Young Adult Fiction

Hi all. For September we've opted to read Young Adult Fiction.

So, I must admit I don't think I was even aware of the term YA fiction until Twilight and Hunger Games came out and suddenly Hollywood wanted to adapt all things YA - and now it's a massive part of any bookstore. But for those wondering YA was coined in 1960s to refer to books that feature protagonists aged 12-18, and aimed at that market (although 55% of present readership is just adult). Popular themes are friendship, coming of age, modern teenage social issues, and highly competent teenagers sorting out adult caused problems. Writing level for YA is also less compex than full adult books (so Stephen King's IT may focus on teens saving the town from oblivious adults, but reading level probably too high to be considered YA 😜 )

So time to get stuck onto books about teenage chosen ones, young people struggling against adult run dystopian societies, high-school paranormal romance etc

Below are some examples to set the mood, but as usual you are free to read whatever you wish and tell us what you thought on the day. YA genre goes back a long time (wiki notes Alice in Wonderland as one of the earliest examples) and has exploded in last 2 decades - Good Reads listed a bajilion books when I looked, so forgive me for defaulting to some of the most obvious examples.

Examples

Teenage Chosen Ones

• Harry Potter (1997), by JK Rowling
• Percy Jackson (2005), by Rick Riordan
• A Deadly Education (2020), by Naomi Novik

Dystopian

• Hunger Games (2008), by Suzanne Collins
• Maze Runner (2009), by James Dashner
• Divergent (2011), by Veronica Roth

Paranormal Romance

• Twilight (2005), by Stephen Meyer
• Vampire Academy (2007), by Richelle Mead