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on YA books
Oct. 5th, 2006 03:47 pmFound this link on editor Cheryl Klein's blog: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6376083.html. It's to an article about what teens are actually interested in reading these days. I have to say, I find it refreshing. These are the kinds of books I've always enjoyed and the kinds I like to write. My favorite kind of book is one that takes me somewhere new and different, one where I can imagine myself in that setting, actually being able to change something (as opposed to slice-of-life problem novels where the point is that things don't change). Kids want something exotic, whether it's magic, or another land, or a mystery.
At the same time, I really do think that the more real and solid that genre fiction is, the more kids respond to it. People don't love Harry Potter because (blinking, starry-eyed) hey, it's magic! Cool! They might like it for the world-building, but the love comes from what's real in it: friendship, sacrifice, bravery in moral issues. Things anyone can relate to.
Other people may (and do!) disagree, but for me, a perfect story is one that combines an exotic experience outside my own with hard choices I can relate to in real life.
At the same time, I really do think that the more real and solid that genre fiction is, the more kids respond to it. People don't love Harry Potter because (blinking, starry-eyed) hey, it's magic! Cool! They might like it for the world-building, but the love comes from what's real in it: friendship, sacrifice, bravery in moral issues. Things anyone can relate to.
Other people may (and do!) disagree, but for me, a perfect story is one that combines an exotic experience outside my own with hard choices I can relate to in real life.
