Who Are Young Adult Books Written For? (Part 1)


I have had several people over the last year express their likes and dislikes with the Young Adult classification of books. Some have said that YA novels have adult content and are inappropriate for teens; while others have said this category has made them and their teens fall in love with reading. So the question is Who are Young Adult Books Written For?

As far as I know these are the current age categories: Adult Fiction, Young Adult (YA) Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Children's Fiction. Since we primarily read YA, some Adult & Middle Grade/Teen we are not discussing Children's Fiction in this post. I have decided to go to the experts... YOU! I asked several book bloggers (Part 1 & Part 2) their thoughts on the subject.

When you think of young adult readers vs. teen/middle grade readers what age ranges are you thinking?
YA: ages 16-20s (even though I'm in my earlier 30s and I read YA LOL). Middle Grade: ages 11-15 Book Vixen

For young adult readers I usually think 15 and older and for teen/middle grade 14 and younger. Eleni, La Femme Readers 

Young Adult, I think ages 14 - 17 & Middle Grade, I think 11-13 Julia, RexRobotReviews

When I think of "young adult readers" I generally think of 15-16 years old and up. I don't think there's an upper age barrier for that one. Many grown men and women enjoy young adult books, and I myself prefer them though I am no longer in my teens. Casey, The Bookish Type

6th grade and above Julie, My 5 Monkeys

What is a good example of a Middle Grade/Teen Book? Young Adult?
Hm, a good middle grade/teen book would be Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors and an awesome young adult book would be City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Eleni, La Femme Readers

K Rowling would be a good example of Middle Grade book... Young Adult a good example would be the Bartimaeus Trilogy Julia, RexRobotReviews

I think the best example of a Middle Grade book would be the Percy Jackson series. As for Young Adult, the prolific Sarah Dessen immediately comes to mind. Casey, The Bookish Type

Twilight for Young adult -- Middle grade is a bit tougher for me to chose something. Julie, My 5 Monkeys

Would you recommend any of the following YA books to 10-13 year olds: Why or Why not? 

Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
Yes, The reason for each 'yes' answer is the same: I would let my children, when they get to that age, read these books. I don't see anything wrong with them reading them. I'd rather know what my children are reading so we can talk about it than have them read something behind my back and be afraid to ask me stuff.  Book Vixen

Um, 10 no, a 13 year old MAYBE. The content is pretty clean though. Eleni, La Femme Readers 

Yes, for 13+ because the focus of the novel is relationships. Julia, RexRobotReviews

Sure -- they're pretty clean, non-violent reads Casey, The Bookish Type

Yes because its romance and clean Julie, My 5 Monkeys

Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Yes, Book Vixen

Yes, magical and fun! Eleni, La Femme Readers

Yes for 10+ because there is age appropriate adventure and the story/writing evolves with each novel Julia, RexRobotReviews

Absolutely -- J. K. Rowling teaches lessons that anyone of any age can benefit from. Casey, The Bookish Type

Yes Clean and more about friendship but as the books get farther along more darker and more about death. Julie, My 5 Monkeys

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Yes, Book Vixen.

Yes, it is a great example since suicide is unfortunately reaching young kids now a days. Eleni, La Femme Readers

I would recommend this to someone a little older as well because it deals with such difficult and sensitive themes.  Casey, The Bookish Type

House of Night series by PC & Kristen Cast
No, too much weird stuff going on, especially Zoey's floosy behavior. Eleni, La Femme Readers

Read one book and didn't like the writing nor the characters , so NO Julie, My 5 Monkeys

HECK NO! These books did have appeal to my friends and myself (ages 25 and up) in the beginning but sadly they have gotten "way out there" for us let alone tween's. The content is just bizarre. Natalie, I'd So Rather Be Reading

the Giver series by Lois Lowery
Yes, Book Vixen

Hmmm, I read it once in high school, so I'd say no to 10-13 yr olds. Eleni, La Femme Readers

I would reccomend this for ages 13+ just because I think the subject matter is easier to grasp the older you are when you read it. I absolutely loved it when I read it and I was 12... but when I read it again when I was 15, it was like an entirely different book to me. Julia, RexRobotReviews

Yes, absolutely. This seems more like a children's book, but it's still enjoyable later in life. I read it for the first time when I was 18 or 19. (I know, I know.) Casey, The Bookish Type

Love, love, love this series and absolutely would recommend it to any young reader. Natalie, I'd So Rather Be Reading
To be continued...
Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate! Keep an eye out for part two, more questions & thoughts to come.The Book Vixen
 



3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for including me! It was interesting to read what the other thought too :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post. I think I agree with most of the bloggers thoughts. The only thing I would add is that each child is different. So what maybe be fine for one child may not work for another of the same age. But that is really the parents/caregivers responsibility to determine.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i know this post is old but i saw it just today, im 12, almost 13, and i still read YA, even though u might think im too young for some things, im an excellent reader and, no, YA books arent for people 15 and up, theyre for people even as young as 10 and up! sorry, just wanted to make that clear

    ReplyDelete

Word verification stinks--- but spammers are worse. Thank you for your patience!