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Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Dec 29th, '20, 21:09
by Murkka
I hear a lot of this term lately, but I struggle to find difference between YA fiction and just fiction or YA detective and just detective ect..
For example if Agatha Christie books were written today, they should be categorized - detective or YA detective? Or it depends on the concrete book?
Please keep in mind that English is not my native language, which is maybe one of the reasons of my confusion
Re: Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Jan 7th, '21, 03:00
by Moi
My understanding is that it's directed towards mid to older teens.
Like little kids shouldn't read the books either due to darker or more mature themes or it might be harder for them to read at a young age.
My mom actually reads YA series involving vampires and she's well past the intended age.
But she enjoys them still.
Re: Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Jan 10th, '21, 02:00
by Sanssouci
I agree, they're books that are intended primarily for mid to older teens, although older people can definitely enjoy them too. YA books usually have mid to older teens as main characters, they may be a little easier to read than adult books, and they usually don't have graphic sex scenes. Sometimes you read something and think, "Yup, that's definitely YA," or you think, "Yup, that's definitely an adult book." But other times the line is pretty blurred. So whether or not something is considered YA or not can be subjective. Some books are in the YA section at one library or bookstore, for example, but they may be in the adult/regular fiction section at another library or bookstore.
Re: Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Apr 15th, '21, 18:42
by Murkka
You both are AWESOME, thank you very much. I feel much more confident on the matter now.
I think that there was couple of things that confused me on the first place - the word 'adult' [not teen or youth] and the different types of books that get this label... They seemed so random. It never occurs to me that subjective opinion may vary so much.
Re: Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Aug 17th, '21, 17:39
by Amura
English is not my native language either, and this label was also confusing for me at first.
There is not such a label in my language, you either read teen novels or you read (regular) novels.
They call it "young adult" when it's a bit too dark/mature/sexual/whatever for a 15 years old but still a bit too cheesy to be simply regarded as literature (without adjectives).
They style is often very simple and direct, which is easier to read (therefore appeals to younger readers) but may seem a bit uninteresting if you are an advanced reader.
Agatha Christie would not be YA if she wrote nowadays because her stories have a great complexity, which would not be intended for younger readers.
Many YA novels belong to very concrete niches (teen romance, vampires, etc.) and all of them are easy to read. For that reason it may be a good option for foreign readers (who look for easier reads) or for other adult readers who want a relaxed easy-to-follow story to read while they rest at the end of the day. Not only for teenagers!
Re: Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Jan 31st, '22, 01:52
by Akili Li
You can also look at the complexity of the language; books which contain themes, plots, and characters that all fit a "young adult" label can be moved into regular literature or adult fiction if the vocabular and grammatical structure are very advanced.
Of course, some of that is simply the time frame the book was published in; older works tend to have broader vocabularies and more varied sentence structure than newer works, as a rule.
Re: Please help me understand what does 'Young Adult' mean?
Posted: Dec 14th, '23, 22:55
by wolfcat87
Amura wrote: ↑Aug 17th, '21, 17:39
English is not my native language either, and this label was also confusing for me at first.
There is not such a label in my language, you either read teen novels or you read (regular) novels.
They call it "young adult" when it's a bit too dark/mature/sexual/whatever for a 15 years old but still a bit too cheesy to be simply regarded as literature (without adjectives).
They style is often very simple and direct, which is easier to read (therefore appeals to younger readers) but may seem a bit uninteresting if you are an advanced reader.
Agatha Christie would not be YA if she wrote nowadays because her stories have a great complexity, which would not be intended for younger readers.
Many YA novels belong to very concrete niches (teen romance, vampires, etc.) and all of them are easy to read. For that reason it may be a good option for foreign readers (who look for easier reads) or for other adult readers who want a relaxed easy-to-follow story to read while they rest at the end of the day. Not only for teenagers!
What country does it that way?