Let’s Talk About Young Adult
By: Emma Berry
If you told me at 17 that I’d still be reading young adult books at 27, I’d reply that probably checks out. I recently stumbled across the article from 2014 titled Against YA, and I will say the title alone makes my blood boil. Of course, everyone has their own taste in reading, and I’m not saying you MUST read YA books as an adult. Still, I don’t think we should be rolling our eyes at the YA genre either and chalking it up to be something that, according to this Slate article, “...you should feel embarrassed…” about.
What exactly is Young Adult fiction?
As the years have passed, I have noticed that YA literature is really pushing the boundaries of what is considered YA. We are seeing YA books where the main protagonists are 18, 19, and even early 20s and those books tend to be a little more mature in terms of content. Like Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, which was a hit dark academia Young Adult novel that went viral on BookTok this past fall. The main character, Kidan Adane, in Immortal Dark is 19 and the entirety of the book takes place at Uxlay University. Traditionally, according to the Professional Writing Academy, “YA isn’t a genre: it’s an age range. YA fiction is aimed at a target audience aged 12-18”. But more recently, we are seeing that age range stretch into, what would be New Adult, if publishing houses considered that a real genre.
But according to most definitions, Young Adult books are just books that are intended for an audience between the ages of 12 and 18. I would say there is a spectrum within YA. For example, not every book for a 17-year-old is going to be appropriate for a 12-year-old, and not every book for a 12-year-old is going to appeal to a 17-year-old. Books intended for ages 12-14 are usually considered the lower end of YA, and everything else is for ages 14 and up.
Aside from the age range, there are a few elements that are present in most young adult novels. For example, the protagonist is usually in their teens, and the book is often written from their point of view, like Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. In terms of themes, I think there is a misconception that more “mature content” isn’t usually included in YA books like drug use, mental health, relationships, sex, and sexuality, but that isn’t necessarily true. Mature content within a YA book tends to not be as graphic as it would be in a novel written for adults.
If you think about real-life teenagers, they aren’t exempt from the more “adult hardships” of the world because they are under the age of 18. Again, to use The Hunger Games, as an example, Katniss Everdeen is put in a set of games where she is forced to fight to the death. Sounds pretty mature to me. Not to mention, that series grapples with political oppression, graphic violence, exploitation of children, alcohol & drugs, death, PTSD, and much much more. Not only are those themes relevant to teenagers, especially given the current political climate, but they are relevant to adults as well. And if you’re over the age of 18, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed that you’re reading about that.
Why the Young Adult Genre is Important
This may (or may not) come as a surprise, but according to a study done by PEN America, around 60% of banned books in 2024 “are written for young adult audiences, and depict topics young people confront in the real world, including grief and death, experiences with substance abuse, suicide, depression and mental health concerns, and sexual violence”. This connects to a larger issue of censorship that we are seeing happen all across America, and it’s alarming that the books that are meant to help young people explore and learn about themselves are the ones being the most targeted by these bans.
Young adulthood is usually many young people’s introduction to sex, grief, loss, mental health, substance abuse, and many “adult” struggles. I remember being 15 and not understanding why I couldn’t get myself to be happy. I struggled in school, lost interest in activities, isolated myself, fought with my parents, and I never understood why I was feeling that way. And no one prepared me for it. The only place I did find a sense of connection was with books. Young Adult books are important because it allows young people to see themselves reflected in a story, and can even help them wrap their heads around what the f*ck is going on. Young adult books help people come to a better understanding of themselves and others, and they help us develop empathy and compassion. They also give young people insight into very real situations and experiences that come with adulthood and help prepare them mentally for what is to come.
Now, I polled our Readin’ community about YA, and here are some responses to “Why do you think the YA genre is so important?”
One person writes, “You read YA when you are figuring out your own beliefs for the first time. What’s important to you? What do you want to believe? You are no longer just blindly accepting what is told to you. You are starting to question and it’s important to read books mirroring that experience”.
Emily Sayre writes, “There’s such a large developmental difference between a 12-year-old and a 20-year-old. It’s important to have stories in between allowing for reader growth and darker themes without a reader that might be too young for those concepts stumbling upon them. YA also tackles the issues that young adults face like relationships, drugs, etc. that can be done in a developmentally appropriate way that is not necessarily appropriate for children under 13, ya know?”.
Misconceptions about Young Adult Books
Let me hit you with another statistic, more than half of the consumers of YA are over the age of 18. On a personal level, I think one of my least favorite misconceptions about the Young Adult genre is that because it is intended for a younger audience it isn’t “serious” and it is “too simple” to be considered important, or that the characters are “immature”. It’s almost like haters of YA are saying that they can’t take YA books seriously because they are about teenagers, and I think that diminishes the importance of younger generations as a whole.
Dystopian books like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner raised my generation (Gen-Z), and now we have become one of the most influential generations in history. We are more passionate, socially conscious, innovative, and entrepreneurial than any other generation that has come before us. We are a generation that is changing the way the world looks, and I think our attitude towards change can be linked back to the type of literature we were reading as we came of age.
Now, I polled our Readin’ community about YA, and here are some responses to “What’s your least favorite misconception of the YA genre?”
Reilly Nelson says that her least favorite misconception is, “That YA is “easy” or “simple.” Sure, they *might* be shorter in length, which makes them easier to get through, but believing that YA is easy/simple creates a mental roadblock in readers of any age to take away lessons that are not easy/simple in experience. Similarly, Ashley from @wickedreads, says her least favorite misconception is “that it is “easier” or has less depth”.
Jess writes that her least favorite misconception is “Mostly just the age expectation, that you “shouldn’t” be reading them past a certain age. Also people say the plots aren’t as epic (specifically for fantasy), you can have fantastic and intense plot structure in YA.”
Why You Should Give YA a Chance, Even if You’re an Adult
My favorite saying is “Age is but a number”. Age doesn’t necessarily reflect what a person is capable of and I think particularly with the younger generation, adults tend to underestimate their power and their way of thinking. And I think that’s exactly why you should read YA. Just because a character is 15, 16, or 17 doesn’t mean that at 27 you can’t find something relatable, powerful, or moving about them as a character. Yes, occasionally you’ll be subjected to some teenage angst or miscommunication, but I read it from a nostalgic perspective. There was a time when I was making up code names for boys at school and insisting on wearing heavy amounts of eyeliner because I wanted to be “different”, and I look back on those times now and enjoy the fact that I was just figuring shit out. And that’s exactly what these characters are doing, figuring shit out.
Again, let’s hear from the Readin’ community about why they love reading YA.
Emily Sayre says, “I like reading YA, and especially YA fantasy because it’s so accessible! The world-building is very easy to follow, the dialogue is quick and to the point, the chapters are typically shorter. It’s very easy to pick up where you left off when reading, and sometimes I want to read a lower-effort fantasy book which is exactly what YA provides!”
We all know that here at Readin’ nostalgia is our drug of choice, and Sherriece Hughes writes, “What I love about reading YA is how my teenage self can now be seen in the stories. I grew up on The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High series in the 80s and even though I loved them, I didn’t see myself in them. In high school, I read adult books because there weren't any YA books that interested me, or at least the exposure of YA was limited. I’m in awe of the diversity of YA books now.”
I’ll leave you with one last quote from Maya Angelou,
"When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young."