Literature. There are a thousand ways to classify the written art. On the shelves of the public library you will find fiction and nonfiction, poetry and short stories, children’s books and adult books. No matter who a person is, there are a wide variety of genres for a person to expore. One genre which is often looked down upon is young adult literature, also known as YA literature.
In the literary world, YA books are looked at with scorn as they are considered “not real literature”. But this is not the case. According to Mrs. Russell, Lincoln Northeast English teacher, literature is “anything that takes hold of you when you read it or… keeps you on the edge of your seat.” Young adult literature does just that. Whether you are a fan of historical novels or fantasy novels, there will always be interesting books to read from the YA category. This does not just include topics though, YA books also vary in length. So whether you are interested in a quick read or a long adventure, there will always been an abundance of stories to experience.
There are many important aspects to a good story. In order to capture a reader’s interest an author must create a believable setting along with a worthwhile plot. While YA literature typically has both of these things, this genre also is often successful at creating interesting characters. As Mr. Hill, Lincoln Northeast English teacher explains, “Most young adult literature I think does something I think adult literature doesn’t do, and that’s [have] realistic dialogue.” Stories are meant to offer a message, some sort of theme. YA literature is brilliant at portraying important themes society tends to skip over. These are themes such as body issues, sexuality and gender.
While surfing through TV channels on a lazy Sunday, you are bound to see several trailers of upcoming movies. A lot of recent movies have been based off of popular novels, a majority stemming from the YA genre. There is an obvious reason for this: People find young adult literature entertaining. As found in a Bower Market survey in 2012, 55% of YA novels are bought by adults. So as much as adults spout how YA literature is not real literature, and how kids don’t know what real literature is, the reality of it is, a lot of YA literature is read by those who are no longer young adults themselves. Hill explains the disregard of YA literature quite nicely. “In just the regular community at large I think it’s just ignorance. They probably just haven’t read it before. Or maybe they read it at a time that it wasn’t labeled ‘young adult’. And I think in the writing community, it’s just kind of a snobbish response. I think they associate it with children’s literature. Which it is not.”
Reading is important. If someone says they do not enjoy reading, they haven’t found the right book yet. Young adult literature is a wonderful genre to read in order to find your next favorite novel. As Vera Nazarian, Armenian-Russian American writer says, “Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.”