3. 3
So, what is YA Lit?
http://sideofwonder.com/2013/08/23/what-is-young-adult-literature/
4. 4
What is YA Literature?
•Definition #1:
– YA literature refers to books written
specifically for a teenage audience. The
books usually have a young protagonist
and present that young person dealing
with issues that other young people all face
(belonging, falling in love, or deciding
what to do in the future, for example) or
issues that young people are afraid they
may have to face (violence, drug
dependency, alcoholism, being alone,
death of a loved one, pregnancy, or
divorce of parents).
• HIGH SCHOOL CONNECTIONS: YA: FAQ (We're
Glad You Asked!), ALAN Review, 27, no. 2 (Fall 2000)
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What is YA Literature?
•Definition #2:
– YA literature is anything young
adults are reading of their own
free will. Teenagers vary widely in
their reading interests.
•Definition #3:
– YA literature is any book
marketed as YA by a publisher.
Sometimes the classification of a
book as YA seems arbitrary.
• YA: FAQ (We're Glad You Asked!)
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Derogatory views
•As a genre it has been
referred to as:
–‘Adult Lite’, not a real book
–a genre not in its own right, a step
up to adult books (Aronson, p. 19)
–novels for slow learners
–books just about sex and drugs,
dysfunctional families and dropping
out, and
–a ‘sub-literature’ not worthy of
discussion, especially in the class
room (England and Mertz, p. 119).
• Developing a love of reading: why
young adult literature is important
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Carte Blanche
• What Is Young-Adult Literature?
– Does anyone any longer know
what we mean by the term
young-adult literature? Not so
long ago, I would have said,
without too much fear of
contradiction, that it meant
books for readers from 12 to 18
years old. But, over the course of
the last several years, the term
has grown so restlessly
expansive that it now seems to
embrace titles for readers as
young as 10 and (arguably) as
old as 35.
• http://murrayyalit.org/WhatIsYALiterature.pdf
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Cart’s evolution of YA Lit
1. Books for readers from 12 to 18
years old
2. Expansion of YA to include the 10
to14 age range
• Roots in the middle-school movement of
the late 1980s
3. Inclusion of the 19 to 35 range, at the
other end of the demographic
• a newer, more market-driven
phenomenon that is related, I would
argue, to the ongoing shift of the YA
market from the institutional to the
retail
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Content of this evolution?
• The traditional YA literature of the
1970s
• Crossover fiction, novels, that is, with
multigenerational appeal
–They’re typically written by young
authors, usually in their twenties; they're
often first novels or novels presented in
the form of the currently fashionable
collection of linked stories. Their
protagonists may be teens, but just as
often they are in their twenties. Coming-of-
age or rite-of-passage issues drive their
plots. And, perhaps most importantly,
they are published as adult novels.
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Why define YA Lit, then?
• Selecting books for young adults is difficult.
–[Young adults] read for information and
for pleasure. They read to escape the
confines of their own lives, and to better
understand their world. Gender, age, and
personal reading preferences influence
young adults’ book selections. Some young
adults select books published especially for
their age level; others select books
published for adults. Young adults may
read a novel because of its plot, theme,
style, or other literary characteristics.
• A Portrait of Popularity:
An Analysis of Characteristics of Novels from Young
Adults’ Choices for 1997, ALAN Review, 27, no. 2
(Fall 1999) by Rosemary Chance
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Chance’s study
•YA’s tend to choose “character-driven”
novels:
–protagonists are round and dynamic, . . .
well developed
–the majority of the novels have conflict
that centers on people, person-against-self
and person-against-person
–protagonists tell their stories from first
person point of view
–backdrop settings illuminate character
–the major thematic idea is becoming self-aware
and responsible for one's own life.
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Characteristics of YA Lit
• YAL involves a teenage protagonist
and often reflects and interprets
their views
• YAL is fast-paced. Generally, its dialogue is
direct and confrontational, and the
language is sparse
• YAL includes a variety of genres, themes
and subjects
• YAL is basically optimistic, or at least
hopeful
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