# Young Adult literature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880 "2009-07-13T18:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/41 "2009-07-14T17:22:08Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > Laurie Anderson also wrote Twisted, with a male lead character. I thought that one was very good too. > > Any other YA fans read a book titled “What I did”? I recommend that one. Do we have a regular thread here for YA recs? I read Twisted and enjoyed it–not as much as Speak, but still pretty good. Who is “What I Did” by? I tried searching for it online but couldn’t find it to see if I’d heard of it. > [@Risha](#): > > Robin McKinley is very much a love-her-or-hate-her writer, so YMMV, but I found [Deerskin](http://www.amazon.com/Deerskin-Robin-McKinley/dp/0441012396/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247546979&sr=8-1) very affecting. It pretty much opens with the protagonist being violently raped by her father, and the rest of the novel is about her trying to deal with the aftereffects. I tried reading her book Beauty and then I forgot to finish it and ended up returning it to the library. Deerskin sounds cool. I’ve always loved the fairytale Donkeyskin, so I’ll try to check it. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/42 "2009-07-14T17:52:15Z")
Freudian - the book I was trying to reference is “This is What I Did” by Anne Ellis. hard little book to describe but I thought it was powerful. helps to give the correct title. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/43 "2009-07-14T18:11:27Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Michael Chabon, whom I _adore_ in general, wrote a kids book a few years back, and my reaction was “wow, poor guy thinks you can write a kids book by simply dumbing down a story.” Not his greatest moment, you know? Heh. I’d heard great things about Cavalier&Clay, but it was checked out when I went to the library, so I got his _Summerland_. It was pretty mediocre, and it was years before I got around to reading Cavalier&Clay. I was astonished at how good his adult fiction was. China Mieville did something similar: I love his adult fiction, but _Un Lun Dun_ is sloppy and derivative. Other folks have pretty well described my reasons for reading YA literature. I’ve got one more. I teach second grade, and typically some of my kids are reading pretty far above a second-grade level. Sometimes I’m at school late and tired, and I take a break from whatever I’m working on to pick up one of their books to read. It’s pretty fun, and it gives me something to talk with them about. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/44 "2009-07-14T18:13:46Z")
I like to read books before I give them to my grandkids to familiarise myself with the material. I usually end up enjoying them. I’ve read a couple Harry Potters, some Lemony Snickets, The Borrowers. Those were all well written and fun stories. For my own personal reading I still pick up YA when I’m out of other things to read. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/45 "2009-07-14T21:34:20Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > It is Garth Nix’s Abhorsen trilogy. It has a unique set of magic rules and a nice plot. I had a lot of trouble reading the first one the first time I tried it, but I was loaded down on pain meds and couldn’t concentrate. I put it away for at least a year and then picked it up again. I thought it was a good read and read the other two and enjoyed them all. Thanks. I read Sabriel about three years ago and never got around to the rest. I guess I should start over again soon. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/46 "2009-07-14T22:31:54Z")
I’m an omnivore. I just finished [Russka](http://www.amazon.com/Russka-Novel-Russia-Edward-Rutherfurd/dp/0804109729) and the next book on the shelf next to my bed was one my wife had borrowed from a friend, so now I’m reading [The Amulet of Samarkand](http://www.amazon.com/Amulet-Samarkand-Bartimaeus-Trilogy-Book/dp/0786852550/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247610275&sr=1-3). If it’s there and I haven’t read it, then I typically read it. I don’t seek out YA lit, but remember that classics such as Charlotte’s Web, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Chronicles of Narnia were all YA. Nothing about being targeted for Young Adults makes the unsuitable for older adults. Plus, just like I make it a point to listen to new music, reading newer books keeps me young. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/47 "2009-07-14T23:17:47Z")
Interesting how some writers can write well for all ages (Neil Gaiman) and some can’t (Michael Chabon). Mtgman - you are so right. Reading newer stuff as well as listening to newer stuff helps keep us young. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/48 "2009-07-15T04:07:49Z")
Okay, I’m not saying I just watched _The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants_ for the second time and cried like a baby… but I’m not saying I didn’t, either. Although generally that isn’t the type of YA lit I enjoy at all. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/49 "2009-07-15T08:45:10Z")
Some obviously are stuff I read when I was younger, some is new stuff by authors I liked when I was younger, and some are just appealing to me now. A good deal of the YA I like is either genre (sci-fi, fantasy) or is humorous or has an ironic attitude or witty writing style (Daniel Pinkwater). A lot of YA might as well be adult novels but are classified as YA because they star younger protagonists (Wrinkle in Time) or are a little bit shorter than most adult novels. A lot of YA is classified that way also just because certain genres sell better as YA. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/50 "2009-07-15T12:16:11Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > Interesting how some writers can write well for all ages (Neil Gaiman) and some can’t (Michael Chabon). I loved Summerland. It wasn’t his best written book, but it was the book of his I enjoyed the most. Gaiman - his kids stuff is top notch - his adult stuff is pretty meh - certainly not the equal of Chabon’s adult stuff. But I’m not a huge adult Fantasy fan. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/51 "2009-07-15T13:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > For me, I just remember how great it used to feel to go to the library as a kid and leave with a stack of books I could hardly carry AND have the TIME to read ALL of them before they were due back. _:::sigh::::_ I like to read the new YA to see what messages the author is trying to convey. Wanna hear my _Twilight_ rant? Do you? When I re-read books of my youth, they either don’t live up to the pedestal that I put on it or it helps me realize what ‘issues’ I had at that time and the hole that book was particularly filling and I get to see how far I have come from the tween years. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/52 "2009-07-19T03:45:02Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > …I like to read the new YA to see what messages the author is trying to convey… and I get to see how far I have come from the tween years. OR… see what messages you skimmed over (or yes, well, maybe might have totally missed) the first time around. (cf. Aforementioned Narnia books) ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880/53 "2009-07-19T04:44:08Z")
I’ve been reading a lot of YA lit lately, and loving it. I kind of came back to it in two ways. For one, I [own a crapload of books](http://www.librarything.com/catalog/iftheresaway) and do a lot of re-reading (it warmed my heart to see Tamora Pierce mentioned, as I’ve been reading her books for about 12 years now, and they’re still good. In fact, I just bought her newest Beka Cooper book last week and enjoyed it). Some things I reread because they hold up well, others for nostalgia (Piers Anthony) or to see how I’ve changed (a couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted the whole collection of _Oz_ books, as I had loved them when I was younger. I got the first four for Christmas, and was sorely disappointed by the sexist, etc., undertones which I had missed). So I’ve never really stopped reading YA lit, it’s just been a smaller portion of what I read over the years. Then I started working with kids, mainly middle- and high- schoolers, and I wanted not only to be able to recommend books to them, but also just to be able to have a conversation with them, to be genuinely interested in what they have to say and have a common point of interest. I think it shows a level of respect that I care enough about what they are thinking to read the same things they are reading. I started spending more time in the YA section of the library, and I must say that I am delighted. As someone else mentioned earlier, there is a lot of good fantasy (and to my mind, much better characterization in genre novels) in the YA section. Anyone who enjoys reading or humor would do well to check out Terry Pratchett’s [Nation](http://www.amazon.com/Nation-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0385613709/ref=ed_oe_h). Two children, a shipwrecked English girl and a native island boy, have to essentially rebuild civilization after a disastrous tsunami hit. How they learn and grow as they do so is touching, painful, hilarious, familiar, and inspiring - everything a good novel should be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-adult-literature/502880.md?page=2)