Comments on: Eight Reasons Adults Read YA

By: mbeezy

mbeezy — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 13:31:00 +0000

I love YA books. I like to read them in between the adult books that are sometimes really heavy. I like new stuff like The Hate U Give but I also like to go back to childhood favorites.

By: G. Myrthil

G. Myrthil — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 11:56:00 +0000

In reply to Beth Schmelzer. I haven't read these yet, but I will check them out! I've been meaning to read The Sun is Also a Star since I loved her first book, Everything, Everything. Thanks for sharing. Good luck with your MG mystery!

By: G. Myrthil

G. Myrthil — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 11:45:00 +0000

In reply to Furious Strong. I love your reasons, and I totally agree! Thanks for sharing. :)

By: Beth Schmelzer

Beth Schmelzer — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 11:05:00 +0000

In reply to G. Myrthil. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicole Yoon; OCDaniel by Wesley King (winner of 2016-17 Edgar award!) and Operation Oleander by Valerie Patterson are some great YA books I enjoyed this year, although I am writing MG mystery currently. Beth Schmelzer, fellow SCBWI member from Mid-Atlantic area

By: Furious Strong

Furious Strong — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:02:00 +0000

Great article. I’d like to add my own reasons:

One, I often find it easier to empathize with younger POVs than POVs from characters my own age. Two, I feel like YA has a lack of cynicism and pretension compared to a lot of adult fiction – there’s just a freshness to it that I like. I can read cynical and dark material in moderation, but I stay away from works that come off as both cynical and pretentious. Reading even little excerpts of Jonathan Franzen puts a bad taste in my mouth – I have enough cynicism and bitterness of my own without immersing myself in someone else’s negativity!

By: G. Myrthil

G. Myrthil — Thu, 04 May 2017 11:09:00 +0000

In reply to MK.

I’m glad you liked it – thanks so much!

I agree that it’s the most interesting time of life. I’m also not in a rush to write for the adult audience. Actually, I recently switched from writing young adult to writing middle-grade. I’m really happy with writing for these age groups. There’s so much to explore. 🙂

By: MK

MK — Tue, 02 May 2017 14:39:00 +0000

Great round-up! I can’t stand when people tell me I *should* be reading and writing adult fiction instead of YA. It’s not a matter of one being better than the other, and also, don’t tell me what to do 🙂

I’d add that teenage-hood is just such a unique time in your life — in general, at no other time in life are you so uncomfortable, so afraid, so confused, and yet so hopeful. And that’s scientific! It has to do with the hardwiring in our brains. For me, it’s just the most interesting time of life to set a story. Maybe someday I’ll experiment with writing adult, but that day is not today.