For those of you who cannot, cannot get enough of me (hi Mom!), I'm sure you've seen my post about kids, reading, and book difficulty. In it, I said something about reading level dictating content and, lo and behold, someone else made that argument for the prevalence of adults reading YA.
Thus, I must be a genius. Q.E.D.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
We all know you're a genius.
ReplyDeleteThat article touched on something I've theorized about YA for a while. It's widely read by adult readers because it's clean, not in the moral sense, but in definition of conflict. When you read YA, you know who to cheer for. There are characters who surprise you but they are usually not the MC.
With the exception of thrillers, that is not usually the case in adult fiction. There are more gray characters. It stands to reason, since most people judge right and wrong with much more conviction before they are seasoned by years and experience.
For most readers, book buying public who have jobs NOT in writing or publishing, reading is for escape and pleasure. Navigating the tricky adult world where we understand less than honorable action in ourselves and acquaintances is not what we want to do when we read.
Now you've done it Laurel--I'm going to be smug and overbearing for days. Er, smug-er and overbearing-er.
ReplyDeleteHooray charming me!
Plus, your assessment is spot on. Some days reading about reality after living reality is way harsh, Tai.
YES! I read this article earlier, and here's the thing...
ReplyDeleteYA is where it's at right now. It's in its infancy as a recognized genre, and that's what makes it so much to read and to write.
I'm not saying there aren't rules, because there ARE rules, but the best part is kids LOVE breaking rules. So, when you write a YA story and break the rules, instead of frustrating your readers--you impress them.
Hell yeah.