# Tell me about contemporary young-adult fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209 "2008-04-06T19:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209/1 "2008-04-06T19:59:37Z")
In another thread, the subject contemporary young-adult fiction came up. It was suggested that I am probably not that familiar with the genre. This is correct. I looked at the entry on Wikipedia. I am familiar with most of the titles published up through the 1960’s, but my memory of most of them is really hazy. When it comes to the titles published in the last 20 years, I basically know nothing. The other day I had the chance to read _Sleeping Freshman Never Lie_. (You can read parts of it on the Amazon “Search Inside” link below). For those familiar with the contemporary YA genre, would you say this book is representative of the genre as a whole? Is this considered good or bad contemporary YA fiction? I thought the book as awful. The writing was clunky and overdone. It was full of stupid puns and Tom Swifties, and it was generally unfocused. It read like the writings of an adult trying to create the unedited ramblings of a 14 year-old. The picture the book creates of a young man is completely false. This especially apparent in the narrator’s oh-so-sweet attraction to a girl in his class. The book denies the dark, twisted nature of a 14 year-old boy’s sexual psyche. I think we all remember works of fiction or television that pander to teenagers. This book is about as true a picture of being a teenager as you will find on _7th Heaven_. Now, maybe this book is just bad. Maybe a lot of the contemporary YA fiction is great. For those familiar with the genre, can you recommend some of the best titles? > **[Young adult fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_literature#Literature)** > > Young adult fiction (YA) is fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. The term YA was first used regularly in the 1960s in the United States. The YA category includes most of the genres found in adult fiction, with themes that include friendship, sexuality, drugs and alcohol, and sexual and gender identity. Stories that focus on the challenges of youth may be categorized as problem novels or coming-of-age novels. The boundary between children's and adult literature is flexi The d... > **[Amazon.com: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie: 9780525473114: Lubar, David: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Freshmen-Ribbon-Fiction-Awards/dp/0525473114)** > > Amazon.com: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie: 9780525473114: Lubar, David: Books ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209/2 "2008-04-06T20:14:52Z")
I’m not familiar with YA general fiction, but I’ve read and enjoyed some YA fantasy fiction. _The Bartimaeus Trilogy_ by Jonathan Stroud is particularly good – witty and dark. _The Abhorsen Trllogy_ by Garth Nix is good too (it’s about death). _Dust_ by Arthur Slade is a fantasy-mystery that reminded me of Ray Bradbury, without the flowery language. None of these writers “write down” for a YA audience. If I were a kid, I’d appreciate not being talked down to. I wasn’t quite as happy with the _Magic_ books by Justine Larbalastier (sp?) – nice concept – magical power runs in families – use it and die early or don’t use it and go crazy. But she kept repeating stuff, as if young adults won’t remember from one page to the next. I like the lack of explicit sex and violence in YA fantasy fiction, so that’s where I go when I want something “clean”. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209/3 "2008-04-06T20:40:39Z")
I’ve always been a fan of [Robert Cormier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cormier#Works) who’s works cover 40 years (1960-2001) but I’d consider his themes to be at least “modern.” He’s best known for _The Chocolate War_ but I read most of his other titles and they’re just as good. I also enjoyed [Gary Paulsen’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Paulsen) _Winterkill_, _Hatchet_, _Dancing Carl_ and _The Winter Room_. I read all of this stuff in the early 90’s when I was a teen. When I was in college in the late 90’s, I wasn’t too impressed with anything we read in the “Literature For Young Adults” class I took, other than _The Bell Jar_. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209/4 "2008-04-07T21:28:49Z")
Just giving this a bump. I would still like to know if _Sleeping Freshman Never Lie_ is a good representation of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209/5 "2008-04-07T21:30:50Z")
I enjoy [Norma Fox Mazer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Fox_Mazer), and you cannot go wrong with Lemony Snicket ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-contemporary-young-adult-fiction/444209/6 "2008-04-07T22:50:09Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Just giving this a bump. I would still like to know if _Sleeping Freshman Never Lie_ is a good representation of the genre. [/QUOTE] I doubt that one book is a good representation of any genre.