#YAsaves.

If you live on the internet, as so many of us do, it is very likely that you have read the article from the Wall Street Journal that has been circulating the past few days. If you have not heard about it, the article in question was about Young Adult fiction and how it is 'depraving' and "hideously distorted portrayals of what life is." If you did read the article (or did so after reading this) you probably understand that it is wrong on so many levels, but it's not really what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the part YA played in my life, and how the 'dark and depraved' literature is in fact so much more. So many wonderful and beautiful things have already been said but I thought I would offer my two cents to this whole discussion.
Warning for personal thoughts and whatnot. This affected me on a pretty personal level, and I'm going to express many thoughts I don't think I have really told anyone.

I was pretty shy and awkward when I was younger. As I became a teenager, I was actually pretty deep in social phobia to be honest, though I do not like to admit it. I had trouble making friends because I did not, and I really mean not, like to talk to people. I avoided it at any cost. It could do go days when I barely even said a word in school, even though I was rarely all alone. I was quiet, not because I did not have anything to say, but because I simply didn't dare. I convinced myself I preferred being alone. It was fine that I rarely did anything with friends. It was okay listening to them talking about matters I cared about, but didn't dare voice my opinion. So I told myself.
This whole social incompetence came both from shyness, but also from the belief that I was different. It had a lot to do with my hand, something I've talked a lot about on this blog before, so I shall not bring it up again. Basically, I was pretty sad and hid within myself.

But when I went home, when I was all alone, a bit sad, I read. I read everything I could get my hands on. My mom has always loved to read, so I never had any problems finding more books to read. I did not just read YA fiction, I read novels meant for adults as well. I read Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Diana Gabaldon. I read Meg Cabot and Maureen Johnson, J.K Rowling and Terry Brooks. I read because reading made me happy. I read because when I was completely engrossed in a novel, I could forget about how sad I was. I could forget about how bad it felt when people made plans in front of me, but did not include me. I could forget about how the girl who had been my best friend for years, suddenly ignored me because in her eyes I wasn't 'cool enough'. I could forget about my own sadness.

I read so much, and every novel I read introduced me to another, and that one to another. Reading broadened my mind in so many eyes. I learnt about other cultures, became interested in other languages, and most importantly, it made me look at the world differently. Then, I was introduced to Nerdfighteria and my whole life changed. I found that I could make friends by just being me. I became apart of a youtube channel where we discussed novels. Not that much discussing was actually done, but I opened up and grew. I read John Green's novels, books that are dark and wonderful in their own special way. I found that YA literature was much larger and so much more beautiful than I had previously thought.

I have read dark novels. I have read stories about people on top of the world, and those who are being crushed under it. Has it changed me? Has it defined me as a person? Oh yes. So much. Do I regret it?

Not for one second.

Literature, especially YA literature which is so easy to identify with, made me who I am today, dark and cute stuff alike and I would not go back to that scared little girl, no matter what.

Whenever people say that literature hurts, I just want to punch someone. As Maureen Johnson was tweeting at the most, someone sent her this picture. I just want those book banners and the 'upset moms' to look at this picture and realize what it stands for.
Literature helps us all grow in every direction.

My favorite part of this though, was the tweet someone went Maureen received. It was from Euranna317 and it said "What I love about that pic is that if the kid can show enough others what he's seen, eventually they'll pull down that wall."

I would like to think that if enough people of our generation read, we might not build the same wall for future generations.

To be reading has defined my (albeit short) life, but it doesn't end there. While reading helped for the moment, I also found something that will help in the future. By going through author after author, I found something so important. I found a passion. I began writing. And then I didn't stop. Writing is now so important to me, I don't know what I would do if I was not constantly thinking about it. It is what I want to do for the rest of my life, no matter if I make a living our of it or not. What genre would I like to write in, you may ask, and, shocker here, I want to write young adult fiction.

Without literature and the world it introduced me to, I do not know how I had survived high school. I might not have been here. Without literature, I would not know what to study at university. I don't even know if I would have wanted to continue studying.

 Literature, especially YA fiction, saved me, like it saved so many, from falling into despair. I owe every single author found in my room, so much. I would not trade a single read for for anything.