Book Review & What Is Young Adult Fiction, Anyway?

I’ve been reading The Den of Shadows Quartet by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I’ve finished two of the books so I’m doing a review now. I like them. But I don’t love them. I’ve spent a large part of the weekend trying to analyze why.

Ms. Atwater-Rhodes tells a good story. Her vampire world is unique. I even like the characters. But I didn’t fall in love with these books. Which has caused me to contemplate just what is young adult literature? The most common definition is that the protagonist is a young person. Wow. That covers a lot of ground.

I read a lot of what would be classified as YA, because I need to for my career since I write a lot within that genre, but also because I love to read it. For me, I’ve discovered the following dividing line: there seems to be YA books that are written as if the protagonists really are teens, and those that are written as if the teen is an adult in teen clothing.

NOTE: Not all teens are “typical” teens. ;-)

The Den of Shadows would be the first category; these teens are teens. Vampire teens yes, but their focus seems to be finding friends, getting a mate, wedging themselves into the correct clique, getting even when someone has wronged them, fighting with parents. I think the Artimis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer are also this variety. These are excellent, fun, books, but I didn’t fall in love with these, either. The main teen, Artimis, is brilliant, but what is he doing mostly? Trying to prove himself by getting away with stuff his parents don’t know about, and often is involved in petty fights with his friends.

The other YA is very different. In these books teens behave more like adults and are dealing with adult problems. Twilight is this variety. Belle, in many respects, IS the adult in her family; her mother is flighty, and even her father who is more stable, needs to have his dinner made for him. She isn’t concerned about fitting in with other teens. The Harry Potter books fall into this realm. Even though Harry does have some normal teen problems, the main focus of the story is not trying to impress his parents (dead), and he certainly doesn’t care what his adoptive parents think. Cornelia Funke's Inkheart books I would place here, too; Meggie does not behave like a typical teen. Her relationship with her father is more like a friend. And her biggest problems are not teen ones.

I’ve read that middle grade books deal with internal family strife while true YA should be external to the family struggles, and perhaps this is some of the difference I’m seeing. The best YA, in my opinion, does deal with some teen problems yet blends in adult concerns as well, hence the mass appeal of books such as HP…kids AND adults find themselves within the pages and both groups love them.

I’m still figuring all of this out. And to be clear, I don't think either variety is right or wrong, better or worse. I can see why teens would like to read stories in which teens act like teens.

All I know is what I like to write. And to read.