Is Urban Fiction Appropriate for African American Teenagers?

African American teenagers, who are commonly reluctant readers and who do not read on their grade level in school, are found more frequently reading urban fiction or "ghetto" books. Urban fiction writings are complete with urban settings and lifestyles of African American characters. These books also include explicit violence, sex scenes and profanity. The target audience for these books is generally African American adults. The authors of urban fiction books are commonly young African Americans themselves.

People can relate to book characters that seem to be in similar situations. Teens' attraction to these books could be based primarily on the fact that they have similar experiences or they simply understand urban fiction characters. In addition, these books are more contemporary and different from the literature books they are frequently required to read in school.

My High School Experience with Zane

During my first year of teaching English, I received my induction into the world of teenagers reading urban fiction. One of my most hard working students in the class was also a special education student, labeled as reading on the second grade level. I was impressed by this student because anytime she completed an assignment; she would begin reading a book. What eventually occurred is that she would be so entertained by the book that she would almost refuse to put it away when it was time to begin a class assignment. There were even times when she would put the book inside of the classroom textbook in order to continue her leisurely reading. After one week of the student's repetitious habits, I finally asked her if I could see the book.

I was almost appalled to find that the cover of the book displayed a woman taking off her shirt. The title, Addicted, did not seem appropriate for my student. After asking a series of questions to the student about how many books she read and how often, I thumbed through the pages of the book. What I found was explicit profanity, several pages of graphic sex scenes and typos.

I asked the student to read a sentence aloud to me that included a typo. After she slowly read the sentence aloud, I asked her if anything was wrong with the sentence. She reread silently, looked up at me and replied, "No, it sounds fine." The problem was not the sound of the sentence, but a misspelled word. After asking her to review the sentence again, this time in search of the misspelling, she comically replied, "Ms. Tisdal, who cares? She wrote a whole book that's making millions!"

The student, who continued to read Addicted, by Zane, also continued to frequently spell many words incorrectly herself. Books are said to be educational and helpful to people of all ages. Even though the book is not to blame for the students' frequent spelling errors per se, it definitely was not educational nor helpful in this area.

As an English teacher, how was I supposed to feel about her reading this book? I wondered if I should be excited about the fact that she read frequently and without being prompted to do so. On the other hand, I believed that she was reading pure garbage.

I have frequently heard the phrase "don't knock it until you try it," meaning don't criticize or put something down that you have not experienced for yourself. I figured the portion of Addicted that I did read was enough for me. In my mind, I did try it. However, after my encounter with the student, I searched for what other adults had to say about this book.

Fine Aries Woman (an internet code name) from Long Island, New York, gave a one-star review of the book on amazon.com.

"Zane doesn't seem to understand the difference between funny and corny, sexy and nasty, romantic and cheesy, ghetto and ignorant and real... Was it a page turner... yes! But that's only because I was reading and reading, trying to find out where the 4 1/2 star rating came from. Here are just a few of the problems I had with this book:

-It's poorly written with shallow characterization, so I found myself not caring much about what happened to the characters in the book (her Daddy and Brina for instance) or what Soap Opera - like stunts were pulled.

-Everything progresses way too fast and there are too many coincidences that slide everything along too smoothly.

-The slang (boo, nucca) was forced and overdone... black people don't talk like that all the time. Even the regular dialogue was really unrealistic. Try imagining yourself saying half the things said in this book and you'll probably crack up laughing at how cheesy it is or be too embarrassed to do it.

-The "sex" wasn't steamy or intimate, not even when it was trying to be (Don't let the cover fool you)... it was just nasty like some cheap porno flick (Nacho Cheese and a "feeding schedule?")... Give me a break.

Every time I think of this book, the movie "Pearl Harbor" comes to mind... romantic cheese! There are much better romance books out there that are well-written with African-American's in mind... Whatever you do, please don't waste your time and money on this."

N. Powell of Albany, New York, said, "ZANE knows how to take words and intertwine them and BAMMMM you have a novel. She is by far one the best authors. Zoe is the main character in this book she is addicted to sex and just like a drug addict she can not stop her behaviors until she gets treatment. So get on this wild ride with Zoe while she spirals out of control."

Even the positive, five-star review of the book troubled me.

How Urban Fiction Helps Teens

Urban fiction could be said to benefit teens. The youth can relate what they read to rap lyrics, often expressing a young artist's idea of urban life and relationships.

James, a sophomore in Baltimore City Public Schools, says that most teens relate to some of the situations in urban fiction books because, "they might live in the ghetto... also, they might be experiencing the same type of things (in the book) in reality, so it might not hurt them if they have a strong will power. But, it can because it might be the only thing they know in life."

Renee Tisdal, a sophomore at Winston-Salem State University said, "These trashy books are helping teens, if you take a moment from your happy educated life and put yourself in the shoes of an inner city teen with a broken family. They read these novels to relate. This is what goes on in their home. People don't like to talk about the bad stuff, but if they can read it and know that it happens to someone else, it just may comfort them [teens]."

Urban fiction books can teach real life lessons and consequences. For example, being a gang member or a drug dealer may be glorified within the text. However, if the glorified character commits a crime, generally the character would be imprisoned.

These books could also be an encouragement to teens, motivating them to visit local libraries and check out books. Outside of a school requirement or project, African American teens tend to not visit the library unless it is for a social reason.

Urban fiction also encourages reluctant readers with an excitement to read. Because of the action within these books, they can be read quickly, which can boost the esteem of the teen who could have found it impossible to finish a book.

Tamara Fitzpatrick, a certified high school English teacher, said, "Do we really need to complain about students who do not read at grade level actually reading a book? Yes, it may have questionable material, but there is nothing in these books that the majority of our students are not already exposed to on a daily basis. Perhaps these books will encourage those hesitant readers to pick up a more difficult text next time around. Plus, if you recall, there were books we read as high school students that were looked down upon by our teachers and parents. Aren't these books this generation's version of pushing the boundaries? I cannot decide. But I will continue to not allow them as free reading material in my classroom."

Urban fiction offers a break from what teens consider boring reading in schools. The teens would much rather read a book about a gangster and his confrontations with the law than Hamlet by Shakespeare.

These books could initiate those challenging conversations parents should have with their teens. Instead of not mentioning sex and drugs to their teens, parents can ask them what they learned from the book about sex and drugs.

How Urban Fiction Harms Teens

Urban fiction can be harmful to teens. These books are simply summaries of what the urban teens encounter in their homes and on the streets.

Living in tumultuous neighborhoods and circumstances seems to be glorified in urban fiction, which is also the case for rap/hip hop music videos, which both heavily influence teens. These influences could result in a teen experimentation of actions read about within the book. The teens should be motivated to attempt to achieve better than what they read in these books.

"What we need to realize is that these books idolize the lifestyle that we attempt to keep our students out of and we are only continuing to promote this lifestyle by allowing these in them in the school," says Fitzpatrick.

Urban fiction does not teach how to overcome irresponsible behaviors or abashing stereotypes.

These books do not teach African American history and can overshadow African American authors who have been influential leaders.

Fitzpatrick says, "I refer to these books in my classroom as "soft porn" and I do not allow them to be read in my room. I believe that our students read these books because it is a simple, trashy read for them. They do not have to look deeper for meaning nor do they need to analyze an event and put it into relation to their own lives. Rather, these are simple reads with little to no literary value beyond the page."

Books, written in unique ways and varieties, have always been known to help with grammar and spelling since both should be done appropriately before the books are published. However, it is common to find urban fiction, especially those that are self-published, with many typos, grammatical and spelling errors.

Tonya Luster, a certified high school English teacher, said, "Reading these books teach bad habits, and not just bad morals. I personally believe in trashy reading (Stephen King is a favorite), but I just can't get behind bad writing. If these "novels" (and I use the term loosely) include bad characters, bad grammar, bad plots, and just in general bad writing, I can't get behind the kids reading them, even for recreational purposes. I don't like to even see them in my classroom, but I don't actively discourage kids from reading them."

Even though many teens find pleasure in reading urban fiction, many of them are embarrassed to actually admit they read them.

"If they [students] try to read them in my class, I will embarrass them by picking a random page and reading it out loud," says Luster.

How Parents and Teachers Can Help

Most parents and teachers are elated to witness teenagers who like reading without being prompted to do so. However, neither parents nor teachers should be tolerant for this reason. The same would apply in a different scenario: If a teenager, who did not like to write, began writing suicide poems, both parents and teachers would worry. In both cases, there is the awareness that there is a danger to the teenager in the activities.

A member of Alpha Nu Omega sorority and Morgan State University Student said, "The media is saturated with unedifying and often harmful material...books are just another medium. That's why it is so important for parents, teachers, and youth mentors to communicate with the youth about what they read and are putting into their 'systems'."

Teachers should make an effort to help African American teenagers by offering alternative books to read that will interest them, for example, Black Boy by Richard Wright. Not only is this book a classic, but it also details events that teens can relate to: living without a father, being poor, violence, and others. Teachers can also suggest to parents that they read certain books with their teen so that the parent is aware of the type of material.

Parents can enforce family reading time at home, where they will read the same book along with their teen. Afterwards, the follow-up of the reading should be a discussion about the actions that took place within the book. Parents can encourage reading by surveying books before purchase or check-out at the local library with their teen.

African American Teenagers Nationally Rank Low Among All Races of Student Readers

"The ability to read and understand complicated information is important to success in college and, increasingly, in the workplace. An analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend reading assessments reveals that only less than one-fifth of African American 17 year olds can read at this level."

"By age 17, only about 1 in 17 seventeen year olds can read and gain information from specialized text, for example the science section in the local newspaper. This includes: 1 in 100 African American 17 year olds."

Source: The National Institute for Literacy (http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/NAEP.html)