Genres change, and people do too.
I first started reading young adult fiction when I was nine years old. I’ll admit, that’s probably a bit young to be reading supernatural romance novels, but even fifth graders weren’t immune to Twilight-mania in 2009.
Now, ten years later, I am still reading young adult fiction. Despite graduating high school, and moving on from the dystopia and dramatic fantasy of my preteen years, I still read the same genre. Why?
Young adult fiction is a relatively new genre, only becoming mainstream in the late 1990s with the introduction of Harry Potter. Although of course teen books had been written before (classics like The Outsiders come to mind), all of a sudden teens were being seen as a viable, passionate, audience for books. Books about teens for teens, took the world by storm — creating multi-million dollar franchises from a source material targeted youth.
Over the past twenty years, the book industry has changed. There have always been trends in the publishing world (see the dystopia takeover of the early 2010s), but recently the YA genre has made a major shift towards inclusivity. Take a look at any Teen shelf at your local bookstore, and find pages upon pages of books about people of colour, LGBT+ pride, disabilities, tragedy, and everything in between. Topics that are often seen as too risky or too serious or too niche, can be found on the shelves of YA readers everywhere.
Growing up being able to take in stories that I related too — reading stories about identity and mental illness and figuring out who you are — shaped me as a person. Seeing myself written out on paper, seeing the problems I was having solved before my eyes, saved me. Books were my escape, a place where I could see myself — and not the 30-somethings who play high schoolers on TV. Even in the fantasy and dystopia novels I talked about before — so many of these books featured strong (often female) characters fighting for what’s right and standing up for what they believe in (sound familiar?). These books inspired a generation of teens to change the world and just to be themselves.
But teens grow up. Now, the teens like me who were raised reading books with characters they relate to are adults. We’re expected to make the jump from reading books about people going through the same things we are to reading books about 40-something year-old men trying to solve a mystery. The books about college students in the general fiction section are few and far between, stories about LGBT+ people and minorities our age are even harder to find.
Over 50% of YA readers are over the age of 18. While many of those might be adults who just like to read this entertaining, diverse, eclectic mix of a genre, I think many people are like me — lost in a transition that doesn’t really exist. The contrast between Young Adult and General Fiction is so stark its jarring, and I can’t seem to find a way in.
Enter New Adult. NA is an even newer genre, only really named in 2009. Even still, it’s not recognized in publishing or bookstores, and is mainly used by readers like me trying to find books about people their age. Currently, NA authors have to choose whether to shelve their book in Adult or YA, limiting their audience just a little either way. It’s a growing genre, with many book communities online pleading for it to be recognized or for at least more books to be published about college kids just figuring life out. Of course, people can read books about people older or younger than themselves. And of course, you don’t have to relate to every character you read. But I definitely miss the days of being able to pick up almost any book in a section, and finding something in it for me.
YA and NA blend genres, in each there are fantasy and sci-fi and realism and romance. The focus is on the characters, their journey, relationships and friendships, and just plain life. So many books these days don’t fit into just one genre, and part of YA and NA is the fact that they don’t have to. So much has changed about our world, what we talk about, who we are, the stories we want to hear, but often it doesn’t seem like other genres reflect that.
So I read YA. I’ll pick up a General Fiction novel if it interests me. I will scour the shelves until I find something that clicks. Books are my escape, but they are also where I go when I want to relate to a character. Sure, I’m not in high school anymore, but I’m also don’t really feel ready for a mid-life crisis. For now, I’ll keep looking for my in between.
Some New Adult book recommendations for your reading pleasure:
- A Question of Us by Mary Jayne Baker
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
- By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery
- Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
- The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
Disclaimer: Yes, there are inclusive general fiction books, and yes there are general fiction books about 18–30 year olds. But they are hard to find. This is my personal opinion and look at the book industry today, and a niche that I think needs to be filled.
