Is suicide unfit for YA?

In my story I have this one person Kill them selfs but is that to much for YA? Should i scrap it?

Not at all. It is a subject they need to deal with. Look at the stats on teen suicide. Also, there are YA novels doing well in the market that deal with both attempted and completed suicides.

Don't scrap it if it fits your story. Definitely not unfit for YA. Bad things happen. As long as it fits the story and it's not there just to be edgy, go for it.

I've explored the issue of suicide in several of my novels, one being YA. (My novel this year is about these teens doing a school play based on the Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides). And there's also a suicide in the story (though I never show it, it's only talked about; more of the aftermath of the suicide and the way that affects the family).

John Green's amazing "Looking for Alaska" goes there--or does it? You be the judge--and it's a wonderful book.

Bufrito!

Definitely not, suicide is just fine for YA, it's not like teenagers don't understand it so why should it be hidden from them? Don't worry about making things unfit for YA, most teenagers are smarter than others give them credit for.

I think its totally acceptable especially as many teens either know someone who committed or attempted or someone they are close to was affected by it. One of my characters is about to start self harming, its a very mature thing yes but its a very real reality for most teens.

No, there are plenty of YA books about suicide. The first one that comes to mind is 13 Reasons Why.

I personally find it rediculous when YA books have no negative or contravercial topics. It's unrealistic and really doesn't make for amazing reading. I say leave the suicide in.

My entire YA novel involves self harm, suicides, attempted suicides, murder and mental illness, and I don't find any of those things unfit for a YA, in fact, I think more books should deal with them because they are things teens face a lot...ok maybe not murder, but mental illness, self-harm and suicides are big topics for YA

Don't glorify it, over dramatize it or shove the "this is bad" nonsense down your reader's throats. If it is essential to the story, fits the story, and is done in the "right" way, it'll be great!

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters, even The Sisterhood of the Traveleing Pants--those books all have suicide as a topic and are all YA. I haven't read the first two, but don't be afraid to use it as a subject. Suicide is, unfortunately, a topic many people have had to deal with at least once in their lives. It's a tough one, but if you can do it with grace and not gloss over it, I think you'll be golden.

Not unfit at all, especially when teen deal with this topic anyways. I experienced the suicide of a friend when I was 13 years old.

It's something that teens are aware of, sometimes something that they're contemplating. (I know I did, when I was in high school.)

One of my protagonist's friends just killed himself. He had an unsuccessful attempt, but when he didn't get the help he needed, he succeeded the second time.

Nothing is really "off limits" in YA. I know it's already been mentioned, but 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is an amazing book. It takes on the topic of suicide from two points of view, and it's incredibly intense.

Although suicide is not off limits in the Young Adult Reading Level, you still need to be careful in how you craft the passages and subject matter inside its pages. Don't glorify it however. Glorifying suicide in any way will automatically ditter most agents or publishers from taking your work to market and print. Good rule of thumb, if you look at the age groups, and their reading level and what you are writing, if the story's plot is appropriate for a certain age, then that is the level of which your novel and story will be marketed. The reading levels and ages associated with them are as follows:

Children Reading Level: up to 8 years
Elementary Level Reader: 9 to 12
Middle Age Reader: 12 to 14 or 15
Young Adult 14 or 15 to 18
Adult: 18 and older

Although Young Adult is listed up to the age of 18, they are many adults who do enjoy reading Young Adult Novels and stories as that is what Publishers and Agents usually market the most. Hence, those are the ones which the Bookstores and other locations sell most often. Hope your story works well and you can figure out the decision on whether you want to discuss the topic of suicide in your story.

Totally an ok topic for YA. When I took my YA Lit class I read a book call "Crash Into Me." It is about four teens who go cross country to fulfill a suicide pact. The first line in the book is about a teen trying to kill themselves. As long as you go about it in a way that doesn't paint it as something to glorify, but as a fact of life, you should be ok.

I have one character who ends up getting involved with a scary cult and ends up dead. But she's a peripheral character, not one of the main ones. I don't like the idea of too much death in a kids' book. I love the Harry Potter series, of course, but there is too much death and violence in it and I see fiction as escape, not "reality".

I agree that it shouldn't be glorified and you shouldn't be like, THIS IS REALLY REALLY BAD THIS PERSON WAS A BAD PERSON DON"T DO THIS.

Yes, suicide is terrible. A classmate of mine accidentally shot himself (but for awhile they thought it was suicide). It was tragic and raw and heartbreaking, and there was a lot of anger from his friends, and even some resentment. (Why did he do this? Why didn't he ask for help? Why didn't I see it?) But it does happen, and the reality is that teens have to deal with it.

So I say, leave it in.

OK - so I am the one who says no here.

Anyone read "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? That was pretty much a YA novel revolving around suicide for people living around 1775-1780. It provoked a large number of similar stories, or the same story rewritten by other authors.

It also resulted in something called "Werther-Effect," which is a valid psychological effect. The English term is "Copycat Suicide." Both Goethe's novel as well as all the rewrites of it provoked a huge number of suicides over the time, and no, Werther's suicide wasn't glorified. There's no need for that for copycat suicides to occur.

The phenomenon is well-known, it has been shown to work effectively with songtexts, movies and other books, even with poems and websites.

So, hell, no, I would never advocate anyone targetting a novel containing suicide at teens. Not in a million.

My Nano delves into the idea of suicide. I think it's an important topic to be dealt with appropriately in YA. If no one ever wrote about it, there would be a lot of teens out there thinking that they were freaks for having to deal with this sort of thing when really a lot of people go through it.... As long as suicide's not being advocated as a good option to get out of life, then it should be fine. :)