I'm YA and I'm OK.

[penmage]

As usual, John Scalzi says it best:

Observers of the science fiction field will note the Nebula Award for Best Novel was won this year by a YA book, that the Tiptree Award is co-shared by a YA novel, and that in the Hugo Best Novel category, two and a half of the books nominated are also YA (the “half” in this case being Zoe’s Tale, written to be

Comments

[ex_fashioni]

It's also gaining ground in the romance genre as well. My debut YA, Adiós to My Old Life won the Best Contemporary Single Title Romance RITA in 2007. A common refrain post-awards was "I can't believe a YA won the Single Title RITA! What's the genre coming to?"

How about moving forward and growing new readers?

No matter how many times I'm faced with it, I remain continually stunned by the short-sightedness of people who don't get it. The woman who prompted the kerfluffle a couple of weeks ago with her open letter to every editor who refused to see her literary genius has been quoted as saying, "I'd read Cormac McCarthy over Rowling any day because McCarthy writes books for adults and I am an adult."

Way to be broadminded there, no?

[akamarykate]

Because God knows the last thing science fiction and fantasy publishing needs right now is whole generation of new and enthusiastic readers who might actually get hooked into the genre until they die. It’s a goddamn tragedy, it is.

SNORK!!!!

Wordy McWord to everything you said. And I ADORE your tags! *g*

[fshk]

There have been a whole rash of articles lately about the popularity of YA and "crossover" big sellers. I read very little YA (I like my adult themes, I guess) but I can certainly appreciate the value of having high-quality books for younger readers. I mean, when I was of prime-YA-reading age, what was there? Sweet Valley High and the like, you know?

[elissa_carey]

Sweet Valley High was my guilty reading pleasure at that time. I was usually found reading Morgan Llewellyn, or Tad Williams (when Tailchaser's Song and The Dragonbone Chair came out), or King of the Wind & Misty of Chincoteague, and so on.

There weren't many new books designed to appeal to YA readers at the time, certainly, but there were a few. One of them is still one of my absolute favorite books: Nancy Springer's The Hex Witch of Seldom. (http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_springer_hexwitch.html)

[fox1013]

I read very little YA (I like my adult themes, I guess)

What kind of themes do you like in adult books that you can't find in YA?

[fshk]

I should clarify that I prefer to read about adult characters. Also, I think the blurring of YA and adult fiction, particularly when it comes to what is and is not acceptable to include in YA, is a little problematic. Lots of sex and drugs and violence in some teen subgenres, which I don't really think is appropriate.

[etoilepb]

While I agree with you, the flip side is a bit troubling.

It's hard enough convincing many people that genre fiction isn't a waste of an adult's time. Haven't most of us who read SF/F been looked down on at one point or another for reading a book with a dragon or a robot on the cover? As more and more of the fiction recognized for quality in those genres becomes targeted to non-adult readers, it's a little harder to be taken seriously as an adult reader of fiction in those genres.

I mean, Harry Potter helped a lot to make the mainstream get over itself, and Twlight's kind of kept that momentum going, but I can see why some folks would worry.

[meep]

What's odd to me is that some books I considered regular old scifi/fantasy is classed in with YA at the library. Ender's Game? WTF? Just because it has kids in it doesn't mean it's necessarily kiddie fiction. It's like sticking David Copperfield or Oliver Twist in YA... uh, it's intended for all ages, but even so, it's not really YA.

I think some of the YA shelving is library propaganda, some is marketing, and some is indicating that the books are ok for younger kids or that they might find it interesting.

But then, my dad gave me Stranger in the Strange Land when I was 12 (didn't get the sex, so I just skipped those parts). I saw YA as the Sweet Valley High books, and I started reading "adult" books around middle school. So my idea of literary classifications may be a bit "off".

[meep]

I'm not a librarian, but I totally support these books like Ender's Game being shelved wherever young readers are more likely to find them. I'd guess they're shelved in Adult SF/F as well, no? If not, they should be in both places, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with putting them in YA too, is there?

--Laini
www.growwings.blogspot.com

[meep]

Well, at my library (very small), generally they have only one copy of a book. So they've got to pick a place and keep it there.