Thursday, March 31, 2011

Why I Love YA

  1. Genre rules don't always apply - you're limited only by your imagination.
  2. Sometimes literary and commercial are one in the same.
  3. I can let loose my inner teen.
  4. Hot bad boys! What?
  5. No fear. YA writers go for the gusto. They take risks that adult writers don't always take both in craft and in subject matter.
  6. Reaching readers of all ages. YA spans a multi-generational audience.
  7. Fantasy is mainstream, more easily accepted by YA readers. Just look what Harry Potter and Twilight have done for the genre.
  8. The characters are easy to connect with. YA tends to be very character driven, which I love.
  9. There are so many GOOD YA books out there, I know the quality of what I'm picking up is likely to be high.
  10. YA writers are the friendliest most frawesome group of people I know.
What do you love about YA?

*No offense to any MG or adult writers out there. But I gotta show my genre love. ;D

40 comments:

  1. You pretty much cover it. More and more I find myself really liking a cross between literary and commercial; and a cross between character driven and plot driven. I know. A lot to ask. But really, I enjoy a lot of different things. I love a great MG too but they tend to be more upper MG borderline YA. And the writing community is pretty awesome!

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  2. That's it! I agree wholeheartedly with all these points. YA books are some of the best-written I've seen, and these days I rarely read anything else.

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  3. Yes!! All of these things are so true about YA. I especially love number 2. Tons of YA books these days are full of gorgeous, literary writing (this includes free verse) and people are buying them up. Commercial and literary??? Yes, please :)

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  4. I couldn't argue a single one of these, even if I wanted to. I especially love #7 because I can't write a story that doesn't have something weird going on.

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  5. Ah, I'm actually not a fan of YA. I've tried and tried to get into the genre, but with each book I pick up, I want to scream by the time I get past the first chapter (or maybe even the first few pages). That's not to say I haven't found some YA I love, but it's been very few and far between.

    ~JD

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  6. Yes! I agree with your list completely. I'm totally biased, but I do think YA is the best market there is. :)

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  7. Number 2 is my very favorite! I love that.

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  8. You're so right. And coming from a perspective of working in a school -- the love that kids show for the books that really wow them is just awesome! They're also painfully honest and want real stories that speak to them.

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  9. Wow! You guys are awesome as usual. :D And not just cuz most of you agree with me. He he he. It sounds like the BEST thing to most people is the blurred line between literary and commercial and I love that too! Obviously I guess since I wrote the post!

    Justine - I'm SOOOO glad you were honest! I am really curious what it is that drives you away so quickly? In all seriousness I would love to know. I think it would be interesting to all of us, and good for us to be aware of when writing. Although clearly it's not for everyone, as there are so many different tastes out there. Either way I <33 you for visiting and sharing!

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  10. I love YA too, but my heart will always be fantasy/scifi, generally adult. Maybe because there isn't all that much YA high fantasy? I loved Ender's Game, and that's sorta YA scifi. :)

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  11. Bethany - Oh but there is YA high fantasy!! Check out MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess if you haven't yet. It's wonderful! ;D I'm reading ACROSS THE UNIVERSE right now and loving it, and that's totally SCI-FI. And of course HUNGER GAMES. Ahhh, I love it!

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  12. You've pretty much covered it but I would also add awesome book covers!!

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  13. Ah yes, all excellent reasons to love YA. I love how it expresses teen emotions that really don't change that much as we move to adulthood (unless that's just me). A lot of those same insecurities linger on...

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  14. I loves it because when I meet my readers I sometimes get hugs and thank yous. That's part of it. The other part is I get to play with the teen me again.

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  15. Yes, yes and yes! I mean, what's not to love about the most wonderfully confusing years of life? All the butterflies and firsts...yum. Oh, and I've got an award for you over yonder on my blog!

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  16. These are all great reasons--I couldn't agree with you more!

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  17. These are fantastic reasons to read AND write YA!

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  18. I think you've about covered it! YA has so much freedom. There's such amazing talent out there in the YA genre. Not to mention, I still feel like I'm 14 most of the time. I write from that awkwardness. There's so much amazing potential in teens and I love forcing my characters to flesh out their own magnificence while dealing with their demons.

    Great post!
    Jen

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  19. Awwww, have I mentioned that you guys are ALL AWESOME??? Cuz you are. And yeah, I never grew up either, must be a YA writer thing...

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  20. I agree with all of your reasons! Especially #5. I love how YA writers take risks. I honestly can't imagine writing anything else (except maybe middle-grade) and being part of this community is just awesome. :)

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  21. let me just DITTO your list! LOVE IT. And, I love your blog! I've given you an award!! You can pick it up from my blog: http://www.margokelly.blogspot.com

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  22. I love that YA takes me back to my teen angst days, without fear of reverting back to the emotion-ridden phase. :P By the way, drop by my blog sometime. You have an AWARD waiting for you

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  23. This list is perfect - I hadn't thought of a lot of these like #1, 2, 5, 7 and 8.

    My personal reason for loving YA/MG and writing for kids is that the books that had the greatest affect on me where the ones I read from age 9-14.

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  24. Hey thanks for the awards everyone! Ghenet - I love risk taking too!! And Margo - That is a GREAT reason!

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  25. Yes and yes! I love all that and more. YA is the best because there are no limitations on what we can try. Teens are open to reading so much that it helps open our minds more. I love that! You're awesome for showing your genre love. ;)

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  26. Heather - It's a symbiotic relationship! Love that!

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  27. Hmmm ... When I'd find a reason why I love YA, I'd check your list and it was there. So I'll just say, "Ditto." Great post! :D

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  28. Agree, agree, agree. I love unleashing my teen self and being kinder to it than I was when I actually was that age.

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  29. Brenda and Leslie - I guess I was preaching to the choir! :D YA rules!

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  30. AGREED!! I LOVE the YA community, too! <3
    And I agree on the rest of things, too. YAY for our inner teens!
    And yanno? I'm 30 and I still buy some of my clothes in the teen section of the stores, lol.

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  31. Monica - if I still fit I'd do it too!

    Lynda - :D

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  32. #4 Oh yeah.

    And a lot of these are what I love about MG as well, although some are uniquely YA. Like those boys, for example. :)

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  33. Susan - Yeah maybe that should've been #1...

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  34. Hey, I'm a MG writer, and you've still hit lots of reasons I love reading YA too! (Fewer hot bad boys in MG, that's for sure.)

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  35. Amie - that's great! I love MG too, but those bad boys put YA over the edge. He he he

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