Young Adult Books–Are for Everyone?
The definition of Young Adult Books is books that are written for people between the ages of twelve and eighteen. However, do you have to be between twelve and eighteen to enjoy young adult books?
Whether or not your personal opinion is yes or no, statistics seem to indicate that young adult books appeal to people of all ages. Well, maybe not really little kids, but it isn’t just young adults who enjoy young adult books. This article I found shows just how diverse YA readers are when it comes to age. In fact, it states that out of the people who chose “Young Adult” as their favorite genera on Good Reads and actually marked their age, sixty-five percent of them were eighteen or older, and thirty-three percent were older than 35.
But why is that? The article states a couple of reasons the author believes so many people who have graduated from the young adult age group still love it. I have my own thoughts on the matter. Here are some of the reasons I think young adult books can be for everyone.
1- We are all young at heart. Yeah, it sounds a little cliche, but for many people who love young adult books, it’s likely true. I won’t lie. I’m not a young adult anymore, and I’m getting further and further away from being one, but for some reason, I still feel like one. My life is still changing, and I’m still learning new things. I don’t feel like I know as much as I used to believe the “fully-grown-grownup” should know. I don’t always feel completely comfortable “adulting”. Yes, I still occasionally wish for adventure, and the ability to be able to focus on my own development and desires as I used to be able to instead of having to think of everyone who depends on me and my list of essential tasks. In young adult books, one can sometimes get hints of that, even if it is just vicariously through the character’s experience. Perhaps it isn’t what our lives are like now, but we’ve been there, and we can relate with those younger people, probably far better than younger people can relate with us.
2- It’s harder to relate with a full blown adult having awesome adventures. I mean, we all still kind of wish for adventures, but, with a few exceptions, most adults live fairly boring lives. We wake up, go to work, come home worn out, do our best to relax while both worrying about and trying to forget about all the things we still should be doing, before we fall into bed only to start it all over the next day. Maybe you’re different, but my life would not make a good book. Nothing more unpredictable than a powdered sugar explosion happens. Nobody wants to read about something like that. Something exciting has to happen for a book, and most of the time, if something “exciting” happens to us in real life, it is usually along the lines of getting in a car accident, getting a call from your kid’s principal’s office, or going to the hospital to get your gallbladder removed. These aren’t usually the kind of things that we think of when we think of book characters and their adventures. When we read about adults having grand adventures, somehow we can’t relate because it is so far from where our lives are at the moment, or we just can’t believe it would really happen that way. For example, what is the last book you read about a stay at home mom who has awesome adventures while weilding a broom in one hand and pushing a stroller with the other? There just aren’t many (if any) out there. Once in a while, there is a book or movie about a guy breaking away from a soul-sucking desk job to go on some amazing adventure, but unless it’s a chickflick, and romantic comedy is your thing, or maybe horror (which is definitely not my thing), normal adult women just don’t get much action. This is especially true if they have families. Somehow, it just seems more natural for it to happen to younger people who haven’t had to live through the daily tedium that we always experience.
3- There’s more fun young adult stuff. While there are plenty of young adult books that are written about heavy topics and not really what you would call fun, there also seem to be a larger selection that are written to be fun. Don’t get me wrong–there are some great gooks out there that are adult books, but many of those have main characters that are just barely old enough to be counted as adults. Somehow, the fun ones still don’t feel entirely written for adults, even if they are technically out of the “young adult” genera. Also, young adult books are generally shorter. That means you can still get a good story in less time. I don’t know about you, but there is only so much time for reading in my hectic adult life, so sometimes shorter is just what I need. It feels kind of like having a cupcake with sprinkles as a little snack between some of the bigger things I have to do. Sometimes, that seems more satisfying than a bigger “book meal” would.
These are some of the reasons I think I am drawn to young adult books. Perhaps others are drawn to them for the same reasons. Perhaps these are reasons others avoid young adult books. I don’t know. After all, we’re all different. Good thing there are books of all sorts.
Do you enjoy young adult books? If you aren’t a young adult, what is your reason(s)?