tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post3185857723475088293..comments2024-03-09T11:10:46.978-05:00Comments on Brooklyn Arden: Theory: A Definition of YA LiteratureCherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05972029478350879112noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-49356734583899042952013-08-15T19:45:10.150-04:002013-08-15T19:45:10.150-04:00(Four years late to this post, but it's still ...(Four years late to this post, but it's still relevant!)<br /><br />I heard this nugget in a MG/YA session as San Francisco Writers Conference a few years back. The speaker (which I think was Melissa Manlove of Chronicle Books) was asked the difference between MG and YA. Paraphrasing her answer: "In middle grade, the protagonist is finding his or her place within the family; in young adult, the protagonist is finding his or her place in society."<br /><br />The "where do I fit in" question is, I think, another big definer of YA versus adult books. Maybe that's moved into the trendy "new adult" section in the last year, but it's still very relevant to teens.<br /><br />Gallup has done a lot of research over the decades that shows that people form their core strengths in their teenage years. By 17, we've pretty much become who we will be for the rest of our lives in terms of our strongest talents. The YA reader is in a phase of discovery and change, becoming who they will be the rest of their lives. (The life worth living, as you suggest.) But when we're grown up, we already are who we will always be, and we're just trying to make the best of it.PJDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05028687955957107957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-48626628330872913762012-08-07T17:27:27.072-04:002012-08-07T17:27:27.072-04:00Interesting to see your take on this topic, as I a...Interesting to see your take on this topic, as I am currently writing a novel that has me perplexed as to audience. It is told in 1st person by the 18-year-old male protagonist, but the scope is larger than merely his own personal conflicts, or at least it seems so because the story is set in 1791, when 18 would be adult and so the protagonist's interests revolve around finances, survival, security, work, and political events which affect his life. In addition I have used language befitting the time, which I'm not sure would appeal to today's YA readers. But the protagonist definitely runs the show and though the story has some dire consequences, it does end on a hopeful note.<br /><br />I've actually sent excerpts to an agent in hopes of representation, of course, but also to help me decide who the audience is. My mother, an avid reader, says adult, but some of the members of my writing group say YA. I'm thinking it might be cross-over. After 20 published novels, you'd think I might know, but I don't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-84754695364899451182012-08-04T17:01:34.974-04:002012-08-04T17:01:34.974-04:00"A YA novel is centrally interested in the ex..."A YA novel is centrally interested in the experience and growth of<br />its teenage protagonist(s),<br />whose dramatized choices, actions, and concerns drive the<br />story,<br />and it is narrated with relative immediacy to that teenage perspective."<br /><br />I wish I would have written the above definition! It has captured the very essence of "how to" write a young adult novel by explaining "what" a young adult novel is! Well done!<br /><br />Diane LunsfordAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-50041305003132197362011-12-10T13:46:38.807-05:002011-12-10T13:46:38.807-05:00A great discussion, but marred by these viagra tag...A great discussion, but marred by these viagra tag-alongs. Anyhow, in my many years as a YA lit columnist, I have made several attempts as the genre changed to define it. In my recent collection, Campbell's Scoop, I said, "As the books in an individual genre grow to a body of literature, definitive characteristics of form, voice, and structure begin to emerge...The central theme of YA fiction is becoing an adult. No matter what events are going on in the book, accomplishing that task well is really what the book is about. ..The narration moves swiftly to a point where the protagonist has an epiphany that matures him or her in some vital way and, as a manifestation of that inner change, solves a problem that has been central to the plot....There is no requirement for hope, or even cheerfulness, in the YA novel."<br /> As to that last, it is striking that the two most definitive books of YA lit, Catcher in the Rye and The Chocolate War (and even more so, Cormier's greatest novel, I Am the Cheese) end in seeming darkness. However, as I said about Cormier in my biography of him, "He shows us the light by writing about the darkness which is its shadow."<br /><br />Patty CampbellPatty Campbellhttp://roadtripeurope.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-55126602672146100382011-07-07T23:43:05.543-04:002011-07-07T23:43:05.543-04:00The examples of the YA books that do delve into th...The examples of the YA books that do delve into the darkness seem to be the exceptions that prove the rule. They are good because the are exceptional- i.e. rare. Of course they do provide that element of realism, in that not everything in life works out well.<br />But why do most people want to read a good book? For many it is escapism- we want to escape the darkness or dullness of our own reality into a world that will give us adventure and/or hope, and I think this is especially important for YA lit. I can think of plenty of times as a teenager feeling depressed and lost and hopeless, and if I had read a ton of books that only emphasized how much life sucks, I might have just wanted to kill myself! (not literally, but you get the idea).. As a young reader I want to read about characters who have to go through problems because so do I, but I wouldn't be interested in one who can't or refuses to deal with them and search for or find some bigger meaning in life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-60388555918586511962011-03-08T00:27:12.854-05:002011-03-08T00:27:12.854-05:00Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been m...Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been months for me. Well this article that I've been waited for so long. I need this article to complete my assignment in the college, and it has same topic with your article. 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Young adults are very aware of how dark the world can be; it is our need as adults to keep them innocent which says: "you can have a close friend doing drugs but not your hero" or it has to have a happy ending. I was told recently that one of my characters behaves unacceptably and no publisher will touch a book which suggests male violence to women is alright. Fair enough - until you see the context: a soldier who slaps his girlfriend across the face because she is hysterical and in danger and he cannot reach her verbally. Do we know longer expect young people to interpret and evaluate other's actions for themselves, just a strict list of things we cannot show them?Louise44https://www.blogger.com/profile/09805715379098452565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-46249626319866805442009-11-12T10:31:03.303-05:002009-11-12T10:31:03.303-05:00A friend referred me to this blog post, as I am st...A friend referred me to this blog post, as I am struggling figuring out if my story is a YA or an Adult novel. She thinks it's Adult, but even after reading this I am not sure. This was an excellent post and I think I'll refer back to it from time to time as I try to resolve what kind of story I have written. Thanks for posting this!Rebecca Hamiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11061835651928133947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-71589788346641940932009-11-03T14:28:04.688-05:002009-11-03T14:28:04.688-05:00I thought The Book Thief WAS YA. Because the whole...I thought The Book Thief WAS YA. Because the whole time I was reading I was thinking, YA? Really? Loved it though.Angie McCullaghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13338130265872869124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-20416207573648944622009-10-28T17:23:16.775-04:002009-10-28T17:23:16.775-04:00Thanks for this great discussion. It helped me pu...Thanks for this great discussion. It helped me put my thoughts into a workable context. As others have mentioned, I would love to compare/contrast with a definition of middle grade.Bernadinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09275738129962029247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-76995661157045947232009-10-05T13:17:21.883-04:002009-10-05T13:17:21.883-04:00This is often where I find adult books separating ...<i>This is often where I find adult books separating themselves out here, because while they may have a younger protagonist, the adult books aren't interested in that protagonist's life per se -- they're interested in showing the world the protagonist will encounter in all its ugliness or glory, and a younger character often provides a useful "innocent" or "naive" viewpoint, or at the very least a figure of instant sympathy to adults.</i><br /><br />I think this is central. I often think of it as, if a teen character exists as a <i>symbol</i> of something (innocence, lost use, what have you) it's an adult book. If they exist primarily as a character in their own right without needing to represent anything, it's a YA. To some extent I think this is true for middle grade, too.<br /><br />I've also found that for some adults it's very very instinctive to read any child or teen character as a symbol, and that this means a story with a young character sometimes is read as a very different story by different readers.Jannihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08256724217277645321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-32824269599348507032009-10-05T13:08:40.448-04:002009-10-05T13:08:40.448-04:00Love this post! I think you hit right on the mark...Love this post! I think you hit right on the mark with your YA guidelines. It made me feel even more confident that I'm writing towards the market that I wanted to. I agree with other commenters that the "hope" aspect could be flexible, but personally I prefer YA fiction to always be left with at least the hint of hope toward a happy ending even if it's not implicitly spelled out in the ending words. The feeling of much life left to live is exactly what my goal is at the end of my series.Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos}https://www.blogger.com/profile/09824996048264979275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-83536499339080385882009-06-15T22:16:53.146-04:002009-06-15T22:16:53.146-04:00Excellent discussion! I'm struggling to catego...Excellent discussion! I'm struggling to categorize my current WIP as either MG or YA. From your description, I would say it's YA (which is what I've thought it was all along).Scotti Cohnhttp://www.scotticohn.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-54564632750577242242009-06-11T15:35:47.795-04:002009-06-11T15:35:47.795-04:00I've always heard that kids/teens want to read...I've always heard that kids/teens want to read about a protagonist that's a little older than they are. So if that's the case, I agree with Emily's statement that there should be a little more room about 18 for YA fiction protagnoists.Jeanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06578083950272411338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4074861.post-78349388400617930222009-06-10T20:47:56.797-04:002009-06-10T20:47:56.797-04:00Great answer to a question that my writing student...Great answer to a question that my writing students often ask, Cheryl. And the follow-up comments have been very interesting. I especially appreciate what Ms. Lee Wardlaw added to the discussion. Gives me terrific "food-for-thought" as I revise my own YA historical novel.Carmela Martinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15543808551988338496noreply@blogger.com