Trick or TREAT?

This Halloween Week I got a big TREAT in the Uni High Library: I got to look at, hold, and check in a 1967 Viking Press copy of S.E. Hinton's YA classic The Outsiders.  I don't know if this is a first edition, but knowing that this library is part of the UIUC library and that today we get fresh, new books hot off the presses, I am going to make the assumption that it is.

I am also going to confess that it was very, VERY hard to put it back on the shelf and not slip it into my bag to take home forever (librarian problem #283).  But, that would be beyond unethical.  That would be taking away the enjoyment of others to hold, read, and possess that 1967 copy, if only for awhile.

Received in 1967!

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I do love looking at original, vintage covers of books.  It tells a story of the book and its history.  I was beyond thrilled to see this copy when I came in earlier this week.

I recently read a New Yorker interview with S.E. Hinton and how she "gave birth" to the young adult genre.  She said when the book was published in 1967, there was no market for a book like hers, and it was a flop at first...until teachers started to use the book in English classes across the country.   All of a sudden, a new genre was born.

"About teen-agers...For teen-agers...By a teen-ager"

Priceless!

I love YA.  There is definitely a need for this genre, too, for teens to see themselves reflected in the written word in genuine, powerful, awesome ways.  I only worry about the YA genre when it becomes the butt of pop culture jokes.  Twilight comes to mind instantly.  It got so many young teen girls reading and devouring books, but it led to a less than optimal film adaptation and an explosion of vampire-erotic series.  I still enjoy the series, and I won't back down from that, but I'm sad of some of the negative YA press that has popped up because of it.

Anyway...I digress.  I got to handle a 1967 copy of S.E. Hinton's classic novel, widely considered the first YA novel.  It's one reason I'm here, one reason why I love to teach YA novels, and because of it, I'll never give up on YA (even though Hinton herself says she doesn't read the genre anymore or feel compelled to write more YA), even when the media and others say grown ups shouldn't read YA.