In Defense of YA. Does it Really Need Defending?

This morning I was thrilled to see the announcement that the movie rights to Maggie Stiefvater's "Shiver" series have been snatched up!! I love this book, cannot wait for the sequel and now look forward to a big screen adaptation.

"Shiver" is the latest, in a long line of Young Adult books, to see cross-over success and popularity with teens, young adults and adults alike. The Young Adult 'genre' is breaking free of the small racks in the corner of the children's section, and is being featured prominently, in its own section. Front and center! This trend may be getting more attention now, because of the Twilight series, but it's been there, working it's magic slowly, quietly for a while. Because of this there's a whole lot of great writing and storytelling finding it's way into the hands and hearts of a lot more people. People, who 5 years ago would NEVER have thought of buying something from the Young Adult Section of their bookstore.

Heck, I am 36 years old and have been reading YA books like crazy for the past year. And you know what....I love them, many rank among the best books I have ever read!

Some are quick to criticize authors, publishers, production companies, etc who are currently promoting or moving forward with this sort of project; saying they are exploiting or latching onto Twilight's success, cashing in on it. I don't see it that way. Someone or something will always have to come first, to blaze the trail and the others can either move forward into this new territory or be left behind. Which would you rather be??

I think we should celebrate the turn things have taken lately. The fact that the Young Adult 'genre' (I just don't know if that is the right term) is getting so much attention and has become so successful, is a hugely positive thing. Just think about how many more teens and young adults are reading because of this! I have seen firsthand how falling in love with a book or book series can turn someone, who only read for school, into a voracious reader. What could possible be bad about that?!

Note: I guess I should mention that I am the co-owner and admin of a fansite dedicated to a Young Adult book about a Fallen Angel. Clearly my love for this type of book is obvious and so I may be a little, tiny bit biased :-)

Another Note: MTV.com has posted an article today titled "'Shiver' Is Latest Werewolf Love Story Latch Onto 'Twilight' Success" I felt the need to comment on the post, perhaps you will want to as well.

I have read Shiver and love it! I should mention that I am a huge fan of Twilight, and in fact this entire genre. Yes, they are both Young Adult Urban Fantasy books, and both authors have taken artistic liberties with their 'supernatural' characters BUT I don't really think they should be compared beyond that. I am pleased that SHIVER is moving to the big screen, I hope that it will be blessed with a great screen writer and director who will bring the book to life, not re-invent it.

btw 'latching onto Twilight's success' sounds kind of negative... I think bringing the world of Young Adult books to the bigscreen is great and the fact that Twilight lead the way should be celebrated. Others are smart to follow in it's footsteps instead of being left behind :-)

Check This Out

Check out this video for Maggie Stiefvater's new book Ballad which will hit stores on October 1st. Maggie made this animated storyboard and recorded the music. She is pretty amazing.

How Old Is Too Old For Young Adult?

Well I don't think you're ever too old for it. I have recently been turned onto the world of Young Adult Fiction and don't ever want to be turned off. No matter how old I am (cough...36...cough).

Just today, my sister was telling me about a blogger getting some harsh comments, claiming she was too old for YA! Yikes. On the same subject I want to share some thoughts from Maggie Stiefvater, the author of a fabulous new YA book, Shiver.

The real thing that grated my cheese was this idea that a blogger ought to step down from YA lit because she's no longer a teen. Um, no.

Actually, allow me to clarify: HELL NO.

The average YA author is older than I am and all of us are older than our intended teen readership. Does that mean we ought to be writing adult fiction instead? That would be a lot of unhappy Twihards if Stephanie Meyer decided to write Twilight as an adult series. The thing about YA is that the kernel of it, the point of it, the entire theme of the genre is coming of age. Coming of age is something that we can understand at any age. It's being on the cusp of something new. It's making that leap, deciding what to do with yourself. It's doing anything for the first time. That's the point of YA fiction, and it's something that anybody can enjoy. Look at the success of TWILIGHT. Harry Potter. (and yikes, SHIVER).

To say that adults can't read YA because they aren't the same age as the protagonists is as ludicrous as saying that teens can't read adult books because they aren't yet adults. It's ultimately condescending, either way. Adult saying to teen: "you won't enjoy this movie/ book because as a teen, you haven't experienced loss/ cheating/ tax evasion/ other adult theme." Teen saying to adult: "you won't enjoy this teen movie/ book because it's been too long since you were cool." No. You cannot say that.

.....I identify more with the character issues in a lot of YA -- the growing up, the jumping off cliffs, the newness -- than I do a lot of adult fiction, which deals with fatigue, mid-life crisis, marriage issues. Am I the only twenty something who feels this way? Nope. There's also thirty somethings, forty something, fifty somethings who prefer the genre . . . age is irrelevant when coming to reading. There's no "this is right for this age." "this is wrong for this age."

There's this: "This book is right for me." "This book isn't my thing."

That's the only truth there is in reading. As a reader and as a writer, never forget that YA is a marketing distinction. It's books placed in a certain section of the bookstore because they will probably appeal to teens. It doesn't mean they won't appeal to anybody else. And it doesn't mean that that's the only place in the store they could go. We write the best books we can about the characters we care about, no matter how old they happen to be. And I don't care who's reading my books. I don't care if it's grandmas with fake teeth or teens with ipods or toddlers drooling sippy cups on the pretty blue ink. I just care that they're being read.

Well said Maggie.

Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I am loving this book and now I stumbled upon some great on-line stuff. Definitely going to post a review soon!