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Monday, April 29, 2019

#AtoZchallenge Young Adult




The first thing to remember when talking about Young Adult in relation to books is that YA is not a genre, but an age-group. YA books are available across genres – fantasy, literary, mystery, sci-fi, contemporary – just the same as adult books.

What makes a book YA is the age of its protagonists and its appeal to readers of the same or similar age. While there are some arguments about exactly what age this is, personally I would say anywhere from around 14 –19 would sit comfortably within YA. Which is not to say that any book with a protagonist of this age is a YA book....

Confusing, huh?

YA books tend to have a coming-of-age theme, regardless of genre. Protagonists often experience first love, first sexual experience or come to terms with something about themselves they discover in the course of the book.

Historically, the YA category only really came into existence in the 1960s. At that time, YA tended to focus on contemporary stories dealing with the kind of social issues and problems young people were facing. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is widely considered the first YA book despite Salinger not intending it to be for young adults. Its popularity among the 12 –18 age-group urged other writers to explore writing for this age-group and a new category was born.

Over the years the category has grown and changed, and continues to do so. Which is important because the world we live in is constantly changing and the problems and concerns young people are facing today are complex and different to the ones they were facing in years gone by. Perhaps this finger on the pulse of modern society is the reason why so many adults are reading books aimed at teens.

But what really makes a book YA is its ‘voice’. YA books are often written in the first person to allow the reader to really get into the head of the protagonist, see the world through their eyes and feel what they are feeling. And those feelings are teen feelings, the perspective on the world one that a teenager would recognize.

I am a YA writer myself, and I always find myself falling back into that teen perspective, even when what I start out working on is supposed to be for adults. I believe strongly that the teen years are the most important, the time you become the person you will be for the rest of your life. It’s the period in which you try on personalities, develop tastes and discover the beliefs that will guide you through your adult years. It’s the time you develop significant relationships outside your own family.

It’s a confusing and messy time and any little event can invoke a massive emotional response.

As an author, this is dynamic material to work with. Teens are such a contradictory mixture of child and adult and there can be a huge range of maturity levels, even within a single group of friends, and those are compelling voices for an author to play with. And these days, with YA publishers willing to publish books on increasingly difficult subjects, it’s an opportunity to really make a difference, to share stories that teenagers can relate to and see themselves in.


#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary badge

6 comments:

  1. Amen! Those years are always turbulent, no matter how stable the home-life may be. I think for me at that age, movies were more my coming of age. I was already deeply into Agatha Christie in 6th Grade, so I think I skipped over any YA books until I was an adult!

    (J Lenni Dorner, if you see this, another of your prompts made it for my Y post.)
    Doesn't Speak Klingon

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  2. Great summary of what YA is. I think it would be quite a tricky thing to write. I do enjoy curling up with a good YA book from time to time. It's interesting to reflect on what it was like to be that age and all of the angst, changes etc people that age are going through.

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  3. I found this link because of the reference to 'Awesome'-ness...for I myself am quite Awesome ;) I found the explanation of the YA genre very helpful and informative. I am also in the A to Z Blogging Challenge, and we are almost through :) I think I will check out the #PassorPages next time it comes around. Have a good day :)

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  4. Never quite realized that YA was not a genre although I knew it designated an age-group. I think it takes a special person to write YA, not only for the difficulty of writing from a young person's point of view, but also because it would bring back all those memories of angst.
    http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com
    Y is for Yeoman's Daughter

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  5. Thank you for saying YA isn't a genre! I've encountered so many writers saying things like "I'm writing a YA" and "My genre is YA." Well, which genre is it? It's like saying "I'm writing an adult novel," with no further details on just what type of story it is.

    I gradually figured out many of my books wouldn't be considered YA by modern standards, since teens in bygone eras had much different roles, experiences, and responsibilities, and my focus is more on the history than being a teen. They're more adult lit that just happens to feature young characters.

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  6. Great piece.

    Ronel visiting with the A-Z Challenge music and writing: So much fun to listen to

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