Harper is a rich, spoiled, and emotionally disturbed young mother who can’t cope with the problems of raising her child. That’s why…. I mentioned this title in passing in the review for Willo Davis Roberts’s Don’t Hurt Laurie, but … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage YA Fiction
Tagged 1977, Author C, Author L, Child Abuse, Mental Health, Movies, Novelization, Signet, Title M, Topical Issues
13 Comments
Lost Classics of Teen Lit: 1939-1989 