The best way to enter the secret world of teenagers is to listen to their music and read the books that grab them. On the surface, that's why we're reaching for the young adult (YA) novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and naming it the Sunday Arts Section (SAS) Book Club choice for November.This award-winning novel about Hazel, a 16-year-old depressed and dying teenager who falls in love while she battles cancer, has caught the attention of many avid readers and literary critics. No doubt this is because Green has written a novel that manages to deal with serious, almost unspeakable issues of life and death without being sappy, condescending or maudlin. That is not an easy feat.
Time Magazine named The Fault in Our Stars the best novel for 2012–and they didn't single it out as a young adult novel. There's no denying that Green, who is also the author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns, definitely has his pulse on teen issues, but that's just scratching the surface when it comes to reasons why we all appreciate–or should appreciate–YA literature.Bibliophiles gravitate towards YA literature because the audience is demanding. It's no easier to please a teen in literature than it is in real life. They think everything is "boring." They want excitement, credible characters, natural dialogue, real-life issues and conflicts–and no preaching, thank you very much.
And what exactly is YA literature, you might ask?
YA literature is a relatively new category of literature that serves as a bridge between children's literature and adult literature. In my generation, there were no YA books. You just took the giant leap to adult literature–usually classics–when you became a teen. YA literature is actually murky territory as far as literature goes. Librarians and booksellers cast a wide net when it comes to YA, with some saying it is literature that targets 12-18-year-old readers. While there's no doubt YA is meant to capture the teen market, a funny thing happened on the way to the bookstore: adults became fascinated with YA literature.
Surely you've read at least one of the books that have made popular YA reading lists. Consider the following books:
�2 The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
�2 The Giver, by Lois Lowry
�2 The Twilight saga, by Stephenie Meyer
�2 The Outsiders (a modern YA classic), by S E Hinton
�2 The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold.
�2 My Sister's Keeper, by Jody Picoult
Put simply, good Young Adult literature is good literature that transcends any age group. It's a useful literary bridge between childhood and adulthood.
To learn more about YA literature, check out this essay by Nolan Feeney in The Atlantic: The Eight Habits of Highly successful Young Adult Fiction Authors (tinyurl.com/mts4f9p).
Next week–Meet Hazel, a 16-year-old who is discovering what life is really about even as she battles cancer. Find out why teens and adults find Hazel's story a positive and uplifting one.
Join us in the SAS Facebook group to discuss The Fault in Our Stars and YA literature. What do you think YA literature really is? Does it serve a purpose or is it merely a marketing tool?