Young Adult Fiction Takes Off

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(life serial/Flickr)

(life serial/Flickr)

“Zombies vs. Unicorns” may sound like the title of Mel Brooks horror film parody, but it’s not. It’s the actual name of a hugely popular young adult anthology by authors Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier.

“Y.A.” books, as they’re also known, are one of the few bright spots in the publishing industry these days. For example, in the first half of 2009, sales of grownup fiction dropped almost 18 percent. Y.A. sales, on the other hand, grew by 30 percent in the same period.

In part, that’s because so many grownups are reading Y.A. But it’s also because of the themes these books tackle: zombies, unicorns, wizards, vampires, Dystopias. It can get dark, too dark, according to some critics.

Whatever it is, young adult fiction has taken off and is a publishing force to be reckoned with.

Are you a Y.A. fan? Why? What’s in Y.A. that you don’t get in adult fiction? What’s on your reading list this summer?

Guests:

  • Robin Brenner, teen librarian, Brookline Public Library
  • Lauren MacLeod, literary agent specializing in Y.A., Strothman Agency
  • Betty Ann Sharp

    Dark themes in juvenile literature?  And throughout time, all children were
    treated as little adults.  It wasn’t’
    until the mid 1800’s that we started producing literature for children, based
    upon age.  And if the fantasy world of zombies and wizards are
    too dark, think about what else young adults have read:

    The Pearl by John
    Steinbeck, (1947)
    base on a Mexican folk tale.  It explores
    the dark depths of evil and the effects of overreaching one’s station in life.

    Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884) deals with drifters,
    thieves and slavery.

    The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen (1837).  Before it was Disneyized, her bargain with
    the sea witch didn’t go as planned and in the end turns into foam.

    The Religious Tract Society of London and subsequent
    American Tract Society published hundreds of books and pamphlets as early as
    1799 to give life-lessons based on the Bible. And preached damnation of your
    immortal soul should you fail.

    So zombies are too dark?

  • Lauralovell1

    Ash, by Malinda Lo is a YA book that includes, but is not limited to homosexuality. As a middle school teacher, I think this is a tremendous contribution to the genre.
     

  • Carrie

    Any recommendations for adults who enjoyed young adult books like The Hunger Games and The Book Thief (one of the most compelling books that I have read in the last 5+ years)?

    • http://derbygirl.tumblr.com Lauren Morrill (derbygirl)

      The Delirium series (currently only on the first book) by Lauren Oliver is fun. And I’ve heard good things about Divergent by Veronica Roth, which just came out this week. On the non-fantasy but still awesome YA front, I recommend anything by John Green. Seriously reads like adult fiction, but in that perfect YA voice.

    • http://twitter.com/michellewitte Michelle Witte

      James Dashner’s Maze Runner series is really good, and is on its way to becoming a film series. It’s another dystopian in the vein of Hunger Games. I’ve heard Divergent by Veronica Roth is another great dystopian, though I haven’t read it yet.

      Even better, here’s a list of books other readers have said are great for those who love Hunger Games: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3711.If_You_Loved_The_Hunger_Games

      Book Thief is still on my to-read pile, so I’m not sure of comparable titles.

    • sag

      persepolis and stitches are beautiful and quick reads – you might like them!!!

  • http://www.LoveinLeningrad.com Harriet Costa

    In getting ready to publish my YA Novel, Love in Leningrad, which will come out at the end of this month,  my adult friends have shown great interest and say they read romantic suspense novels like mine.  I concur with what some of the listeners were saying that sometimes it’s a relief to have  characters that one can identify with, in this case, students on a high school summer study tour who keep bearing witness to the unexpected in 1973 Leningrad during the Cold War.

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