The Importance of YA Literature
TW: s*icide & r*pe mention
As an English major, it is essentially required of me to be very familiar with the literary canon, but I am also no stranger to Young Adult fiction. I read a great number of YA novels and series almost exclusively between the ages of 13 and 15, and they have had a huge impact on my character. Some of you may only know YA as consisting of The Fault in our Stars and The Hunger Games, but really, YA has been around for a while.
Firstly, the period between childhood and adulthood was recognized in the early 19th century, specifically by Sarah Trimmer, who introduced “Books for Young Persons” as a separate term from “Books for Children”. Until the mid-20th century, even coming-of-age novels (such as Great Expectations by Charles Dickens) were not marketed to adolescents, even if the majority of their readers belonged to that demographic. The modern understanding of YA started with The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, published in 1967. It provided a truer version of teenage life as it was written when the author was 17, and so lacked the nostalgia that was common in novels written by adults reminiscing over their adolescence. After this, YA started to flourish, with the 70s to mid-80s being known as the golden age of YA. During this time, authors paid attention to the distinct qualities and interests of teenagers and wrote specifically for them. In the late 80s, taboo topics such as rape, suicide and violence became prominent in YA books, and as a response to the abundance of these unsavoury subjects, came YA romance. Throughout the decade, YA literature became more varied and even more popular amongst its target age-group. By the turn of the century, YA was venturing into all kinds of genres such as fantasy and mystery fiction, with some of the defining works being the Harry Potter franchise and The Hunger Games.
Today, there is an infinite number of novels and series that teenagers can choose from within the genre of YA literature, which is essential, because it’s highly important for teenagers to be exposed to content created just for them, talking about issues that particularly relate to their lives. What makes YA literature great is its core subject matters such as friendship, love and identity. Puberty and adolescence are when kids are trying to construct their identities and discover not only who they are, but also the world they live in. The whole process can be exciting, but it is also very trying and can be isolating. Maintaining healthy friendships, finding love, and exploring life after high school can become easier to deal with when they can go through these struggles alongside a character in a story, growing and changing as much as a real teenager. YA fiction can serve as a guide for teens on how to navigate relationships, and introduce them to adulthood.
That said, there is one big problem with contemporary YA: not enough diversity. Like I said, teenagers should be able to read stories about them, written for them, but this only works when there is enough representation within the genre. Lee & Low published data released by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) on children’s and YA books about/by people of color, and while the percentage of books about people of colour has increased in the past couple of years, things are not the same for writers of color. In 2016, only 6% of books published in children’s/YA fiction was written by black, latinx and native authors combined. This is the root of the issue; we need authentic representation, not only of people of colour, but also of other marginalized groups such as queer people or people with disabilities, and that only comes with diverse writers having access to a bigger platform. There is clearly enough demand for them, so this shortage can only be remediated from within the publishing industry. Until then, we have to make do with what we have.
Some recommended YA books:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Ari and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
By Eda S.
(she/her)
Eda is a General staff writer @ PARDON! read more about her on our TEAM! page.