I have been of multiple minds since I first heard of this thing called book “modernization.”
Modernization is the practice of updating the cultural references in a book in order to make them more immediately current and relatable to the present-day audience. I learned about this practice in a piece in The New York Times, headlined, “Why Is TikTok in This Book from 2006?”
Why indeed? The headline is a reference to a change made to the YA thriller, “Pretty Little Liars,” updating the previous reference, the television show “Fear Factor,” from when the book debuted.
This is only one of many changes meant to bring the book in line with present teen knowledge. The rationale is that the teenage audience would be turned off by a bunch of dated references to no longer extant TV shows or no longer popular pop stars.
Kari Sutherland, a literary agent who has spent decades in the YA space, told the Times, “If we want readers to fall in love with the same story we fell in love with as teenagers, the best way to do that is to reach them where they are.”
David Levithan, an editor of books for middle-grade readers at Scholastic, also told the Times, “If a fourth grader comes across a phrase they don’t understand, it can stop them in their tracks. You still want to challenge readers, but you don’t want to have unnecessary hurdles.”
Judy Blume explained that she wholeheartedly embraced changing the “sanitary belts” used by the titular character in “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” to “sticky pads,” saying, “I jumped at the chance.”
Look, I think I get it. If you see a particular novel as a kind of product that you want to continue to be relevant in the marketplace, you need to keep it current with the times. If an easily altered reference that has only limited importance to the story seems corny or off, it’d be a shame to repel readers who otherwise might connect to the book. A novel that presumes a contemporary setting would need to change to stay contemporary.
But books are not only products. A book, once published, is a kind of artifact, a rendering of the world as it was at the time of the text’s creation. Why couldn’t we see that reference to “Fear Factor” as an invitation to the young people of today to learn a little something about what a previous generation was into?
I suppose the presumption is that these stories for young people are meant to be eternal, the experience of growing up largely the same era to era. There is something to this, but isn’t there a difference in the lives of teens who spend their hours on TikTok versus those who watched “Fear Factor?”
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Similarly, couldn’t the mention of Margaret’s sanitary belt trigger some curiosity in readers to explore how things have changed for girls over time?
Changing a reference to a VCR to a DVD or a streaming service may create a more seamless experience for a young reader, but couldn’t we view those seams as potentially interesting features in and of themselves? What happens in a world where young people are always rendered as creatures of the present, rather than also existing in the past?
Deep down, I don’t have a strong, principled objection to this practice, particularly given that these changes are almost universally done with the original author’s input or permission. Judy Blume should be able to do what she wants to Judy Blume’s her books.
But we should also see moments of non-understanding as invitations to go deeper.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.
1. “The Wager” by David Grann
2. “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah
3. “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” by Mark Sullivan
4. “The Deserters” by M.G. Lamb
5. “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt
— Joanne D., Kankakee
Here’s a very popular book, but it was published a number of years ago, so maybe Joanne didn’t get to it at the time: “All the Light You Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr.
1. “Dog Person” by Camille Pagán
2. “In the Heat of the Moment” by Viveca Sten
3. “Judge Stone” by Viola Davis and James Patterson
4. “A Far-Flung Life” by M.L. Stedman
5. “How to Read a Book” by Monica Wood
— Valerie N., Des Plaines
Lisa Lutz’s “The Passenger” remains one of my favorite lesser-appreciated thrillers.
1. “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt
2. “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead
3. “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich
4. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
5. “The Orphan Master’s Son” by Adam Johnson
— Christina P., Chicago
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Patrick deWitt’s “The Sisters Brothers” is a sly and entertaining tale, similar to some of the books on this list. A good fit for Christina.
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to [email protected].
John Warner is the author of books including “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.” You can find him at biblioracle.com.