College students are generally above the intended age range for young adult literature, but that does not change the quality or impression these novels can have on a person of any age, including adults. For that reason, I like to keep up with the latest trends and read the most recent books in young adult literature the same way I did when I was in junior high school. There is a new era emerging in literature for young readers that will hopefully permanently change and improve the genre as a whole.
The overall quality of young adult literature has increased dramatically since I was in the target age range for these novels. Recently I finished reading both the “Six of Crows” duology by Leigh Bardugo and “The Raven Cycle” series by Maggie Stiefvater, two modern young adult series. I was absolutely blown away by the overall qualities of these books.
These authors are not sticking to the cliche tropes of high school and love triangles. Instead, they are immersing their readers in expansive universes with fantastical prison heists and dream forests housing dead Welsh kings. The styles were dark and atmospheric, differing largely from the simplistic styles of popular young adult novels in the recent years.
These are only two examples of the many books of their kind currently being released. Authors are realizing that young readers are capable of understanding and responding to much larger, darker, and more intelligent themes that resonate with young readers and adults equally.
The characters in these novels cover all the spectrums of race and sexuality, which was largely unheard of just a few short years ago. Everyone wants to see themselves represented in popular media, and it is so much easier now than it used to be.
I grew up reading popular books like “The Hunger Games,” “Twilight” and John Green novels. While most readers definitely enjoyed them at the time, as is proven by their extreme popularity, all of the books feature mostly white, heterosexual characters navigating love triangles or pining over the manic pixie dream girl. People of color and LGBT characters were relatively nonexistent besides the occasional side character existing purely for comic relief. These characters and tropes are becoming restrictive and exhausting. Now, young readers are being exposed to diverse characters with much more creative storylines.
This should become the new standard of young adult fiction. Recent authors have proven that young readers are capable of reading at a high level and the immense success of these novels prove that readers love them. It also proves that young readers respond well to more representation of races, sexualities and all different kinds of characters in novels. It is also unacceptable that any young reader should feel unrepresented in literature or that authors feel like they cannot write characters that are different from themselves.
Young adult novels have a bad reputation for being somehow lesser quality than their adult fiction counterparts just because their target audience is young. This is simply not the case now more than ever. Young adult fiction is becoming both more intelligent and more inclusive.
The result is a heightened sense of reflection and analysis for the reader, the promotion of tolerance and inclusion, and an overall more enjoyable reading experience. For anyone looking for some new books to read this summer, I highly recommend checking out the young adult fiction selection for some of the best books of the year.
emmagetz@umail.iu.edu
@emmaagetz
