personal growth of her characters, and particularly of the two boys when they go in
search of the father they know they need in Sons From Afar (1989), makes them
fascinating models for all adolescents, not just those who are needing fictional role
models to help them resolve their own problems.
Jan Mark’s understanding of teenage confusions is equally acute and, like Voight, she
writes about characters developing in all kinds of ways rather than merely as survivors
of situations. Mark is particularly sharp in her observations about friendships and their
importance to adolescents both at school and at home. Thunder and Lightnings (1976),
her first book, revolves around the friendship between the bright newcomer Andrew and
Victor, considered locally to be stupid. Their exchanges are spare and reflect both the
initial unease and the subsequent comfortableness that the two feel with one another. In
Man in Motion (1989) Lloyd, like Andrew, is newly arrived in a new home with a new
school and no friends. At first he is at a complete loss to know how to make friends and
is puzzled that his sister seems to find the whole thing so easy. But gradually things
change and Lloyd finds himself with friends for a whole range of activities and not
enough time to devote to his own passion—American football. Lloyd learns how to juggle
his loyalties so that he can keep faith with all his friends and have time to do what he
really wants.
Exploring the complexities of something as comparatively simple as friendships is
every bit as important as delving into the more obviously traumatic areas of the problem
novels mentioned above. Robert Cormier’s picture of teenage interaction is far bleaker
than anything Jan Mark describes. In The Chocolate War (1975) Cormier writes of the
merciless persecution of one boy by the powerful secret society in an American Catholic
high school in which corruption is rife. Cormier’s novel is almost unremittingly bleak in
both style and content. It offers the reader little comfort, though some insights into the
cruelties which teenagers can inflict upon one another. Later, in Beyond the Chocolate
War (1985), Cormier modifies the bleakness of his message, though the style remains as
taut and telling. In it Jerry Renault, victim in The Chocolate War, is semi-recovered from
his ordeal and returns to school to face up to his tormentor who is revealed as a
demonic character who reaches a nasty end.
Cormier is never frightened of showing how evil teenagers can be and he expands on
this in We All Fall Down (1992). Four teenagers ‘trash’ a house in an act of mindless
violence. The damage to the property is bad enough but worse is that they push 14-year-
old Karen down the cellar steps leaving her smashed and helpless. The repercussions on
all involved—the trashers, Karen and her family, and the mysterious ‘avenger’ who
watches it all—are skilfully and carefully unravelled revealing much about the different
characters’ motives and allowing the reader to act as judge of each for themselves. We
All Fall Down is a book of tremendous force and the lurid description of the trashing is
haunting, but somehow Cormier weaves in a morality which, combined with the sheer
quality of his writing, separates his books from the excesses of the recent, highly
successful American products Point Horror and Point Crime. Both series pull no
punches and have been decried for their apparent endorsement of remorse-free violence.
Some teenagers clearly like to be frightened and for those such books provide
a legitimate thrill. The danger lies in the chilling amorality of stories which may make
them unreasonably frightening for unwitting readers.
TEENAGE FICTION: REALISM, ROMANCES, CONTEMPORARY PROBLEM NOVELS 389