Is it just me, or is there a real problem in fantasy/sci-fi books with believable kids?

[conuly]

It seems that people don't write kids well. Kids in sci-fi and fantasy can't just be kids, they always have to be precocious, and usually friendless. You don't ever have kids who just sit and play video games, you have kids like Ender, who play video games that kill real aliens, and are better at it than any of the adults. Or Tiffany Aching, who knows more words than the adults around her and, again, can do what adults can't do. Or Kit and Nita, who end up giving a lecture to Nita's parents on responsibility (though they're less of a dramatic example than the other two). Wesley Crusher is always saving the Enterprise. I can go on, but I really don't want to have to search up books for references. I want answers. IS this real, and if so, why? And does this problem exist in other genres?

Comments

[jean-prouvaire.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I know. It's the reason I despise Dakota Fanning so much, too--it's so much worse in movies/TV shows.

Kit and Nita may not be quite as bad, but have you read "High Wizardry" yet? Dairine is a nightmare. An 11-year-old with better computer-hacking skills than my tech director? I think not.

Though to be fair, Diane Duane does at least have a sense of the emotional issues such a precocious kid would have. I mean, Dairine is a majorly fucked-up little kid with no sense of restraint or responsibility for her actions. But she's still an unrealistic character. There is not an 11-year-old on earth with an IQ like that.

[conuly]

Hush, you, High Wizardry is my favorite of the series. Especially since after that they all kinda skip over 10 years in one summer.

[jean-prouvaire.livejournal.com]

No, I loved "High Wizardry" too (though "Deep Wizardry" has got to be my all-time favorite, even with all the religious symbolism). I was just always a little weirded-out by Dairine.

I haven't read past "High Wizardry." What are the other books called? (And please tell me that Kit and Nita don't get together in any of them. Or at least that Tom and Carl finally come out of the damn closet. *grin*)

[conuly]

You haven't read them? The next one (ten years or one summer later) is A Wizard Abroad.

Here, visit youngwizards and ask there. God knows we could use the traffic.

[jean-prouvaire.livejournal.com]

Ooh, okay. (Shall try to procure the next books. I've just gotten my little sister started on the first three. I just hope Dairine doesn't give her an inferiority complex. *grin*)

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

Heh, Dairine gives me an inferiority complex, and I'm 23. ^_~ (Although I strongly identify with her love for Star Wars.)