How to judge if a book is YA?
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How to judge if a book is YA?
I'm sure this has been asked before. XD But I work at a library in the YA section, and I still wonder at how they arbitrarily decide if a book should be in the children's section, the YA section, or the adult section. Sometimes there's a lot of overlap.
My book involves psychopathy, the undead, gruesome murder scenes, a near-apocalypse experience, and gratuitous swearing, but the characters are in the 17~20 age range, and I'm (attempting) to write for that age group. Would that fall under YA or adult?
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
If the characters are mainly under twenty and you are trying for that age group it should fit in just fine! My NaNo is told from the point of view of a ghost, has murder and other deaths, torture, a dissection of a child, and characters going insane but I have it written for the YA age group. Of course I myself am I teenager so I personally think that I couldn't write anything but YA... I think the main factor that determines whether a book is YA or not is the age of the MC/MCs, as long as the characters are mostly under twenty in your novel it should be just fine.
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
I would agree on the ages, although having siad that, for me, I avoid extreme violence and cussing, keeping it very low key. I tend to stick to the PG13 (through to 17) range range, the themes are more a case for me of showing not telling, using a kind of mystery 'Hitchcock' approach to dark scens, and it can be a fine line yes. I try hard not to overdo the detail of heavy scenes, that is where I feel it creeps into adult if I cross that line... the lines are indeed blured at times.
When I find an agent in the YA category that he-she and I will discuss my manuscripts in my series, it is always possible to edit some things down or out if you get to that stage. Good luck!
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
according to wikipedia:
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature (often abbreviated as YA),[1][2] also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21.[3] The Young Adult Library Services (YALSA) of the American Library Association (ALA) defines a young adult as "someone between the ages of twelve and eighteen". Young adult novels have also been defined as texts written for the ages of twelve and up. Authors and readers of young adult (YA) novels often define the genre as "literature written for ages ranging from ten years up to the age of twenty" (Cole). Another suggestion for the definition is that Young Adult Literature is any text being read by adolescents, though this definition is still somewhat controversial.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young-adult_fiction
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Child lit --0-8
Middle grade --8-11
YA --12-18
New Adult --18-25
Adult --18+
Those tend to be the demograhics. And I'm not counting cross-overs like Harry Potter or such. A book falls under YA if it's aimed at teen readers, or for teen readers, the MC is mainly a teen, and it tends to somehow involve coming of age. *shrugs* New Adult is a up and comer catagory, tends to involve college, jobs, ect. Like The Devil Wears Prada. YA would be The Hunger Games.
It's really vague, beacuse books that are considered YA in America can be considered Adult in other countries (and vice-versa). Like, some places put the Twilights in the childrens catagory, and in some places Breaking Dawn is catagorized under adult.
And then many kids don't read inside their own catagorys. (In 6th grade I read Twilight, Artemis Fowl, and the Stranger. I read Animal Farm in 5th grade. :D It all depends on the person...)
So... Discresion is used? Mainly MC age, but, even then... O.o It's a tough subject...
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Note: that "New Adult" category I've also seen labeled "Upper YA"
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
That makes good sense actually, as YA would shift meaning, context and demand something a little different once you get to 17 plus, between the ages of 18 and 21 is a more textured readership, and those readers are more developed in what perceptions they have re-reading and whatnot, although there are a few people 16 and older who would likely enjoy the Upper Adult category, I would like to know mmore about it myself as my characters progress in ages, and the readership I hope stays the course as they get older. Godd example are the HP books, so how do sites like good reads, amazon etc and other sites on writing think of this? I will definitely be interested in finding out - thanks for letting us know ^_^
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
I think it's considered crossover... But they might just shelve the books seperately... They did that to Twilight... Breaking Dawn with the adults, and the first few books in the children's section...
So... It's a weird subject, with odd boundries... O.o
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Yes, that makes sense, I mean, the book sellers would know where certain books should go, doing their homework: reading reviews, looking at the following on-line, blog tours, interviews and the like. I think if we're lucky enough to self-publish we'll get good help along the way, or if we get an agent, if really lucky, *my dream* they will find us a publisher and the editor-and other support will help with how we can market our novel. So, I guess that will happen in that phase of the journey.
As a reader, I guess it makes it easier to find just what sub-genres we're looking for, and also, a little leg-work to find out a title's background, what good reads, or amazon etc, and bloggers have to say about it, that makes it easier. Else-wise, it's just trusting your gut if a book jumps out at you, library people can often be helpful there too. Good luck with your nano novel!
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Help with marketing your novel? You're on your own. Most publishers these days ask that a marketing plan be included in the proposal packet - and it has to be very detailed.
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Would it be okay if the protagonist is in his 20s or 30s in YA, or would that automatically change the the categorization of the story to Adult?
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
that would fall under "new adult" or adult.
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
It doesn't matter how old the characters are or how many atrocities and taboo acts are committed. What matters is how "hip" you make it. It's possible to write a YA novel about a character who is only nine and market it for people twice that age. Unless that dark, brooding copy of "The Wee Free Men" I found in the Young Adult section of the bookstore wasn't real after all.
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Do you guys think a novel about a recent college grad (about 21) could be marketed for YA?
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Character age doesn't matter.
The Montmorency books are YA and the characters are all adult men.
The Golden Compass series is YA and Lyra isn't even a teenager when the book starts.
What age range the book is for depends on what the subject is. You could write a book from a little girl's point of view about getting kidnapped and abused, and it wouldn't be for little kids to read. Writing a picture book about an adult doesn't make it an adult's book.
And it seems to me that teenagers can handle a lot more than adults think- there are so many threads about 'is this too much for YA' when there are YA books that would be rated R for language and have sex and blood and gore. Teenagers see R-rated movies, swear like sailors, and make everything into an innuendo; they see the news and know about war and murder and mob killings and politics.
I think that simply the definition of YA is what a young adult would read. There's no 'too graphic' to consider, so much as who your story appeals to. The language you use in the narration can make all the difference to the same story- you could tell the story of an immigrant girl coming to America from Hungary and being the only one in her family who speaks English as a picture book, a simple beginning-to-read-chapter-book, a YA book, or an adult book.
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Yes, but do they care? If I wrote a political intrigue with a lot of debates, plane travel, gradual global warming (not disaster-type, but the slow kind abused by scientists and politicians) and people washing cars and paying taxes and combing their hair over, would the teens still read or would they jump ship because it's too "adult" and boring?
Also consider other factors. I remember my high school English Lit teacher, who was nearing 60, got a book recommendation from a fellow teacher and gave up halfway because the whole book was hopeless and there wasn't anyone to root for. I asked a different Literature teacher about why the books were so depressing that no one in the class was willing to read farther despite their assignments and whether this "dark age" of books was recent or not, and she said that all of great literature was always a dark age.
That said, if were so obsessed with YA standards, can someone give me a guideline for the younger grades, too? I need to know what's allowed in there before angry parents call for my head on a platter since I'm teaching them all the wrong things.
And I'd really like to see several books for young people about the elderly, with no young people in it. Are there any tales for teens about octogenarians without teens, besides calling them "whipper-snapper"?
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
I'm also confused about what my novel falls under. It has both aspects that attracts young adults, but then it has very adult concepts. It is about two fallen angels and the only thing that matters to the girl is that she is with the boy, but the boy is out searching for why he ended up on earth, and is sort of on a philsophical journey to get back to wherever he is supposed to be. There is one scene where he discusses the concept of death with an angel of death. Their ages go from 5 to 23 and it is based in the early 1900's. Does it sound young adult?
Re: How to judge if a book is YA?
Actually, I've always thought that the age of characters is important when judging whether a book is children, YA or adult. More than the subject matter (unless there are sexual themes*). Sometimes, an adult book will be seen as a book for kids if a protagonist is nine.
*- Sexual themes tend to be more important here than the violence (same goes for movies). Many people feel like any form of sexuality makes a book adult, despite the fact sexuality is an integral part of human experience, including children - though it's different than the adult sexuality, obviously. But with violence, I mean, fairy tales are full of it, and they are seen as appropriate for preschoolers.
That being said, I think it's difficult to make a YA book with a nine year old protagonist, or a 45 year old protagonist, but anything is possible.
The way I see it, a book is good for an age group is people of said age group are interested in it. When it comes to YA (and this might be just my view on it), I think the story needs to have some sort of "rite de passage". It doesn't have to be anything big (getting pregnant, etc.), but capturing your characters grow and mature and transform from kids into adulthood - even if it's only about the simplest things - is what makes YA for me. (Others might have different ideas about it, though).