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One worrisome trend that the author didn't really consider is that YA fiction isn't just for young adults anymore. Countless adults are reading it instead of an

One worrisome trend that the author didn't really consider is that YA fiction isn't just for young adults anymore. Countless adults are reading it instead of anything else.

crpatino 12y ago
That's still an improvement over countless adults not reading at all. People that was going to read the good stuff anyways will find their ways there eventually.
EpicEng 12y ago
Why is that a "worrisome trend"? Are you under the impression that these adults would otherwise be reading Locke and Thomas Aquinas? C'mon.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
Depends on what you mean by worrisome. Some adults who were not readers earlier in their life, find it more approachable and less "preachy". I wouldn't give someone Faulkner as their first novel. That said, my belief is that they move on because eventually they aren't challenging to read and so become less engaging. An author who is being explicit so that a younger adult can catch the subtleties of a conversation, might make the more sophisticated reader feel patronized. Its a fine line. That said, I did enjoy reading the Harry Potter books with my kids (we read them aloud), but reading the Animorphs was not something I could really do for any length of time.
andlarry 12y ago
This has happened before, in the late 1800s/early 1900s. From [1] (see the transcript). "Well, the unique thing about this period– the late 1800s and the early 1900s– was this was a time when books written for children as the main audience were largely and often read by adults and appeared on adult bestseller lists. You take a look at the bestseller lists during this period, and you see like Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Pollyanna, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and maybe like War and Peace. But the great authors of the time were writing for children." [1] http://backstoryradio.org/shows/little-feet-2/ http://backstoryradio.org/shows/little-feet-2/
lttlrck 12y ago
Countless adults are reading it instead of nothing else
ahstilde 12y ago
Why is this worrisome? I read difficult articles many times during the week. I want to relax with an easy, entertaining read. I don't think you cannot gain life lessons from YA Novels.
zwieback 12y ago
Count me in - I've been reading some of my daughters' books although I'm not into vampire/mythology stuff. My favorite: Dear Dumb Diary! They have outgrown it now but I'm still a fan. Doesn't stop me from switching back to literature when I've had my fill.
Osmium 12y ago
> instead of anything else or in addition to everything else. In the last week, I've read a great young adult book as well as a Sartre novel. I consider my life enriched by both. There's this awful snobbery around young adult books, but I often find they tell the best stories. I think Philip Pullman says it best: “There's a hunger for stories in all of us, adults too. We need stories so much that we're even willing to read bad books to get them, if the good books won't supply them. We all need stories, but children are more frank about it; cultured adults, on the other hand, those limp and jaded creatures who think it more important to seem sophisticated than to admit to simplicity, find it harder both to write and to read novels that don't come with a prophylactic garnish of irony.”

One worrisome trend that the author didn't really consider is that YA fiction isn't just for young adults anymore. Countless adults are reading it instead of anything else.

crpatino 12y ago

That's still an improvement over countless adults not reading at all. People that was going to read the good stuff anyways will find their ways there eventually.

EpicEng 12y ago

Why is that a "worrisome trend"? Are you under the impression that these adults would otherwise be reading Locke and Thomas Aquinas? C'mon.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

Depends on what you mean by worrisome. Some adults who were not readers earlier in their life, find it more approachable and less "preachy". I wouldn't give someone Faulkner as their first novel. That said, my belief is that they move on because eventually they aren't challenging to read and so become less engaging. An author who is being explicit so that a younger adult can catch the subtleties of a conversation, might make the more sophisticated reader feel patronized. Its a fine line. That said, I did enjoy reading the Harry Potter books with my kids (we read them aloud), but reading the Animorphs was not something I could really do for any length of time.

andlarry 12y ago

This has happened before, in the late 1800s/early 1900s. From [1] (see the transcript). "Well, the unique thing about this period– the late 1800s and the early 1900s– was this was a time when books written for children as the main audience were largely and often read by adults and appeared on adult bestseller lists. You take a look at the bestseller lists during this period, and you see like Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Pollyanna, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and maybe like War and Peace. But the great authors of the time were writing for children." [1] http://backstoryradio.org/shows/little-feet-2/ http://backstoryradio.org/shows/little-feet-2/

lttlrck 12y ago

Countless adults are reading it instead of nothing else

ahstilde 12y ago

Why is this worrisome? I read difficult articles many times during the week. I want to relax with an easy, entertaining read. I don't think you cannot gain life lessons from YA Novels.

zwieback 12y ago

Count me in - I've been reading some of my daughters' books although I'm not into vampire/mythology stuff. My favorite: Dear Dumb Diary! They have outgrown it now but I'm still a fan. Doesn't stop me from switching back to literature when I've had my fill.

Osmium 12y ago

> instead of anything else or in addition to everything else. In the last week, I've read a great young adult book as well as a Sartre novel. I consider my life enriched by both. There's this awful snobbery around young adult books, but I often find they tell the best stories. I think Philip Pullman says it best: “There's a hunger for stories in all of us, adults too. We need stories so much that we're even willing to read bad books to get them, if the good books won't supply them. We all need stories, but children are more frank about it; cultured adults, on the other hand, those limp and jaded creatures who think it more important to seem sophisticated than to admit to simplicity, find it harder both to write and to read novels that don't come with a prophylactic garnish of irony.”