Hmmm...

Reading Why Teachers Love Depressing Books--a review of Barbara Feinberg's Welcome to Lizard Motel in the Times. I find myself hoping I'm not guilty of having written a 'problem novel'. They do sound dull.

So far, the test readers don't seem to think so, anyway.

Hey, it's got swords, bows, wolves and dragons. That has to be fun, right? Even if a few people do die in it, here and there.

More seriously, I think in the books I liked best as a kid, there was lots of both anyway. That 'frisson of seriousness' always gave a book a bit of weight--a reason to care about the characters--and a good rousing spirit of adventure made their lives interesting enough to read about. And dammit, everyone's got issues. Can't see why the characters in an adventure novel shouldn't have a few of their own too.

I note also that the Rowling's Potter, the protagonist of the books an awful lot of kids clearly actually like to read, has complications enough to contend with in his life. Potter's an orphan, his step-parents are neglectful (though, granted, the treatment of the ghastly Dursleys is more comic than tragic). And Pullman's Lyra's parents are ripe for a few therapy sessions of their own.

Balance, methinks, is the ticket here--a commitment to emotional realism that doesn't kill the sense of wonder. Good books should make you cry and make you want to pick up a sword and go join the ringbearer's party.

(Heads off to remove a few abusive alcoholic parents from the plot...)