If you have been here for any length of time, you already know that we are BIG fans of YA novels! Many of you already know this, and are working with patrons who enjoy them. If you are thinking YA novels are still the same pretty one-dimensional stories you read in the 80s and 90s – please try some new books! The YA books being published today are so interesting, have such good characters, and such interesting stories being shared.
And we have mentioned many times that one really interesting aspect of YA books today is how interesting and diverse the characters are in all the books. There are so many well-rounded characters, doing all kinds of different things – it makes for better, more fun reading!
Check out this article excerpt, to see another person’s experience with discovering YA books. You can read the whole article here.
“So began my obsession with young adult fiction, a category traditionally marketed at teens and tweens from 12 to 18 years of age. In two days, I finished the entire Heartstopper series – a graphic novel and queer romance recently popularised by an extremely cute Netflix program.
I had dipped my toes in, and now I was ready to take the plunge.
Days later, I returned to the bookshop, a little embarrassed, and bought every work of fiction Heartstopper’s author, Alice Oseman, has written. Solitaire – published when she was just 19 – was great, but I particularly adored Radio Silence, a book I wish I’d read as a teenager that deftly navigates mental illness, academic pressure and friendships.
Jeanmarie Morosin, head of children’s publishing at Hachette – who brought Heartstopper to Australia – says it didn’t surprise her that Oseman’s works appealed to older readers.
“For me, why young adult is such an emotional punch is it takes you to a time before you’ve made all the big decisions in your life, when it’s all ahead of you and it’s all dramatic,” she says.
“As an adult, you’ve had the loves that have or haven’t worked out, you’ve chosen your career – but it takes you back to this exciting time being on the cusp … you’ll never get that again.”
The books have changed since I grew up too. In the ones I read when I was in the targeted demographic, romances were between a boy and a girl and characters of colour were relegated to the background; they certainly weren’t vocal about issues of gender discrimination and race, like Starr in my next purchase, The Hate U Give.
“YA has been ahead of its time. It’s almost an issue if it’s not diverse,” Morosin says.
“It’s a testament to and reflects the realities of the teenagers reading these books, and their expectations, and how vocal they’ll be about them. Publishers were catching up to this demand.
“People have grown up and not seen themselves reflected in books and art. By producing books for everyone you’re creating a safe space.””
You can read the whole article here.