What drives YA speculative fiction?

[Drone]

I'm not greatly familiar with the range of young adult speculative fiction, but based on the considerable success of the two recent film franchises and a few other popular series that I've glanced at in book stores, does it seem that proportionately this genre is more or less dystopian than "adult" science/social fiction? In either case, what do you think accounts for its prominence in YA fiction? Cynicism about the dysfunction of our governmental and social structures or more simply a recognition that such scenarios provide a thrilling and engaging means of creating a sympathetic and fascinating hero or heroine that teens find easy and plausible to identify with? More likely a bit of both?

 

[Relayer1]

I'm not hugely familuar with the genre - I've seen the 'Twilight' movies and the first Hunger Games film. I've red the plot outlines on a few book covers of other YA franchises. To be honest, none of them seem particularly interesting and a lot of them (well, nearly all) seem very similar - outsiders or 'different' characters in the current day or ordinary youths in a dystopian near future.

I'm realy unimpressed. Maybe that's inevitable as I'm way out of the target demographic, but back when I was, I was already reading Ian Fleming, Tolkien, Asimov etc.

I really don't see the need for 'YA'. There was already a whole world full of varied and entertaining stuff out there...

 

[Sci]

I think we're seeing a lot of YA dystopian fiction at the moment partially as a reaction to the success of The Hunger Games, but also as a general reaction to the political climate in which we live. America is going through a very dark time in its history, and YA novelists are reacting to that. And their work is speaking to teenagers who are coming of age in this environment.

Add to this the level of creativity the genre allows writers to depict fantastical versions of the themes we all wrestle with as we grow up, and you have a recipe for a dystopia trend.

Mind you, dystopias have been a part of YA literature for a very long time, too--there was The Giver in the early 90s, for instance, or Z for Zachariah in 1975. Just for a few examples.

 

[intrinsical]

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

 

[Sci]

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

 

[intrinsical]

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

Sure, there are exceptions. It doesn't change the fact that the majority of YA novels have a female protagonist and usually she's just a teenager at the start of the series.

 

[JD]

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

There's also James Dashner's Maze Runner series, and Kami Garcia and Margaet Stohl's Caster Chronicles for male leads.
I've been reading quite a few YA series the last couple years, and I think Sci covered things pretty well. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Twilight definitely started the trend, and they are the reason so many of the books are modern fantasty or dystopias. I think Dystopia's in particular have taken off so much because they allow writers to take issues that a lot of people deal with today, and blow them up to absolute extremes. There's also probably a bit of cynicism about where things are headed now.

 

[Relayer1]

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

I'd not considered Harry Potter to be YA. It was a kids book as far as I was concerned (although very well written). I certainly considered them that way when I read them, although they did get darker as the series went on.

 

[JD]

Harry Potter is a weird one. The first few books do feel more like kids books, but once you get to Goblet of Fire they go in more of a YA direction.

 

[Sci]

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

I'd not considered Harry Potter to be YA. It was a kids book as far as I was concerned (although very well written). I certainly considered them that way when I read them, although they did get darker as the series went on.

Certainly one could make an argument that the first two or three are children's literature. But I have a hard time thinking of books 4 through 7 as not being YA. They're about teenagers, their audience base by that point was primarily teenagers, and they deal with many of the themes teenagers deal with as they grow up.

I think its better called Young Woman's fiction, because that's the main target audience. It is why the majority of the books feature a young teenage girl who overcome her insecurities or fear and turns into a heroine over the course of the series.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

Sure, there are exceptions. It doesn't change the fact that the majority of YA novels have a female protagonist and usually she's just a teenager at the start of the series.

I think if you were to actually look up YA literature and compile stats, you'd see that the breakdown is far less one-sided than you're making it out to be. (Bridge to Terebithia? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? The Giver? The Watsons Go to Birminham -- 1963? Holes?)

 

[Thestral]

Bridge to Terabithia as young adult? I think we're stretching the meaning to say that a story about 6th graders is young adult just because it deals with very serious themes.

Anyway, it seems to me that the recent spate is somewhat following-the-leader of later Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games. But on the other hand, I don't know that the themes are really that new or even particularly era-sensitive, it's just getting more attention because of big-budget movies.

 

[JD]

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

I'd not considered Harry Potter to be YA. It was a kids book as far as I was concerned (although very well written). I certainly considered them that way when I read them, although they did get darker as the series went on.

Certainly one could make an argument that the first two or three are children's literature. But I have a hard time thinking of books 4 through 7 as not being YA. They're about teenagers, their audience base by that point was primarily teenagers, and they deal with many of the themes teenagers deal with as they grow up.

I rather think J.K. Rowling and John Green might disagree with you.

Sure, there are exceptions. It doesn't change the fact that the majority of YA novels have a female protagonist and usually she's just a teenager at the start of the series.

I think if you were to actually look up YA literature and compile stats, you'd see that the breakdown is far less one-sided than you're making it out to be. (Bridge to Terebithia? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? The Giver? The Watsons Go to Birminham -- 1963? Holes?)

Several of the series I'm reading or plan on reading, Under The Never Sky, Legend, and Syrena Legacy, switch back and forth between male and female characters.

 

[JoeZhang]

The other thing about YA fiction - there are more people over 18 reading it then below...

 

[Mysterion]

A far cry from the Heinlein "juvies" that got me into reading SF back when. IIRC, Farmer in the Sky was my first real science-fiction novel, followed in fairly rapid succession by pretty-much anything else the library had by Heinlein. Now that was good YA SF.

 

[Sci]

Bridge to Terabithia as young adult?

Well, what we're touching on here is that there is, ultimately, no objective, consistent definition of YA literature. For my purposes, I tend to think of YA literature as being that primarily intended for an audience that's roughly aged 11 to 20, but I think these are some very fuzzy borders.

 

[intrinsical]

Bridge to Terabithia as young adult?

Well, what we're touching on here is that there is, ultimately, no objective, consistent definition of YA literature. For my purposes, I tend to think of YA literature as being that primarily intended for an audience that's roughly aged 11 to 20, but I think these are some very fuzzy borders.

I wouldn't consider an 11 year old a young adult, but I suppose that's why you and I are having such a different view of the genre. For myself, I view YA as targeted at ages 16 to 26, maybe even as old as 30+.

 

[Drone]

Aside from the inevitable imitation of success writ large in films and other entertainment platforms, do people here think that the authors that write these nominally dark tales, are particularly discerning of societal factors that face teens today to a degree not seen before, such as violence, isolation, and a nascent sense perhaps of limited possibilities awaiting them in a few years, among others?

I'm not suggesting such negatives have not been salient issues for this age group in the past, but there has been rapid acceleration of categorical change in many realms, technology being the most obvious. Also the faith in and relevance of certain societal institutions, government aside, such as cynicism in some aspects of consumerism, a burgeoning consciousness on the global environment and the prism of influences that are having seriously catalyzing impacts on it, and concerns about the ability of the medical industry to be an effective purveyor of help for the growing recognition of mental illness.

In other words, is this fiction any kind of effective barometer on the current zeitgeist for this population cohort or can much less seriously be thought of sometimes effective storytelling straightjacketed into the eminent formula of the present day?

 

[USS Triumphant]

A far cry from the Heinlein "juvies" that got me into reading SF back when. IIRC, Farmer in the Sky was my first real science-fiction novel, followed in fairly rapid succession by pretty-much anything else the library had by Heinlein. Now that was good YA SF.

Now get off yer lawn?

I've read a LOT in all genres and age groups. Heinlein's stuff is awesome. But I'll also say that the Hunger Games trilogy deserves to be become a CLASSIC of young adult literature - there are lessons there that need to be taught.

Well, what we're touching on here is that there is, ultimately, no objective, consistent definition of YA literature. For my purposes, I tend to think of YA literature as being that primarily intended for an audience that's roughly aged 11 to 20, but I think these are some very fuzzy borders.

I wouldn't consider an 11 year old a young adult, but I suppose that's why you and I are having such a different view of the genre. For myself, I view YA as targeted at ages 16 to 26, maybe even as old as 30+.

It also doesn't help that reading levels vary radically for people at the same age, or that people may not care about the recommended age being much younger or older if they're really interested in the subject matter. I was reading Chekhov and Nietzsche at 12, but I'm certainly not above reading Young Jedi and Starfleet Academy books, or the aforementioned Hunger Games, now at 40.

 

[Sci]

Bridge to Terabithia as young adult?

Well, what we're touching on here is that there is, ultimately, no objective, consistent definition of YA literature. For my purposes, I tend to think of YA literature as being that primarily intended for an audience that's roughly aged 11 to 20, but I think these are some very fuzzy borders.

I wouldn't consider an 11 year old a young adult, but I suppose that's why you and I are having such a different view of the genre. For myself, I view YA as targeted at ages 16 to 26, maybe even as old as 30+.

Yeah, we're coming at it from different angles. My inclination would be to disqualify fiction aimed at an audience in their late 20s or early 30s from YA, for instance, while including basically most fiction aimed at middle schoolers.

But this disagreement seems fairly widespread. According to Wikipedia, "The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association (ALA) defines a young adult as someone between the ages of twelve and eighteen," but "[a]uthors and readers of young adult (YA) novels often define the category as literature traditionally written for ages ranging from sixteen years to the early twenties, while Teen Fiction is written for the ages of ten to fifteen."

I generally associate YA literature with the onset of puberty in the primary intended audience, and think of it as not being YA anymore when the primary intended audience has reached effective maturity. To me, that just seems the most intuitive definition, since it encompasses the more advanced literature young minds generally become more capable of assimilating with the onset of puberty while not trying to draw strict borders between the audiences who are only just entering that phase of their lives and the audiences who are firmly into their teenaged years.

Aside from the inevitable imitation of success writ large in films and other entertainment platforms, do people here think that the authors that write these nominally dark tales, are particularly discerning of societal factors that face teens today to a degree not seen before, such as violence, isolation, and a nascent sense perhaps of limited possibilities awaiting them in a few years, among others?

I'm not suggesting such negatives have not been salient issues for this age group in the past, but there has been rapid acceleration of categorical change in many realms, technology being the most obvious. Also the faith in and relevance of certain societal institutions, government aside, such as cynicism in some aspects of consumerism, a burgeoning consciousness on the global environment and the prism of influences that are having seriously catalyzing impacts on it, and concerns about the ability of the medical industry to be an effective purveyor of help for the growing recognition of mental illness.

In other words, is this fiction any kind of effective barometer on the current zeitgeist for this population cohort or can much less seriously be thought of sometimes effective storytelling straightjacketed into the eminent formula of the present day?

I think the correct answer is, "Yes."

Well, what we're touching on here is that there is, ultimately, no objective, consistent definition of YA literature. For my purposes, I tend to think of YA literature as being that primarily intended for an audience that's roughly aged 11 to 20, but I think these are some very fuzzy borders.

I wouldn't consider an 11 year old a young adult, but I suppose that's why you and I are having such a different view of the genre. For myself, I view YA as targeted at ages 16 to 26, maybe even as old as 30+.

It also doesn't help that reading levels vary radically for people at the same age,

An excellent point.

or that people may not care about the recommended age being much younger or older if they're really interested in the subject matter. I was reading Chekhov and Nietzsche at 12, but I'm certainly not above reading Young Jedi and Starfleet Academy books, or the aforementioned Hunger Games, now at 40.

I suppose this is part of why I think the only reliable definition of what constitutes YA literature is the primary intended audience. Because there are YA novels out there with strong literary merit that frankly exceeds the literary merit of some novels nominally written for adults -- John Green's Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska come to mind, for instance. So I don't tend to think of content or literary merit to be a reliable indicator of what is YA or not YA.

 

[Dales]

twilight. we have to credit twilight for driving the ya genre. there is something about a female leading character in her teens that attracts both teen boys and girls. teen boys want to be with the girl and teen girls want to be the girl so that is the attraction.