I’m giving everyone (except me) a break from the bindery today. I recently received an email with a good question. Below is the email I received:
I just finished The Book Thief, and I can't remember when I've cried that hard. And the prose! Well, I suppose the prose was why I was crying, because everyone was so real and so beautiful (or not, as the case may be.)
Why is it that so much of the best literature these days is written for young adults? OK, I Capture the Castle was written in the middle of the 20th century, but it was re-released now. Nobody can put down the Hunger Games series once they start, and teens are not the only ones mesmerized by the Twilight books. Granted, that's not so much great literature as a conjunction of attributes that make it a phenomenon, but it's still something special. And then there's Harry Potter, of course. Maybe the great saga of recent years.
Anyway, what is it about literature for young adults?
Here’s my answer (and admittedly, I think some of this answer may have come from a conversation I once had with staff member Cindie):
Young adult authors are FORCED to come up with really fantastic story ideas (PLOT), whereas sophisticated adult readers are more interested in the quality of the prose. But- I think a number of YA authors have figured out that well-written YA books appeal to 2 audiences: kids and adults. Kids could care less about the writing, they just want a good story.
I read a lot of YA myself.
If you’ve got your own answer to this question or a question of your own, please share!
1 comment:
What an interesting question, and such thoughtful answers, too.
There may also be the element of identification that helps to bring us mature folks into a young adult story, as well - all adults were at one time YA's, so recognizing the spectrum of experiences in those years helps us to relate to the characters, I think. Most young adults have a sense of excitement and adventure in their thinking and in their actions - those feelings don't exisit in the books only - so YA books are adding a little fuel to the fire, perhaps. (The 'living on the edge' attitudes are the very same things that cause parents to give endless advice and warnings to their kids, of course. I have a friend who decided that reverse psychology was needed when she waved goodbye to her kids as they got into the car. "Drive recklessly and take chances!" she would sing out to them as they drove away.)
Hope and endless possibilities are also part and parcel of YA's lives, and are woven into the story lines of these book, as well. Those upbeat outlooks seem to diminish with the realities of adult life, so it is nice to have some positive messages, via YA books, wash over our thinking again in our adult years.
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