Malorie Blackman: why you should read YA novels with pride

Malorie Blackman: I happily proclaim myself a book nerd and a read geek – and I'm proud of it! Photograph: Tom Pilston

When Orli Vogt-Vincent confessed here on the Guardian teen's books site that she loved reading and asked "Does that make me a nerd?" – and then went onto reveal that she had kept her position as a children's books reviewer and her reading habit as a secret, I felt my heart sinking.

If someone so engaged with books feels the need to keep the fact that they moonlight as a young literary journalist, interviewing top authors such as Michael Morpurgo a secret, what hope is there for our teen readers? I for one think it's time to reclaim reading for pleasure as a "cool" activity and to also reclaim the word "nerd".

I subscribe to the online urban dictionary's definition of nerd – "one whose IQ exceeds his weight". I'm also keen on the same urban dictionary's definition of geek – "the person you pick on in high school and wind up working for as an adult". I happily proclaim myself a book nerd/reading geek and proud of it.

When I was a teenager, reading for me was as normal, as unremarkable as eating or breathing. Reading gave flight to my imagination and strengthened my understanding of the world, the society I lived in and myself. More importantly, reading was fun, a way to live more than one life as I immersed myself in each good book I read. I have visited other planets, alternate dimensions, other countries, survived wars, obtained super powers, had numerous adventures, walked in the shoes and lived in the head of countless characters, laughed with them, cried with them, lived with them, died with them? How is that uncool?

That's why I was so keen in my role as Waterstones children's laureate to create a forum where teen books was celebrated in the same way that film, TV and computer games are in popular youth culture. And so the Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) , at which 50 of the top YA authors will be appearing, was born. And what better place and space to do this than the summer London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) at Earl's Court this weekend.

YALC, an integral component of this year's LFCC, fits perfectly with the celebration of narratives, something which is at the heart of the convention. If you're loud and proud about your love of genre films, immersive TV programmes such as Game of Thrones and computer games, then why can't you be just as excited and vocal about books, many of which have been adapted into blockbuster films, TV and games?

YA novels are for all those who love great storytelling, it's that simple. Ruth Graham's recent article proclaiming that adults should be embarrassed to be seen reading Young Adult was not only wrong but misguided (see UKYA writer Non Pratt's defence on this site ). It's exactly this kind of rhetoric which seeks to divide and isolate all of us – teen and adult - who read for pleasure by stating that some books are perhaps more "worthy" than others.

A good book is a good book. End of story. Why is its worth diminished if it is written specifically for teens?

Quite rightly, every year more adults are discovering the joys of reading young adult novels. These adults have discovered that young adult novels can and do have all the depth, sophistication and complexity of books written for adults. It is a truth universally accepted by writers of YA novels that teens are an honest audience. You have to grab them and keep them with your story or they will have no qualms about abandoning the book. Therefore the storytelling has to be top-notch.

Another criticism levelled at YA novels by Ruth Graham was the accusation that YA endings are simple and "uniformly satisfying, whether that satisfaction comes through weeping or cheering. These endings are emblematic of the fact that the emotional and moral ambiguity of adult fiction – of the real world – is nowhere in evidence in YA fiction." I'd love to meet this woman and put Kevin Brook's Carnegie winning The Bunker Diary, and a host of others in her hand.

Any YA author worth their salt knows that a teen readership expects a truthful narrative, one that doesn't hold back from painful and gritty realities.

When I took on the mantel of children's laureate in June 2013, research showed that only three in 10 young people read daily out of class, with a fifth of young people saying they'd be embarrassed if a friend saw them reading. Recent National Literacy Trust research reveals that children and young people's reading enjoyment has reached its highest level for eight years, but teens are still three times as likely as seven-to-11-year-olds to say they don't enjoy reading at all.

Although there has been some improvement, no doubt boosted by film adaptations of YA novels, it is vital that these statistics are improved upon. I want YALC to help reclaim and reposition young adult reading as a desirable, enjoyable activity for teenagers, rather than a mandatory chore. In the US, where YA has been celebrated for many years, there is a vibrant fan culture, something which is starting to blossom over here. US authors such as John Green have fans as passionate as those of Ryan Gosling and Lady Gaga (Green's fans call themselves his "nerdfighters", whereas Gaga's devotees refer to themselves as her "LittleMonsters").

YA book sales over here are booming, and are up 18% from last year. But 17 out of the top 20 bestselling YA books are by US authors. Book sales and teens reading is always a fantastic thing, but we should also be celebrating and consuming the huge wealth of UK and UK-based writing and illustrating talent. Authors such as Charlie Higson, Darren Shan, Holly Smale, Tanya Byrne, Catherine Johnson, Sophie Mckenzie, to name but a few. This weekend's YALC is just one way to do that.

I hope to see you there!

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Jung Chang: 'They should take down Mao's portrait from Tiananmen Square'

Jung Chang: 'I care deeply what happens in China but London is home.’ Photograph: Richard Saker for the Observer

What made you suspect Empress Dowager Cixi was ripe for a biography?
When I was writing Wild Swans [Chang's memoir of three generations of Chinese women], I described my grandmother's bound feet as "three-inch golden lilies". I'd assumed foot-binding had been banned by the communists but discovered that it was, in 1902, the Empress Dowager who outlawed it. That got me interested in her. Also, researching my biography of Mao, I was astonished by the freedom he enjoyed growing up [he was born in 1893 when the Empress Dowager was in power – she died in 1908]. For example, he could travel with a girlfriend, checking into hotels. He had sexual freedom, along with other freedoms that I, growing up in China, couldn't dream of. There was press freedom too. I had thought the Empress Dowager a diehard conservative despot – her reputation in China is still as a vicious villain.

Why has that hung on?
Because as a woman she was not allowed to rule in her own right. She ruled from behind the throne of her son and adopted son. Without research and study, it is not straightforward to decide what her position was. Barely three years after she died, China became a republic. And later Mao and the communists wanted to accuse her of leaving China in a mess. Articulate foes abroad created lies against her.

How trapped was she?
When she came to power in 1861, China was medieval. She wasn't allowed to see her officials. She hated the Forbidden City but was not allowed out of it. She wanted to travel. Yet she had the acumen to judge what was possible. She did not let her personal wish for freedom divert her from reforms.

She got more radical as she got older…
When she came to power she was 25 and from a secluded environment. She didn't know what the west was like. But she had shrewd judgment. She knew an open-door policy would benefit China – her greatest contribution. She had an open mind and was attracted to western ways. She was semi-educated but because she hadn't spent 10 years imbibing incomprehensible classics, her intuitive intelligence wasn't smothered.

You make a fantastic case for her but cannot gloss over her murder of her adopted son. How can this be defensible?
That was not the most painful thing. After all, he had plotted to murder her. She realised that if he survived her, China would land in Japan's lap because they had a hold over him. There would be the nightmare scenario of Japan, which was developing towards being a fascist country, dominating east Asia. It would have been a nightmare for the world – an incredible moral dilemma. I forgave her this act.

How complex was the book to research?
In the Forbidden City there are 12 million documents about her and her dynasty. Teams of scholars and archivists have been analysing and digitising them. Her imperial decrees can now be downloaded. I could look at them from the comfort of my study.

Will the book be banned in China?
If it were, it would be because the regime would not want to promote me. And my conclusions are new, so the book is bound to create waves. But I hope it will be allowed in China.

I'm struck by your descriptions of the oppressive order of palace life. To what extent is ordinary feeling repressed by organised Chinese structures?
Very repressed. What appalled me was the ban on music. After the emperor's death there had to be four years of silence – unbelievable. She loved music. How would you live? There were books but they were classics.

When did you move to the UK and how Chinese do you feel now?
In 1978. My mother lives in China, and a brother and sister. I care deeply what happens there but London is home. I found things I loved here: flowers, grass, pretty clothes, people being nice to each other. In the Cultural Revolution, people were condemned for saying "thank you" too much – it was thought bourgeois, as were books. London was freedom and a lovely life.

Are clothes important? You dress beautifully…
Yes, they are. But the Empress Dowager would spend two hours dressing up… and I never… [she laughs]

You worked with your husband on the Mao book. Has it, though banned in China, made an impact there?
It is the most fantastic thing: a huge impact. The Chinese edition is published in Hong Kong, sold in Taiwan. Many copies have gone into China. Information from our book is on the web and people are debating it.

How did you and your husband meet?
In the 1980s I'd finished my doctorate at the University of York and was making a TV series about China. Jon [Halliday, an historian] was working on a documentary about the Korean war. He was told I might open doors in China. I did nothing of the sort.

What has your mother's influence been?
My mother is 82 and fearless, which gives me courage. She never cautions me. She lets me do whatever I see as right. And it is courageous because she could be affected by what I do.

What one thing would you change in China?
Say goodbye to Mao. Take down Mao's portrait from Tiananmen Square.

You were in the Red Guard at 14. Do you feel as if you were another person then?
No – I was very much me. When I go back to China, my schoolfriends say my personality has hardly changed. I never was a fanatic. Extreme actions make me afraid. I was a reluctant Red Guard. Like the Empress Dowager, I was radical but no extremist.

It sounds like you identify with her…
I admire her for bringing off an incredible revolution in China with minimum bloodshed. I empathise with her.

Jung Chang will be speaking at the London Lit Weekend at Kings Place, London N1 on Saturday

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