On Monday, David Thorpe at An Awfully Big Blog Adventure pointed out that current statistics indicate that 80% of YA fiction titles are purchased by adults. This percentage has seemingly increased since the last time we talked about this here at TLT back in 2012 when we discussed that We NEED YA Books for Teens. At that time the percentage was in the high 50s. And since then we have seen a huge increase in adults openly embracing their love of reading YA. They even participate in things like the Forever YA Book Club (and I am a member of the DFW chapter). I have no problem with adults reading and enjoying YA fiction. I am an adult who reads and enjoys YA fiction. But I do have a problem with adults taking over the YA market in such a way that we start considering whether or not we should even call the market YA. The answer is: we should. Teens need, want and read YA fiction. The YA category in bookstores and libraries makes it that much easier for teens to find the books they want, need and read. Like the Juniors section at your local clothing store or the Country category at your local record store, it’s a label designed to help the target market easily find the product they are looking for. It doesn’t exclude others, but it does help increase access. It also is a label of validation. By writing, publishing and marketing age appropriate books for teen readers that they can more easily identify with, we as a society communicate to our teens that we respect them, we value them, that they have a space among us to call home. I said a lot of these same types of things on Monday when I tweeted about this so rather than repeat myself, I Storified the tweets for you. There are also some tweets from others that were wise and affirming. And if you are interested, here is another passionate defense I make about YA literature titled Dear Media, Let Me Help You Write That Article About YA Literature.

What should we call YA (this link will take you to the Storify story)

Edited to add this link shared on Twitter by Hippodilly Circus: A Letter to Teachers, Stop Telling Teens You Don’t Like Them

Filed under: Why YA?