What belongs in YA?

Is it me, or has Young Adult books been in the national media spotlight alot lately? First there was this article in The Wall Street Journal which claims that YA novels are all about the doom and gloom and then Fox News chimed in with this lovely bit where two women in coordinating pink jackets talk about how lewd YA books are.

Ummmm...I don't think this is exactly the kind of press we* want.

First, in response to the good folks down at WSJ, YA books can be a bit dark and depressing. Interestingly, so can life. Not every teenager lives in a world of sunshine and rainbows, so it's only fitting that the books aimed at them reflect that. And it's not like all YA books make you want to curl up with your favorite Cure album. Some are quite uplifting, others are insanely funny. It's called variety. It's this crazy new thing catching on with the young folks nowadays.

Second, to the pink jacket ladies. These ladies are very adamant about the fact that they aren't wanting any thing banned, they just want it moved to a different section of the library. Maybe this doesn't bother you, but it does me. I have lots of arguments that I can give you on this subject, but here's the big one: It's called a Young Adult section.

Young. Adult.

According to the Miriam-Webster's online dictionary, adult is defined as "fully developed or mature". Combine that with the word young ("recently come into being", also courtesy of Miriam-Webster's) and you end up with a section of the library that is intended for a person who has recently become fully developed or mature.

So, what kind of books would you expect a person who has recently become fully developed or mature to want to read? How about books that address the sorts of issues that a newly mature person might encounter? Things like, I don't know, gender roles, mortality, and...dare I say it?...sex?**

Yes, I can understand that some parents are not comfortable with their child reading these sorts of issues. That's okay. As parents it is their right to raise their child as they see fit. And I'm sure that there are many teenagers that aren't ready to read these kinds of books. That's okay too. Not everyone fully develops and matures at the same rate. Some kids might be ready at the age of twelve while others don't get there until they are eighteen or nineteen.*** But for those parents and teens there is another choice. It's called Junior Fiction.**** There are lots of very good, entertaining, worthwhile books there that might offer a more comfortable read for you.

For those of you interested in seeing Maureen Johnson's response to the pink jacket ladies, go here.

*We = The world of Young Adult. It includes authors, librarians, and anyone else that loves YA books.

**This is not to say that every YA book talks about sex or abuse or anything quite so "adult", but alot of them do.

***Some may argue that I have yet to fully develop or mature and I'm a bit older than nineteen even.

****If you go to a library that does not separate the Junior Fiction titles from the Young Adult titles, ask a librarian to help you. They would be happy to help. Actually, librarians are always happy to help. If you have questions about the content of a book, ask them!