> but where or where are the authors who wanted to expand the minds of their young readers? I cannot find them anywhere. Challenging writing has been iterative

> but where or where are the authors who wanted to expand the minds of their young readers? I cannot find them anywhere. Challenging writing has been iteratively squeezed out of books aimed at young readers. The goal of addressing as large a market as possible means every publisher wants all their authors targeting exactly where kids are, or a bit under, to maximize appeal. A couple decades of that pressure means "where kids are" keeps becoming a lower and lower target, because none of their books are challenging them anymore. Options outside of YA are dwindling because YA, romance/porn, and true crime / mystery / crime-thriller (all aiming at ever-lower reading levels with each passing year) are the only things people actually buy anymore, in large enough numbers to be worth the effort. Other genres simply can't support very many authors these days. Sci-fi and fantasy are hanging on mostly by shifting more heavily toward YA (and sometimes romance), as you've observed.