Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya (Young Adult Young Adult) Sisterhood - Page 2

Besides, there's tons of superlative YA out there, thank Zeus. I do have minor quibbles with the unceasing YA volcano:

1) While grateful that J.K. Rowling kicked the door down like a SWAT team raid and unbottled the YA fiction genie, it's been at the expense of other more prolific & more talented authors. It ain't just Harry Potter, folks. To wit: Diane Duane scooped Rowling's "kid wizard" concept more than 10 years before the first Harry Potter novel with her Young Wizards series. The bright side: Duane's OOP books got republished & now she's got a bigger readership (she doesn't have to rely solely on those Star Trek novels).

2) It being a business, everyone and their mothers now wants to write (or worse, merely thinks they can write) a YA novel. Lots of "serious" adult authors are breaking both ankles hijacking the YA bandwagon. I see the appeal - growth market, change of thematic pace, and they probably write them in between their meatier, adult fare.

Some of these are excellent (Michael Chabon's Summerland, Carl Hiassen's Hoot & Flush). Others give me cynical pause, like James Patterson's Maximum Ride. He cranks out 80 cookie cutter thrillers a year so this seems more an unconcealed two-fisted grab at the YA market, or a potential gateway drug for said YA's to go buy Patterson's mediocre Alex Cross tripe-ery once they graduate.

3) Worse than people simply thinking they can write a novel, they go for an entire YA series. Thank Rowling for that too. Multiple books make sense for the readers, writer, and publishing houses. But it runs the risk of lesser writers producing the literary equivalent of a Rocky XVIII.

All great YA fiction has one truism in common: it respects the readership, and treats its readers like adults. This emphasis on "adult" in the phrase "young adult" is clutch. Books that treat kids like kids are anathema. Books that are the metaphorical equivalent of a condescending aunt patting you on the head murmuring "goo-goo-ga-ga" instead of noticing that you can handle something much more maturely.

Here's a list of authors I recommend and others that I'm shilling based strictly on buzz:

Francesca Lia Block is a gorgeously gifted writer. Reading her words is like feasting on a sumptuous, home-cooked meal with fresh ingredients and lots and lots of dessert. Her "Weetzie Bat" cycle of books (mostly collected in her novel Dangerous Angels) is the best place to start.

Article Author: Tiffany Leigh

Pop™. Screenwriter. Part-time girl. Passionate activist against All Things Mediocre. Tiffany Leigh's blog, "Soundtrack to the Motion Picture," can be found right here.

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