YA literature’s appeal crosses generations, proves to readers ‘anything’s possible’

In young adult (YA) literature, nothing is more true than the saying, “What goes around comes around.”
Popular genres are as different as the generations from which they originate. Generation Z started off in an era marked by beloved dystopian and fantasy giants such as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. These stories, as well as others published in the early 2000s, feature plots that personify the world in which we live. From Quidditch to Quarter Quells, these stories created new immersive settings that left a lasting impact on our generation. Prominent trends from novels published around this time involve twisted love triangles, scientific future worlds and a whole lot of vampires.
Media center coordinator Susan McFarlane believes these trends are fizzling out.
“When analyzed over time, trends in young adult fiction seem to cycle through fazes and genres that reflect what’s happening in our culture,” McFarlane said.
Recently, contemporary realistic books have taken over the YA market. John Green’s novels The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns have each separately spent over 100 weeks on The New York Times’ Young Adult Bestsellers List. Similar novels on the list include Gayle Forman’s If I Stay and Where She Went, which have both stayed on the list for over 35 weeks thus far. These novels cover relatable topics such as romance, addiction, cancer and suicide.
The market of YA literature has become extremely sophisticated in recent years, according to Molly Jaffa of Folio Literary Management. This has resulted in adults reading books which were originally written for teens.
“YA literature has gotten so much stronger in recent years,” English teacher Lauren Deal said. “The stigma of ‘that book’s just YA lit’ should be changing.”
This change is especially apparent in those who are buying YA books. In 2012, 55 percent of the buyers of YA literature were adults, according to Publisher’s Weekly. The largest age bracket of that percentage included ages 30 to 44, and that age group alone accounted for 28 percent of overall YA book sales.
Sophomores Sarah Skinner and Sara Cook, who both work at Island Bookstore in Duck, have seen this trend while working.
Skinner believes that the audience shift is due to current YA books having deeper meanings and more intellectual layers.
“YA fiction is transitioning from being a genre that was read only by people under 20 to being a hub for political commentary and stark observations about life,” Skinner said. “As the books themselves change, so does their audience.”
Cook agreed. “Books like The Fault in Our Stars by John Green may have been written for young adults, but the story is just as obsessed over by adults as it is for young adults,” Cook said. “Young adult books usually have a main character in their late teens and adults like reading about that point in life; they don’t like reading about adults that have a job and obligations.”
Cook continued, “I think adults like to get away from the monotony and stress of being an adult by reading books for young adults, because that’s the age frame where anything’s possible and the future is still up to you to decide.”
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