Hula by Lisa Shea ☆☆☆☆This book was lent to me by one of my favorite professors in hopes that it might me an inspiration for my thesis since I enjoy young adult literature. And while it truly is a great story, it didn't live up to the standards of modern young adult stories.
The cover jacket tells you that the story is about a young girl's abuse by her father and sister, as well as her own journey into sexuality. With this description and a basis in any other young adult book, you'd expect a girl that is beaten on a regular basis and becomes reckless in getting familiar with her sexuality. In reality, the dad was more intimidating than actually causing pain and was admittedly a little psychotic, but there wasn't much more there. Her sister had more sexual awakenings than she did.
This realization that it didn't meet the criteria of the young adult books did create a few questions. Is the genre really pushing issues too far? Angry parents are constantly in the media saying that authors are going too far with their descriptions of abuse, sex, drugs, and more in their books. I've looked back and my own youth and found it justified before, but after this book I start to wonder what truly is too far. Compared to Go Ask Alice, I'm sure this book wouldn't stand up at all. It was definitely worth the read though, and I do believe I learned a lot in reading it.
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