While browsing through a bookshop, I noticed a middle-aged woman standing before a shelf of books. With quick, irritated gestures, she put a forefinger on book spines to repeatedly jerk out several books, look at their covers and blurbs and insert them back with frustrated clicks of her tongue. Obviously, the collection of titles on the shelf did not match her needs. I glanced up at the shelf label. It said: YOUNG ADULT FICTION. I deduced that she was a mom looking for suitable reading material for her teenage son or daughter. It wasn’t long before she gave up and left. I took her position and looked at the titles displayed. To me, they seemed a good spread by well known authors writing for young adults. So why did they not cater to the despondent mom’s taste? In all probability, it was a case of an overly-protective parent apprehensive for her teenager’s future. Apparently, among the wide range offered, she had been unable to find the one book that would not taint the purity of her child’s mind and morals.
Having been teacher to young adults and an author, I have often had parents asking me how they can help their teenagers traverse the boulders and pitfalls while walking the path to adulthood. Yet, whenever I have suggested, ‘Why don’t you encourage them to read books?’ I got the perennial complaint, ‘Where are the good books?’
In fact, there are plenty. The secret is to let teenagers choose books they want to read from the multitudes available instead of reaching over their shoulders to push them towards your choice and consequently push them away from all choices…of books or reading.
Allowed to be footloose and fancy free, teenagers will usually make a beeline for titles that fall into a special readership section called Young Adult Literature.
Over the past decade or so Young Adult or YA literature has exploded manifold. Between 2002 and 2012 the publishing of YA titles has grown 120 percent, by some estimates.
But the moot question is: YA literature? Really? What’s that?
Well, YA books are for and about teenagers and pre-teens, usually between 12 and 18 years old. Yet more than half of YA novels are bought by readers older than 18 years and certain titles considered YA in the U.S. are bought by mainstream adults in other countries. While some authors intentionally target their writing to young readers, many writers may not even realize that their books will be labeled YA until after they finish writing. In the 19th century, certain books appealed to young readers even if not really written for them such as Swiss Family Robinson(1812) Dicken’s Oliver Twist(1838), Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo(1844), Alice in Wonderland (1865) , Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer(1876), Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894) to name a few. In the 1950s two books, Catcher in the Rye(1951) and Lord of the Flies(1954) attracted young readers. In the 1960s when research on adolescence began to emerge, literature for adolescents came into its own. In early 1970s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings(1969) by Maya Angelou, Friends(1973) by Rosa Guy, The Bell Jar(1963) by Sylvia Plath, Bless the Beasts and Children (1970) by Glendon Swarthout and Deathwatch(1972) by Robb White were published. But to be fair, these writers did not realize that they were writing for young readers.
Then in 1997, JK Rowling’s first book, Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone was published followed by six more of the series that were runaway successes and attributed to a resurgence of Young Adult literature. Soon after came The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. As publishers focused on books for young readers, libraries and booksellers began creating Young Adult sections as distinct from Children’s Literature and novels written for adults.
Yet the problem remains. Other than selecting books from shelves labeled Young Adults, how else can one identify YA literature? While not limited by them, YA literature does display some common traits.
Stories told from the viewpoint of teenagers.
Essentially, teenagers like to read about other teenagers. Even when a story may not focus on a teenager, it will be mostly told from the perspective of a young person. To Kill A Mockingbird is really a story for adults that revolves around the court trail of Atticus and Tom Robinson, but as it is told from the viewpoint of Scout, a young girl, it appealed to a lot of young adults.
Most YA stories don’t have adults as characters.
The protagonists would all be young people. This allows the teen characters to shine on centre stage and receive credit for their accomplishments. It is incredible how many of the stories completely eliminate all adult figures. For example, in the Lord of the Flies would the youngsters have hunted each other if they had an adult to guide them? If an adult does appear, it is rarely the parent of a character because parents are viewed as authoritarian figures. The adult in these stories would probably play the role of a mentor.
YA literature is fast-paced.
As it is teenagers struggle to read for pleasure, let alone be motivated to go through lengthy novels. In this regard, the Harry Potter series was ground-breaking. It is essential that YA stories are quick to read and are distinguished by limited characters and lesser narrative events. Also the language must flow naturally and display current and popular trends in speech and language.
A variety of genres and subjects make up YA literature.
Let’s not be misled thinking YA stories are only fiction. Youngsters have an appetite for non-fiction, poetry, drama, science fiction, historical fiction and even, graphic novels. So, authors are exploring a variety of subjects to attract young readers. Like adults, their tastes vary. Besides young adults are comfortable learning about other customs, regions or cultures. They can easily and entirely absorb themselves in expanding their horizons.
Optimism and character development is an inherent theme.
The capability to succeed on their own terms and in their own way appeals to young adults. So most stories explore this idea of change and growth which appears to be a common theme. Most of the time, the protagonist loses innocence as a part of the passage from childhood to adulthood. This ingrained desire to learn, grow and overcome is attractive to all ages.
Most YA literature deals with similar emotional struggles.
Teens usually take particular interest in emotions because at their age they are dealing with their own intense struggles. Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults, developing a personal ideology and ethics, acquiring social maturity, taking up a masculine or feminine sex role are part of their world. Using the protagonist’s arc of growth and achievements as surrogate, they seek solutions for their own anxieties and angst.
Some books in this category that you could consider.
Attachments, Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Landline by Rainbow Rowell. 
Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Ruth
Gingerbread and Beta by Rachel Cohn
The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, Will Grayson by John Green
Every Day, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
The Storyteller, My Sister’s Keeper and The Pact by Jodi Picoult
But let’s come back to the mom in the bookshop. Surely, she would want to know how reading YA books would help her teenager. Here are a few pointers
Reading YA Literature helps mental and emotional development by addressing reading abilities, thinking levels, and interest levels
YA stories deal with contemporary issues, problems, and experiences with characters that adolescents can relate to. Other than those mentioned above, some issues could be facing illness and death; dealing with peer pressure, specifically relating to drugs, alcohol, and sexual experimentation; and facing the realities of addiction and pregnancy
YA books make teenagers aware of contemporary world perspectives including cultural, social, and gender diversity; environmental issues; global politics; and international interdependence. Along with consciousness comes an urge to actively help out with the issues, thus channeling both youthful energy and ideals
First forays into the adult world bring adolescents face to face with taking responsibility for their own actions. YA literature reflects their conflicts. Catering to their preference, the content is rarely watered down. Rather it is sophisticated, artistic, compelling and depicts emotional truths because the idea is to convey the reality of situations.
Most young adult stories go beyond familiar territory and open the world up to readers. It educates them about diverse peoples and the world beyond their community.
Eventually, there is no doubt that YA Literature provides pleasure reading, demonstrates a wide range of human emotions and lets teenagers experience them through quality literature. It reveals the realities of life, provides vicarious experiences, with focus on what can make order out of chaos. Last but not the least, like all literatures it allows readers to escape into the realms of fantasy, introduces readers to excellent writers and writing, and increases literacy and the ability to analyze literature.
All Rights Reserved. Copyright@Sutapa Basu, 2016
