YA books are not just for young adults
Read Street guest poster and author Gail Farrelly always poses interesting questions about reading. Last month, she wrote about the fear of being bookless and the joys of re-reading. Today, the topic is Young Adult books. Here's Gail:
When I heard a deejay on the radio talking about a crossover artist who was on the music charts in both the pop and country categories [like Dolly Parton for 9 to 5], it made me think of literary crossovers -- books that aren't limited to pleasing just the category that happens to be their target audience. Cynthia Crossen raised this issue recently in her Dear Book Lover advice column in the Wall Street Journal. She was asked to recommend books for a woman in her 80s, a voracious reader and a lover of historical fiction who now finds it hard to follow a huge cast of characters in a book.
Crossen's answer? "What I’m about to suggest may seem condescending, but hear me out." She then went on to recommend YA novels for older readers, pointing out that, "Good YA is not dumbed-down adult fare; it’s literature that doesn’t waste a breath. It doesn’t linger over grandiloquent descriptions of clouds or fields, and it doesn’t introduce irrelevant minor characters...."
Among the YA books she recommends are: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation by M.T. Anderson, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman and A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. According to Crossen, "Good books marketed to young adults are crisp, an adjective that seems to have fallen out of favor these days." The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is next up on Crossen's reading list.
Shakespeare had it right. "What's in a name?" After all, I'm sure there are many novels labeled YA, in addition to the ones mentioned above, that make great reading for older adults. Maybe even for adults who aren't older?
Comments
Who cares what the category is as long as the book is a good read. Too much stuff gets lost labeled for one group or another when so many others would probably enjoy it.
Posted by: jackie kingon | August 10, 2009 5:38 PM
I agree, I love Young Adult books. I recently read one called Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita, by Kathleen S. Wilson. A friend of mines daughter and I really like YA books and thought this one was fun & neat. We both read it and talked about it after. She liked Rumer and wanted to be like her. I actually did a bit too!
Posted by: Chrissy | August 10, 2009 8:24 PM
What is the best way to reach young adults if you have publish books for their age?
Posted by: dorothy mehaffey | August 11, 2009 8:09 AM
Well said. I recently had my first fiction book published - it's book one of a fantasy trilogy, and I am at a loss as to how to describe it because there doesn't seem to be a category that suits it. One day I'll say it's YA fiction, the next day I'll call it adult fiction, day three it will be adventure for both YA and adult.
Can we maybe just have a 'good read' category?
Chris Warren
Author and Freelance Writer
Randolph's Challenge Book One - The Pendulum Swings
Posted by: Chris Warren | August 12, 2009 6:22 AM
I also love YA Books , They are well written and the Mysteries are very good. I am 59 years old with failing eyesight, have you taken a good look at the print in "Adult" fiction . Some of them are like the print at the bottom of a legal Document , while the print for young folks is bigger. The kids are 13 and 23 and we try to do everything as a family , so we read each others books.
Posted by: David Frantz | August 16, 2009 9:01 PM
Gail Farrelly hit the nail on the head. I have a daughter who is 21-years old. I have been reading whatever she likes so that I can understand her better. The fringe benefit is that I find that I have enjoyed the literature that this young adult enjoys. As Gail noted in her excellent piece, young adult literature gets to the point. To get to the point here, I would love to read more written by Gail Farrelly.
Posted by: Dahli Gray | August 30, 2009 2:54 PM
Has anyone read "Wolferain and the Vampires of Congo?"
Posted by: Jeff | December 4, 2009 10:54 AM
The perfect book Flower Among the Weeds an old lost love
Posted by: Dorothy | June 9, 2010 2:16 PM
I read the Wolferain book. Simple story. Neat concept. Kind of book you read when you don't want a complicated story with too many plot lines to follow.
Posted by: Tom | November 23, 2011 12:31 PM