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L.J. Smith
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Teaching Guide
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Teaching Guide About the author "It's not about blood and guts -- it's about idealism," says L.J. Smith. "It's about not giving up even when the odds seem hopeless." Smith comes to horror through the closely related genre, science fiction/fantasy. "C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were my favorite writers when I was a kid," she says. "I wanted to write books like theirs -- grand books -- where Good confronts Evil smack in the face and wins. And I wanted to be Frodo, trembling in Mordor, knowing that the Evil he's up against is stronger than anything in the natural world. And still finding, somewhere within himself, the courage to fight it. To stand up and be a hero." In Smith's books, the heroes are usually heroines. Her girls rescue themselves, sometimes using only their own wits and strength, sometimes rallying others to work as a team. A sense of community in dealing with problems is a Smith hallmark. In The Forbidden Game: The Hunter, Jenny Thornton starts out like many other girls -- a gentle follower whose biggest concern is how her boyfriend Tom wants her to wear her hair. But when Julian, a boy from the Shadow World, kidnaps Jenny and her friends, she changes fast. To rescue Tom, Jenny has to play Juilian's Game -- which means she and her friends must each face their single greatest fear. The only way the teens can survive each separate nightmare is to put aside personal feuds and work together. As they do, they learn about one another in a way they never have at school. What Jenny herself discovers is her own independence and courage as she resists Julian's sinister seductions, leads the group, and ultimately faces the unexpected revelation of her own most hidden fear. The battle between Light and Dark is not just an external one in these stories. Another hallmark of L.J. Smith's work is characterization, and the epic issues in her books are internalized and personalized as individuals make tough choices. Julian in The Forbidden Game starts out a capricious prince of magic who manipulates humans without a thought. He is an unforgettable character in the best Gothic tradition: charming, sinister, and slightly mad -- and he seems beyond redemption. But by the end of the trilogy he gives his own life to save Jenny and her friends. Jenny's empathy and idealism have transformed him; have given him a conscience. Kaitlyn Fairchild is another unforgettable Smith character who appears in the Dark Visions trilogy. Kaitlyn is an Irish-American teen with a special gift -- she draws pictures that turn out to be visions of the future. An outsider, labeled a "witch" by classmates, she grows up angry and defensive. Only when she's invited to be part of a research project at the Zetes Institute does she begin to feel a sense of kinship with the world. There she meets other teenagers like herself: Anna Whiteraven, a Native American who can influence animals; Rob Kessler, a healer from North Carolina; Gabriel Wolfe, a telephathic juvenile deliquent; and Lewis Chaw, an Asian-American with psychokinesis. In spite of their diversity, the students quickly become fast friends. But when the true nature of the Institute is revealed, Kaitlyn's group has to decide whether or not to join the forces of evil they've uncovered. The Institute is so powerful that it seems almost hopeless to fight it -- especially for five teenagers alone in the world. And Kaitlyn herself has to make a choice that reflects her own inner struggle between idealism and cynicism: should she love gentle Rob or the disillusioned street kid Gabriel? Love is a major theme in Smith's work. Many fans of mystery/horror see the entire genre as a metaphor for love and how loving makes one vulnerable, but Smith takes an even more direct approach. In her new Night World series, love is the greatest danger of all...but it is also the force that redeems. In the first of the Night World books, Secret Vampire, Poppy North is diagnosed with a terminal disease. Her only hope comes when her best friend James makes an astonishing revelation: he is a vampire, and he can save her life by making her one. But there are no easy answers in these books. Like a modern Juliet, Poppy has to deal with a brother who fears James and thinks of all vampires as monsters. Meanwhile, James is battling his own vampire family who think of all humans as vermin. In the end, it's love that reaches across the barriers of prejudice, allowing the two races to stop fighting each other. And as Poppy makes her choice, she leaves her childhood behind, takes responsibility for herself, and sees for the first time the beauty of the world she's leaving. Love proves the rite of passage for Mary-Lynette Carter, a self-reliant young astronomer who befriends three vampire sisters in Night World: Daughters of Darkness. Mary-Lynette has always hoped to meet someone who shares her passion for the stars. Ash, the older brother of the three sisters, would seem to fit the bill -- but unfortunately he's both a Night Person and a male chauvinist. After solving a mystery with Mary-Lynette, Ash reforms, but that doesn't guarantee a pat ending. Mary-Lynette learns that love sometimes means having the strength to say goodbye. Even as she does, she reaffirms her own identity, her encounters with darkness having provided a poignant coming-of-age. Writing stories that are romantic, witty, empowering, and often truly terrifying all at the same time, Smith finds her greatest inspiration in the letters she receives from her readers. "Some kids tell me that my books have actually helped them fight off despair and stand up for what they think is right," she says. "Letters like that keep me going." Discussion topics 1. Each character in The Forbidden Game had to walk into a room and survive an encounter with his or her greatest fear. If you were going to play the game, what would your room contain and how would you face it? 2. Give specific examples from L.J. Smith's stories that illustrate the philosophy that love is "the force that redeems." How does Smith's view of love compare to that of other YA mystery/horror authors? 3. If, like Poppy in Secret Vampire, you had to leave your family, house, school and old life behind in order to survive, could you do it? What would you miss most? 4. Discuss the interaction and the interdependency that exists among the groups of teens in The Forbidden Game, Dark Visions or Night World books. Could the characters have succeeded alone? What benefits do they derive from working together? Related reading Mystery/Horror books: Richard Posner: L.J. Smith: R.L. Stine: Nickelodeon Tie-in: John Peel: Louis Duncan: Richard Tankersly Cusick:
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