Friday Question: Do You Read YA?
Young Adult fiction is hugely popular at the moment, with books like the Harry Potter series, His Dark Materials and The Hunger Games achieving massive success among young and old alike, being made into blockbuster movies (some more successfully than others) and becoming a huge part of cultural consciousness.
What we would like to know this week, is:
Do YOU Read YA?
YA books are, of course, written for “young adults”, which is generally considered to be between the ages of 12 and 18 (although YA books have certainly been marketed to readers slightly younger or older than this range).
But why should this stop adults from reading them? Of course, it doesn’t, which is why some of these books have sold so many copies. YA literature, while marketed at a younger audience, can often be better at exploring and explaining some very real and meaningful “adult” situations.
If you do read YA, please let us know what your favourites are and why you like them. And if you don’t read YA, we’d love to hear why!
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Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Image courtesy of kendrak.
Christopher Jackson is the Editor for Fuel Your Writing and a creative copywriter. He is currently working on Project: Snotbook, an interactive children’s storybook for iPad.
I DO read YA. I’ll admit, I used to teach high school English, so I sort “had” to, but I’ve always enjoyed it. Now that I’m not teaching k-12 anymore, I don’t read YA as often, but I still enjoy them.
They tend to be page turners with great plots (they are targeted to the demographic with the tiniest attention span).
As an adult, reading YA is also kind of nostalgic, and it allows me to reconnect, almost relive, aspects of my own young adulthood.
Finally, I hope to write a YA piece in the near future, so I have to read YA as part of my education.
Thanks for the post!
I read YA for two reason. For one, I have children and I often read a book to see if it is right for them or I will actually read it in conjunction with them . We discuss plots as we read. Its fun.
Secondly, much YA these days has very adult themes(another reason I read to determine appropriateness before giving it to my child) and I don’t even feel as if I am reading something with young people in mind. I don’t like the romantic themes in YA these days though.
As an educator, I think it’s so wonderful that you read with your children and actually discuss the books with them. Major kudos to you. I wish all parents encouraged reading that way. Many parents barely keep books in the house.
I have to say that I don’t read YA typically. My “To Read” pile is pretty thick right now, but does include the Harry Potter series as well as The Hunger Games.
I encourage my children to read and go for the YA books that are challenging that get their minds working, and more often than not I end up reading the books when they’re done with them! I think it give me a great opportunity to share something in common with them and be able to start conversations with them. They both just read a great book called “Dr. Fuddle and the Gold Baton” by Warren L. Woodruff, you can check it out and get it right from the website http://www.drfuddle.com/. My kids loved it and I’m about to dive in to it myself! I’d love to hear what others are reading.