Literature for the young: a rant.

All right, then. Complete the following sentence:

If literature is to have any point for young people...

I have a passionate interest in literature for young people (I'm a children's writer, after all). Literature (by which I mean good books) has been my comfort, my refuge, my friend and my teacher nearly all my life. 

If literature is to have any point for young people...

...well, how do you think that sentence ends? 

A clue: this sentence appeared in The Guardian newspaper of 11/11/17. (For the non-British reader, the Guardian is the newspaper of the educated intellectual Left...no, you're right, it doesn't sell that many copies.)

So: if literature is to have any point for young people...

Another clue: the quote is from the British playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi.

If literature is to have any point for young people...

Still not sure? Well, think about what literature meant to you when you were young.

Here's the answer:

...it must be to examine and dismantle the structures that maintain white power.

Well, did you get anywhere even remotely close?

Thought not.

Word To Use Today: point. This word used to mean spot in Old French. Before that it comes from the Latin pungere, to pierce.