Trend Watch 2013

The year is halfway over and we’re tracking trends.  So, what are we seeing?  We’ll be tracking it right here.  But I can’t read everything (even though I try!) and we need your help!  Leave us a comment or Tweet us at #trendwatch2013.  We need to come up with 10 signficant trends in #yalit for 2013 to create this year’s poster.  Previous years posters are available after the jump.

Here’s how it will work:  Tell us what trends you see in the comments.  We can compile a list of more than 10.  Beginning in July, we will ask readers to vote on what they feel are the Top 10 Trends in YA Lit.  In August, we’ll put the poster together.  In addition, if you know of a title that fits a trend listed on the page or in the comments, please share.  Thank you.

Unconventional Main Characters

In Dualed by Elise Chapman, we see a teenaged female hitman.  Technically they are called Strikers in this world, but she is a hitman.  And in Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan our main character is a female thief who becomes part of the Queen’s guard (it’s historical fiction).

You could Have Been an X-Men

Characters with mutant like powers.  New titles to add to this list: Blackout by Robison Wells (coming out in October) and The Twelve-Fingered Boy

Teenage Assasins

Dualed by Elise Chapman, Nobody by Jennifer Lynne Barnes, Mind Games by Kiersten White
Rich Teen, Poor Teen: Socioeconomic Diversity in YA Lit

Rich Teens: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney, Winger by Andrew Smith
Poor Teens: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Strong Male Voices

Winger by Andrew Smith, Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin, When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

It’s a Tech Thing: Technology in the Lives of Teens

Going Vintage by Lindsay Leavitt , Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown, Canary by Rachele Alpine

Filed under: Trend Watch, Trends, YA Lit