{"id":1375,"date":"2010-08-07T20:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-07T20:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=1375"},"modified":"2018-11-20T05:33:02","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T05:33:02","slug":"few-thoughts-on-reading-ya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=1375","title":{"rendered":"A Few Thoughts on Reading YA"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was reading a post on Beth Kephart’s blog<\/a> about the recent NY Times article explaining the appeal of young adult literature for adult readers<\/a>. Written by Pamela Paul, it’s a very good piece, and thought-provoking. I had started typing out a response to Beth’s post and realized I was starting to blather on and should probably make it a full post of my own. So I did. In answer to Beth’s question: Why are so many adults reading books that are (at the very least) marketed to teens? <\/i><\/p>\n

The quotes she pulled from the article held some of the reasons that resonated with me most for reading YA in my adult years: “Y.A. authors aren’t writing about middle-aged anomie or disappointed people,” says Amanda Foreman. “A lot of contemporary adult literature is characterized by a real distrust of plot. I think young adult fiction is one of the few areas of literature right now where storytelling really thrives,” says Lev Grossman. <\/p>\n

YA, to me, generally lacks a pretension that is often present in adult literary fiction. Few young adults, in my experience, have the patience for pretension. As adults we are expected to tolerate if not embrace it, because isn’t that what it means to be a grownup? Aren’t we supposed to have learned something, progressed, gotten “somewhere”<\/i>? <\/p>\n

I like the fact that YA literature, by contrast, embraces the process, the journey, reminds me that I can still learn and grow regardless of age. <\/p>\n

I sometimes feel like adult fiction demands more from me than it gives. And in the end I find myself wondering why I read it–was it solely for self-congratulatory reasons, to say that I read it? I also feel that much more self-indulgence, more wandering, more lack of discipline is tolerated in adult literature. There are a lot of gatekeepers in fiction for younger people, and sometimes I think that has an effect on quality, too. I think some of our current era’s most exciting, well-considered, high-quality writing–and some of our most enthusiastic reading–is coming out of the YA (and MG) areas. On the other hand, I find a lot of “grown-up” fiction lacking: lacking in storytelling, lacking in consistent quality, lacking in verve<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Stories are NOT just for kids. There; I said it. We all need them. We need good ones, and we need stories that transport us, that help us grow, that neither condescend to us nor insult our intelligence. Retaining a joy in words and in story is not something that should be considered the sole domain of children’s literature, something to be savored only until we somehow “graduate” to becoming properly embittered and stultified adults. <\/p>\n

A good story is a good story, period. End of soapbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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