When I was in high school, which took place between 1998 - 2002, there was little in the way of established YA or new adult genres. While the Harry Potter series was popular with younger children, many of my fellow high school students did not read those books. In fact, many of my fellow students simply read adult books, including Stephen King and Laurell K. Hamilton.
While I read many adult books in high school, and some of them I even enjoyed, I felt as though I did not enjoy reading as much as I could have if I had had access to an entire YA section of a library. Adult fiction often has extremely heavy themes, including explicit depictions of rape or abuse, and especially as a young teen, I simply did not want to read such heavy content. To be quite frank, I don't even enjoy reading those types of books now, as I find them and that type of overtly explicit content to be unnecessarily triggering.
The YA genre, which certainly does not lack in mature content; however, does avoid extremely explicit depictions of rape, abuse, and other sexual content (even if these elements are included in a novel and are integral to the overall plot). The YA genre also has plots that are, quite honestly, more imaginative than regular adult fiction. If this genre had been as established as it is now, I would have loved to have read these types of books instead of ones by Orwell and Nabokov.
This brings me to the other two genres, which are new adult and graphic novels. Both of these genres do differ from YA, as they can certainly be more adult in nature, but they often have elements of levity or youthfulness that can lessen the effects of occasionally troubling content.
Especially after the psychological affects of COVID-19, I noticed that many adult library patrons (middle-age and even older) simply do not want to read dry or literary or heavy books. They want something fun, light, and creative. They want to become friends with the characters they read. They want a means of escape from the difficulties of modern life. And of all of the genres that are contained within the walls of a library, the genres that fit that description most are YA, new adult, and graphic novels.
As a librarian, I promote these genres heavily to my patrons, regardless of age, and I encourage other librarians to do the same. If you are a librarian who is reading this, and you feel uncomfortable with recommending a YA book to a middle-age patron, perhaps try a phrase of encouragement, like this one: "The YA genre is really fun and has some of the best and most creative plots I have read!" And more often than not, the response from that middle-age patron will be akin to something like this: "That's exactly what I feel like reading!"
The point you made about YA being able to incorporate heavy themes while also avoiding "extremely explicit depictions of rape, abuse, and other sexual content" is so true! A lot of the time (and especially nowadays) YA plots revolve around difficult subjects, but authors are able to explore them in a palatable, helpful way for their target audiences and anyone else wanting to avoid anything too graphic, explicit, or potentially triggering. It's a testament to the talent of these authors that they're able to effectively incorporate these heavy topics without risking overwhelming their readers too badly. And I definitely relate to the patrons who crave lighter reads in the post-pandemic world -- I've been way more into contemporary romances and sci-fi novels with hopeful endings ever since 2020. I'm so glad you're already in the practice of promoting these genres to your patrons!
ReplyDeleteHi Tiffany! I really enjoyed your point about how much different high school reading could have been if YA was as huge of a genre then as it is now. There were some great YA titles when I was a teenager but absolutely nothing like the explosion there are today. And yeah, I'd have actually read the titles in my English classes if they were YA and not Orwell and Nabokov lol!
ReplyDeleteHi Tiffany -
ReplyDeleteI love that you promote YA and graphic novels to your patrons no matter their age! Your comment that “the YA genre is really fun and has some of the best and most creative plots” is exactly why I love reading the genre. Also, I would add that the plots are incredibly vivid. I love having the opportunity to be drawn into a plot, and I have found myself feeling that way with YA more than any other area. Great job with going through the prompt!
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about wanting lighter options after Covid-19. I was talking with my co-workers about how a lot of us are still not okay after all the stress of that and working with the public and people being very nasty to us about masking and the risk and fear of getting sick.
As for the sort of explicitness, I personally don't mind sex scenes or fantasy violence and what have you, but I agree that sexual violence and abuse are often gratuitous, especially in adult fiction, and I am not a fan of that.
I also think that there is a way for YA to address tough topics without being too graphic, the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson comes to mind. It isn't too graphic about what happens to the MC (SA) and how she feels after without a really disturbing and violent scene. It's just not necessary to explore that topic. It also ends with the MC getting support and justice, which is less depressing for teens reading it.