http://www.LivingInthePhilippines.comis theORIGINAL, firstPhilippines Expat site on the Net, since 1989. This is not one of many knock-offs, copycats, imitations. Some have permutations of the names,misspellings and "in" and "the" or "ing." left off to deceive you. This is the original, by: Don A. Herrington
An Open
Letter to the Members of the Manila Critics Circle (By Carla M. Pacis)
An Open
Letter to the Members of the Manila Critics Circle
This year's National Book
Awards has once again been a major disappointment
for those of us involved in the creation of
children's and young adult books. This year, the
members of the Manila Critics Circle have proven
that the desire to encourage, support and uplift
writing for children and young adults is not enough
if it is not accompanied by a true understanding and
appreciation of the unique requirements and
structures of one of the largest sectors of the
international book industry. Children’s and Young
Adult literature is not to be treated dismissively
or cavalierly as a kid brother or sister. It
requires the same due diligence true judges give to
any creative or intellectual work.
The winner for the Children's Book category was
Sabrina's Cookbook Diary which was published in 2002
and therefore should have won in 2003. However,
according to the critics, they had overlooked this
book. (Last year, the Manila Critics Circle did not
deem any of children’s book published in 2002 worthy
of an award. Only two, Carancal by Rene Villanueva
and Og Uhog by Christine Bellen were nominated out
of more than twenty books published that year.) They
went on to say, that of the children's books
published last year, none deserved to even be
nominated. To add insult to injury, they said that
maybe this was a sign that the industry needed to
improve.
I strongly disagree with that statement. The
children’s book industry continues to grow with more
and more titles published every year. The quality,
design and content of the books have improved over
the years, a fact that many parents, teachers and
librarians have recognized. More and more children
read locally published children’s books and
libraries are stocked with books we can all be proud
of. I can think of many children's books published
last year that deserved to be nominated for this
year’s National Book Award. There was Russell
Molina's "Isang Dosenang Kuya" the Philippine Board
of Books for Young Readers (PBBY) grand prize
winner, Eugene Evasco's "Si Isem sa Bayang Bawal
Tumawa", Lara Saguisag's "Tonio's Wishes", Tahanan
Books and Jose Rizal’s "Monkey and the Turtle", Rene
Villanueva's "Graindell" and “Teo’s Trash Can” by
Grace Chong, all original and imaginative stories,
all very well written and richly illustrated. There
was also Lampara Publishing’s Aesop Fables which may
not be original stories but have been beautifully
illustrated by Jason Moss.
The winner in the Young Adult category was "Almost
Married" by Tara FT Sering published by Summit
Publishing, the same group that publishes
Cosmopolitan Magazine. It is the sequel to “Getting
Better” the first book in a collection that has been
categorized as “chick lit”. In fact, “Getting
Better” and all the little books that followed
after, adhere to the Cosmopolitan Magazine
philosophy. The title alone of this “winning” book
already begs one to ask the question why a teenager
would be interested in marriage or being married.
The blurb of the book begins with the sentence
"After a traumatic engagement to a man who
eventually cheated on her, 28-year-old Karen is,
once again...” It goes on. “And their year-old
relationship rocks…the conversation is satisfying
and the sex is great...” And it goes on.
Is this a book a teacher, a parent, an aunt/uncle,
or thinking individual would give a teenager?
Obviously, those who chose this book as the winner
in the Young Adult category are completely and
absolutely ignorant of what the term Young Adult
means in literature. The key words in the citation
were "it is young yet adult"; “adolescent yet
sophisticated”, are evidence that they have their
definitions of young adult all mixed up. They might
have been referring to the "younger adult", people
in their 20's and not the 12 to 16 year-olds (give
and take a few years) that the local and foreign
publishers have identified as young adults or
adolescents.
The term Young Adult was coined by American
publishers to distinguish the books written for
children from ages 1 to 11 yrs. old (the board
books, picture books, storybooks and chapter books)
from those written for teenagers or those from ages
12 to 16 yrs. old. The age parameters vary and can
go all the way to 19 yrs. old for the young adult
category and are only meant as guides for writers
and illustrators. I do not in fact agree with the
term young adult as it can be misunderstood as has
happened with the Manila Critics Circle. The other
terms for this type of literature were juvenile
fiction and adolescent literature. Both have been
dropped for being derogatory. Teenage fiction may be
a more appropriate term but may confine this
literature to the high school audience.
Some examples of great literature for young adults
are the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, I Am
the Cheese by Robert Cormier, A Wrinkle in Time by
Madeleine L’Engle and Are You There God? Its Me
Margaret by Judy Blume. Locally, we also have fine
examples of this type of literature, some of which
have been chosen by Reading Coordinators in some
private schools as required reading. Some of these
titles are Pedro and the Lifeforce by Joel Toledo,
The Secret by Lin Acacio-Flores, Senior’s Ball by
Rene Villanueva, Anina ng mga Alon by Eugene Evasco
(which won the National Book Award in 2003) and
Miguel and Una by Lilledeshan Bose. The protagonists
of Young Adult books are approximately the same age
as that of their readers and therefore share the
same dreams, problems and issues as their readers.
They are generally concerned with concepts such as
coming of age, self-identity, heroes and role
models. Sex is discussed in young adult fiction, but
with more caution and sensibility.
The citation goes on to say "it (Almost Married)
pushes the genre in the right direction with this
light but profound novel about marriage,
relationships, sex, oh yes, sex, women who are no
longer girls, and yes, boys who will always be
boys". It would have been absolutely hilarious if it
were not so horrifying.
And speaking of horrifying, it seems the Manila
Critics Circle, an esteemed group of literary
writers, is now promoting "chick lit" as literature,
which, and many will agree with me, it is definitely
not. There is, however, a place for this sort of
work but it should be properly categorized.
In all fairness to Tara FT Sering, who I think is a
great writer, she wrote a wonderfully clever book
for young adults called "All the Right Moves"
published by Adarna House which was nominated in the
Young Adult category last year. It was patterned
after the Choose Your Own Adventure books that
children and teenagers absolutely love. In this
case, it was a “choose your own romance” and its
inevitable consequences.
The National Book Award is clearly looked upon by
many writers and authors, including myself, as
confirmation of our good work. It encourages and
supports the production of quality books in this
country that sorely needs to build a population that
reads. The number of genres, categories and types of
books that have been recognized over the years have
increased to include many that may be outside the
expertise of the members of the Manila Critics
Circle. To consult with experts in specific
interests and fields can only be for everybody’s
benefit.
In the field of children’s and young adult
literature, I would highly recommend Ms. Neni Sta.
Romana Cruz, who represents the sector of reviewers
in the Philippine Board of Books for Young Children
(PBBY) and who contributes articles on locally
published children’s book to the Philippine Daily
Inquirer and Parenting Magazine, and Dr. Nina Lim
Yuson, President of the Museo Pambata, founding
member of PBBY and contributor to Baby Magazine.
That the award is given by a body of distinguished
and highly respected writers and critics give it so
much more value. They owe it to all of us writers
not to waste the goodwill that has been bestowed
upon them.
*Carla M. Pacis is the author of several books for
children and young adults, her latests books are
“Enrique El Negro”, a historical novel whose main
character is Ferdinand Magellan’s slave and Hipon
and Biya, a picture book on the symbiotic
relationship between the gobi fish and alpheid
shrimp. She teaches Creative Writing courses at De
La Salle University and the University of the
Philippines where she is also a Resident Fellow of
the U.P. Institute of Creative Writing. She is a
founding member of Kuting or Kwentista ng mga
Tsikiting, an organization of writers for children
and young adults.
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