Thoughts on Megan Cox Gurdon's "Darkness to Visible"

       I read Megan Cox Gurdon's "Darkness Too Visible". In the essay, MCG states how much young adult literature has changed and her take on how she feels about modern young adult books. Throughout the essay, MCG gives a handful of examples of how dark, inappropriate and gruesome these books are.

The opinion, the author MCG has about young adult literature is that is too dark and inappropriate for kids to read and she feels that if kids read these books they’ll get influenced to be doing the bad things the characters in their stories are doing. The author wants the me, the reader, to feel that modern young adult books are too gruesome for people in their adolescence and that these books should either be banned or should be put in a different age group.She wants to convince us to believe that modern young adult literature is that is too dark and inappropriate for kids to read.

My opinion on this is that I,a young adult, feels like I am capable of reading books like this and I love learning lessons because I get to know what to look out for and get to see what other people are going through.Books like Crank by: Ellen Hopkins and Tweak:Growing Up on Methemphetamines by:Nic Sheff are two of my favorite books,these two books are both banned and are both about young adults using drugs and it shows how their life has be. It teaches the reader to not use drugs and I feel young adults should know about these topics so that they to know to avoid things like this.

Ayman Jabr 806                                                                                                                    10/6/14

I will be talking about the important and meaningful quotes in Nic Sheff’s memoir, Tweak: Growing Up on Methemphetamines.This book is about a young man named Nic who is addicted to drugs like meth and heroin. These drugs have taken his real life away and he talks about his journey on drugs and how he became sober. He started drugs at a very young age and by the age of 18 he was addicted to crystal meth. While trying to find a way out, he turned to drugs or sex. He found himself hopping around drug treatment and rehab centers, looking for something. But he just couldn’t find it. The people at the centers would tell him he was insane, but he didn’t

think he was because he didn’t want a different result. During the book the main character Nic changes a whole lot as he starts to question what he really wants in life, drugs or his family.

One extremely meaningful quote took place in his Spencer’s house (Spencer is one of Nic’s friends, a recent cocaine addict who quit a couple years back and now is fully dedicated to living a sober life with his wife and daughter). This quote is on pages 166-167 and was “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl. Darling, darling, darling, darling Lucy. I press my hand against her back and sing softly, almost whispering. And then there are hot, salty tears streaming down… and then there’s that feeling in there, inside me - being small, with all the confusion and worrying and longing-but also the peace and safety… And now I’m here giving that feeling to Lucy. She is an angel - light, sweet, delicate and lovely. That is so there in her. But it is also inside Spencer, in my dad lying with me as a child on the futon. It’s even in me. Sure, I buried it. I buried it and buried it and turned everything from light and sweet and delicate and lovely and became so scared and scarred and f**ked up. But that goodness is there, inside - it must be.” This quote is so meaningful because it shows him realizing how much he has changed as a person and it foreshadows how he will continue trying to stay sober so he can change from being scared and scarred to delicate and lovely.

Another meaningful quote takes place on the beach when he sees how much he has changed and how he is regaining his old life back. The quote was “ As I raise my head, my first thought is to look toward the shore. My family is on their feet, cheering”. This quote is meaningful because it shows how much Nic has changed and how for the first time in a long time he is with is family happily. Nic had decided to have family over drugs because he started to realize how much he has left behind once he entered his life of drugs.

The last of these three quotes happened before he decided to become sober and to quit drugs. The quote was “ I think about Spencer, my mom, my dad, my job and my friends I’ve left behind. I wonder if I really came to far to come back.”This quote is so meaningful because it takes the whole story to a climax as he finally decides to quit using and to go back to his old life sober. This quote brings the story to a point where it shows him choosing all his friends and family and sober living over drugs.

Nic Sheff’s “ Tweak : Growing Up on Methemphetamines” is a great book and full of inspiring 

and meaningful quotes. It relates to the world and people in their adolescence because this book shows how easily your life will turn around and become so cruel. It teaches a lesson on how drugs 

can lead you to do many things you wouldn’t have imagined ever doing.