Living YA

Earlier this week, The Barnes & Nobles Book Blog (yep, B&N has a book blog), posted a funny bit called "9 Signs You Might Be Living in a YA Novel". Take a look here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/9-signs-you-might-be-living-in-a-ya-novel/

Just another reminder that the whole world seems to have gone YA (that's Young Adult if you're among the uninitiated). And nothing wrong with that. Despite all the drama (and there's plenty of it in a YA novel), if you have to live somewhere, a YA novel isn't a bad choice. Not bad at all.

So why all the focus on YA and children's books in general in recent years? Well, primarily because more adults (who aren't teachers or librarians or moms and dads) are now reading books intended for children. Thanks Harry Potter. Thanks The Hunger Games. Thanks Divergent. Oh and let's not forget Twilight. Thanks, Bella and Edward...

But even adults reading YA thanks to these blockbusters still don't realize just how diverse and varied a world YA is. Some might not even realize that many of their recent favorite or most anticipated movies were actually YA novels before they hit the big screen. The Spectacular Now, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the highly anticipated The Book Thief are just a few examples and none of these books have witches, vampires or hunger death matches.

What these books do have are well-realized characters, emotional depth and honesty that is just as compelling as any vampire romance and meaning that will stick with you.

So while this bit from B&N Book Blog does poke fun at the similarities in themes, character elements and narrative devices, and the outlandish or just down right sad things about YA, make no mistake there is plenty of great and even groundbreaking things happening in YA, too, and there's more to this world than you might think. For every Dystopian or Fantasy blockbuster, there are also classics in waiting. A Separate Peace, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn all have wonderful heir apparents. 

If you'd like to find yourself living in a YA novel sometime soon, and don't know where to start to expand your reading beyond the  recent trend of Dystopian, here's a reading list for you of some of my recent favs:


Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth



You can thank me later. Careful, they're addictive...