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Why YA?

October 7, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS

If Adults Are the People Buying YA Literature, Should We Still Call It YA? I Say Yes!

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. […]

June 6, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS

In defense of teens by Heather Booth

If you haven’t read the recent article chastising adults for enjoying teen lit, you could seek it out, or you could just not bother (we won’t link to it here). I did have the misfortune of reading it. It didn’t make me angry though, it made me sad. And it didn’t make me sad for […]

March 25, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Why YA? David James talks The Year of Ice

Author David James will be hosting our #TLTDiversity Twitter chat on Wednesday. Today, he is telling us “Why YA?” I can be fearful of things in the way we all can be when the words “what” and “if” are squeezed together to create uncertainty. When separate, those two little words are harmless; together, they may […]

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More Recent Posts

Why YA? (again): Fear and loathing in YA literature

January 25, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Last year, there was some brouhaha about the YA Literature label that prompted me to write a defense of YA Lit and sparked a series of posts where many of us – librarians, authors, readers – shared our favorite YA titles and what made them rich, moving pieces of literature. Why YA? Read the original […]

Why YA? Twilight (Stephenie Meyer) and Impossible (Nancy Werlin) as discussed by author Lea Nolan

October 25, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Why YA? Because it’s important. And because I know what it’s like to live without it.  Today, Lea Nolan, author of the new ya book Conjure from Entangled Publishing, shares her Why YA? story with us.  Conjure is book 1 in the The Hoodoo Apprentice.  In this awesome adventure there are messages in a bottle from […]

Why YA? Stephen King as Honorary YA Author by Chloe Jacobs

September 14, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

At some point in their life, every teen will read a Stephen King book.  I remember being in the 6th grade when we were supposed to be reading The Hobbit, instead I spent that week reading It by Stephen King.  I didn’t take away from it what you would think I would, no fear of […]

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2012 Printz Award Winner John Corey Whaley remembers . . .

September 11, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

In honor of the anniversary of 9/11, we are re-running a piece written by the 2012 Printz Award Winner John Corey Whaley on the book Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan.  This piece originally appeared on April 18, 2012 as part of our Why YA? series. I’ll make a confession: I read YA […]

Why YA? Ash (Malinda Lo) as discussed by Christie Gibrich

July 12, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Today’s Why YA? post is brought to you by TLT contributor Christie Gibrich, MLS Why YA? Because the Shoe Fits Meeting people for the first (or second time), and it is usually pretty predictable. Right after they find out my profession, the second question I’m always asked is, What do you read? (Comes right after […]

Why YA? The Story of a Girl (Sara Zarr) as discussed by Lisa Burstein

June 29, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

It was only earlier this year that I read Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr.  I was touched by the fact that it was a simple yet raw coming of age story about a teenage girl.  There were no bells and whistles, no magical powers or arena fights to the death – just raw, […]

Hatchet (Gary Paulsen) as discussed by Lindsay Cummings

June 14, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Today, as author Lindsay Cummings waits for her thrilling new ya book The Murder Complex to be published, she stops by to write a Why YA? post about a book that means a lot to her.  You can write one too. Everyone reads, at some point in their life. Some of us read in school. […]

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