It started with Harry Potter.
Well, come on. Didn’t it start there for many of us?
It started with Harry Potter. Mind you, it started there when the third book came out, I was in a Stockholm train station having just finished my current book and had nothing to read, and it was one of the few titles for sale there in English. I bought the first in the series, thinking it was a bit silly having an adult read what clearly appeared to be a children’s book, but there you have it. I read it. I was hooked.
I didn’t read what is classified as a “YA” (young adult) book again for years, not counting the Harry Potter series, which I don’t really count. Yes, it’s written for kids and young adults, but when a new book came out all you would see is a sea of businessmen commuters on trains lugging around the rainbow-striped tomes in their briefcases. And yes, I also read the Twilight series (although I confess that I rolled my eyes and skipped the romance parts. Does that make me prudish or just old?)
I love reading. I always have and always will. I will read just about anything, from fiction to non-fiction to biographies, but if I’m honest I have a soft spot for science fiction. And not just regular sci fi – I love watching Terry Pratchett films but could never get into the books – but I enjoy a specific genre in sci fi – dystopian sci fi. The anthropologist in me and the paranoid end-of-the-world planner in me can’t resist. Please, I have bottled water and batteries hidden all over the house and I plan for snowstorms months in advance. When the zombie armies come I will be ready – will you be?
There’s a lot of dystopian fiction around, and I have read much of it. In the adult world dystopia (that whole “future-ish end-of-the-world regime meets rebellion kind of space) are plentiful and several of them rank on my favorites list – The Handmaid’s Tale, The Passage, Shades of Grey, Animal Farm, Never Let Me Go, Lord of the Flies, and the epic The Stand (even to a lesser extent Under the Dome, which is less societal and more situational). I’ve read Ayn Rand. I loathe Ayn Rand. I’ve also not read Brave New World, however I find I’m waning on “older” dystopian fiction and like the new stuff, so maybe I wait on that one.
Last year I was doing some research for books for Jeff when I stumbled across The Knife of Never Letting Go. I ran across it again while at the Hay Festival. It was interesting-sounding, this book. My kind of book. I picked up Knife of Never Letting Go at Hay and loved it so much I immediately chewed through the other two in the trilogy.
And what shocked me was that it was listed as young adult fiction. While I think that the vocabulary and pace was probably right for teens, the subject matter was dark. The complexities of the people involved was amazing and I found it all really surprising that novels of this caliber were classified as YA, meaning they weren’t really in the remit for adults.
My interest in this world grew. While growing up my teen years were very Sweet Valley High, so I’m not sure if I wasn’t interested in this kind of writing or if it didn’t really exist. I found more works of writing that I really enjoyed, all of them set in this alternate world and featuring people needing to break out of their molds. I found more books that I truly enjoyed – Matched (and am eagerly awaiting the sequel). The Reapers Are the Angels (not sure if I liked it or not, but I’ve been thinking about it after the fact, which must mean something). I have several ready to read, both in paperback and on the Kindle – The Testament of Jessie Lamb, Across the Universe, and Ashes, Ashes.
Earlier this week I decided to buy The Hunger Games.
I loved it.
Loved.
If you’ve not read it, Amazon are offering all three in the trilogy for £11.71/$21.89. Run on over there and order it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Back now?
Right, I loved it so much that I wound up carrying my Kindle absolutely everywhere with me on the off chance that I would get a minute to read a page or two. I finished The Hunger Games last night and immediately bought the sequel (Kindle needs to make it a bit trickier to download books or else I’m going to go broke soon), which I managed to finish off in a 5 hour reading marathon last night. I am now on book 3 and a part of me is crushed this is the last book to read. I’ve not read such a brilliant series in ages, I am genuinely impressed to bits over the writing (I’ve not finished it yet, so no spoilers!) I honestly absolutely love it (although I don’t love it so much that I would marry it. I’ve not been pervaded by YA novels that much. Yet.)
And I am amazed that these are listed as YA novels. Some of these books are articulate, complex, and have some fairly mature scenes (particularly in The Hunger Games, some scenes would reduce adults to rubble). It’s an amazing area and I’m willing to keep reading action/adventure/dystopian sci fi in it because it’s so well-written (my Sweet Valley High days are over. I don’t read adult romance novels, I certainly wouldn’t read YA ones. That’d be me shouting at the book “Are you stupid? Guess what’s going to happen tomorrow when you both wake up with sour milk breath and he sees you without your face on? I thought so!”)
Reading this genre doesn’t make me a kid and I wouldn’t have thought that for a moment, but some of the authors’ writing is really incredible. I intersperse these books with real adult fiction and non-fiction, including Tina Fey’s biography, Before I Go To Sleep (highly recommend), The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (hated and don’t recommend unless you hate yourself. Like, a lot.) and Things We Didn’t See Coming (also highly recommend).
But I keep coming back to some of the writing in YA. Is it creepy and weird that a 37 year old woman is downloading, reading, and in fact loving what are listed as YA novels? Does anyone else read this genre, too?
And…um….if it’s not creepy and weird, anyone have any recommendations out there that I’ve not read?
-S.
Oooh, I think I might be following up on some of these! I also love Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy… again, quite dark and thought-provoking. In fact I dug them out recently to read again!
My son and I have always recommended books to each other and during his teen years I got exposed to a number of YA books I liked. Of course, I use my degree in Children’s lit as an excuse to “keep up on the subject” but I definitely enjoy books from that part of the store. Though some might consider these even more youthful, my favorites are Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” and “Gathering Blue” (both slightly differently dystopian stories). I didn’t care so much for the “The Messenger” which supposedly turns those 2 stories into a linked trilogy, I think they stand alone quite nicely and the 3rd seems overly fantastic and magical.
I don’t think it’s weird at all. I too jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon around book 3 and loved it, my bookshelf at home contains everything from Pratchett through to Plato and a careful inspection will reveal something like a 50% YA ratio. I buy into them normally because the genre offers true escapist fiction, well written and easy to read – both in terms of vocabulary but also in terms of plot structure and characterisation.
And YA fiction contains some epic books by equally accomplished authors: Phillip Pullman, Eoin Coulfer, Garth Nix, Jonathan Stroud – all great writers who’s tales have enriched my life despite their location in the bookshop.
To me it’s never really mattered what people read – so long as they are reading something and exercising the same imaginative muscle irrespective of the target age group of the book. Read anything that you enjoy and you’ll be better for it …
except Mills and Boon … that sh#t’s just nasty
My daughter was a book addict in middle school, and earned money to buy things through the Scholastic flyers. Through that exposure, i picked up many books I never would have otherwise. Good writing is good writing. I even found that the case when they were toddlers. There were some books I loathed reading (Berenstein Bears, etc, ) because they were badly written while there were others I didn’t mind reading hundreds of times. Even now, sending my youngest off to college, I can’t bear to part with them.
I have teens in the house and I “try” to always read what they do. I also read all of the Harry Potter and loved them. I read the Twilight series when my daughter did and we talked about the fantasy of obsessive love vs the reality. I read the Hunger Games series with my son and we both loved them. Surprisingly I read Stephanie Meyer’s adult novel The Host on my own. I did actually like it. There is great writing out there in the YA category and I’m thankful. I don’t remember this when I was a teen.
I love to get my hands on YA books, my boy is 12 now and I buy books for him but I read them first!
I can absolutely recommend the “Gone” series by Michael Grant, they’re quite long books for kids but I’ve read each one in a day, quite scary for kids too.
I also like the “Invisible Fiends” series, they’re aimed at a bit younger but still a good read, also a bit scary!
Not YA but…
A Canticle for Leibowitz
The Doomsday Book
Anything by Philip K. Dick (if you like a bit of philosophy stirred in with your sci fi) – he wrote the novel that the movie Blade Runner was based on
I have always loved Madeline L’Engle and pull out A Swiftly Tilting Planet every so often. I got reintroduced to YA via some teachers who liked Lois Lowry. I love the Harry Potter books. I just got The Hunger Games and I can’t wait to start reading it. I will read pretty much anything as long as it grabs me within the first few pages.
I’m somewhat excited for my daughter to start reading so her world can open up in a whole new way.
I must remember to bookmark this post so I can get some new books for my list!
Check out stuff by Sheri Tepper. Grass, Sideshow, Gate to Women’s Country, Beauty. Basically the stuff that isn’t a in a series. She’s a big time feminist and women’s rights advocate, and it comes out in the writing.
I just finished Huntress by Malinda Lo, which is a prequel to Ash, the author’s first book. I enjoyed both and totally recommend them! They are also YA.
When I was reading the start of this I was waiting to see if you would mention the Hunger Games, funny. I just checked it out from our local library and am awaiting a good read.
If you like fantasy/scifi I imagine you already read these, but I absolutely adore (still) the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Like Harry Potter, it does not ruin things if you’ve already seen the movies…I think most people would still enjoy the books too.
Happy reading!
I don’t read my childrens’ books primarily due to time. I’m a slow reader and only have so many hours in a day.
However, I do tend to watch the shows my kids watch: Phineas & Ferb, Kim Possible (when it was on), Good Luck Charlie, So Random!, Zoey 101 (it’s still in reruns), Victorious, and the likes. Mostly Disney & Teen Nick.
They’re funny, and they’re much more wholesome than Friends, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, Seinfeld, and most of the adult shows that are on tv now.
Do y’all watch your kids’ shows too?
I’ve not heard of those and am looking for some new reads so will have a look
Another vote for Phillip Pullman (although he is a touch derivative) but yes I’ve read Harry Potter which was a lovely fun read and Twilight was also enjoyable
I think there has to be a crossover between YA and adult ficton – its not something that has a clear demarkation and I think more teenagers will read fiction that they don’t feel is purely directed at them
I loved the Hunger Games trilogy! Didn’t learn until I was done that they were YA. The hubby said no wonder you loved those books:) The are making the first one into a movie. I think the casting was done well. Google it and see what you think.
Oh, thank you for the tip. I downloaded The Hunger Games for the Kindle about a month ago to read and will get to read it some on vacation next week. Now, I’m really looking forward to it. If you like the Sci-Fi ‘thinky’ type stuff, take a look at the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. I loved these. Also, Isaac Asimov that are a great read. I started off with the I, Robot book and then discovered the Robot Series, then the Earth and Foundation series’ of his. A great plethora of fun reads. Take a peek.
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (first of a short series)
As I was reading the type of books that you like, I kept wondering if you had read the Hunger Games! I’m so glad you like it. I love those books. Also thank you for some great book suggestions! Whenever someone tells me about a good book, I immediately look it up on Amazon & add it to my wish list. Love Amazon’s Wish List!!
I don’t generally like movies made from books if I read the book first, but I am eagerly waiting for the Hunger Games to come out. I can’t wait to see how they do it.
I loved The Hunger Games and forced all the adult women in my life to try it. I didn’t have to convince them to read the next two. My teenage son and I swap & discuss books often. You would probably enjoy the Gone series by Michael Grant . It’s a dystopia as well. Not as good as Hunger Games, but still worth reading. I also recommend the Kristin Cashore trilogy (Graceling, Fire, and soon out Bitterblue). It’s too bad so many adults ignore the YA category.
LOVED LOVED LOVED the Hunger Games Trilogy. Thought about those charachters for months after..
Leslie B.
Well as far as dystopian young adult fiction goes, The Giver takes the cake for me. I must’ve read it two dozen times as a kid, and there are still moments when scenes from the book will come rushing back, off the simplest of things. Red apples tend to be the most likely culprits. I also loved Sharon Creech’s novels, which dealt with death, coming of age, etc. masterfully. Walk Two Moons, in particular, was beautiful. Oh – and So Far From the Bamboo Grove and My Brother, My Sister, & I by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, both of which are autobiographical accounts of her childhood in the wake of WWII in Japan. You will cry reading them, it’s inevitable, but worth it. Also in the rather-depressing-but-outstanding genre, The Devil’s Arithmetic and Number the Stars, both accounts of the Holocaust from the POV of children (though they’re both fiction).
Still haven’t gotten into The Hunger Games. I blame having about 1/6th of the attention span I had as a kid.
It’s now your fault that I’ve just gone and bought more books. I am sending my partner to you when he complains at me.
I have a thing for dystopian sci-fi novels too and just finished “The Giver” that was a very short read and aimed at the younger end of the YA Fiction scale, but it left me feeling shattered and I thought about it for days.
Try the Xanth series by Piers Anthony, parts of which you can ad lib for the twins, like the under the bed monster, and stanley steemer the dragon. You’ll love them!
And the Dragon Riders of Pern series, by Anne McCaffrey. You’ll love them too.
I love, love, love The Hunger Games. Now I’ve just put the Chaos Walking book 1 on my kindle…thanks!
I don’t think it’s creepy or weird at all, as I’ve read and love most of the books you’ve listed! And after reading the description I’m going to have to add The Knife of Never Letting go to my library list! (My kindle has recently left the world of the living. It is very missed.)
I read lots of YA stuff, as do plenty of older adults I know (I’m 33). The Hunger Games are on my list of things to read, and we have them in the library – hooray!
Not weird.Although I never read Twilight (mushy romance? barf.) or Harry Potter (too stubborn, wizards aren’t my thing), I did read The Hunger Games and loved it. I’m cautiously (please oh please don’t ruin it) anticipating the movie(s). I don’t know that I’ll make YA books my new hobby but there are definitely some good ones out there. And I don’t even have kids.
Suggest you try Sherro Tepper. Her “Gate to Woman’s Country” is a great SF view of a dystopian future.
Agre on Humger Games.
If you’ve never read them, Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books (there are like 20 of them and it’s probably easiest to read them in the order they were written) are great YA. The early ones are a bit ‘younger’, but they all deal with really complex stuff. They’re also all about girls kicking-ass (female knights, police, mages, etc.) so fun if you like that sort of stuff.
Anything by Nina Kariki Hoffman (I think I spelled the middle name correctly) is also amazing. And Diana Wynn Jones.
I mostly read YA because it’s so often well written and just more fun for me than ‘adult’ books. Usually the topics covered aren’t less complex or ‘adult’ either.
Some YA is hit or miss. I know people who love Twilight, for example, but I found it horribly written and hated it. Same goes for the Christopher Paolini books (Earagon is the first one).
Oh, another rec is the Garth Nix Sabriel books. They are, again, fantasy. (I read mostly fantasy)
I could kinda keep going, but I think I’ve probably given you a start.
One thing you might want to check out is the list of books being published in the US by an imprint of Penguin called Firebird. While I doubt you can get Firebird books in the UK, most of them are also published by UK printers. It’s an imprint that mostly is fantasy that’s either YA or books that both teens and adults like. In full disclosure, I’m friends with Sharyn November who runs Firebird (she’s also an editor for Viking Children’s in the US and she specialises in YA fantasy).
Really I could go on and on, but I will stop now for real.
Hunger Games and Matched are excellent! I’m so glad other people are enjoying them as much as I. Have you checked out the His Dark Materials trilogy (first one’s Golden Compass). Those books I read in elementary school and I still reread them occasionally. They are exceptional. It makes me feel a little bit better that I’m not the only “adult” who loves “young” adult fiction. Cheers :)
Ok I am halfway through The Hunger Games and I don’t want to read anymore because I don’t want it to end! It’s fantastic, and I will have to get the rest!
Also, I just remembered a dystopian book I read and really liked. The author does YA, although I don’t think this one was labeled as such. Anyway, it’s called Discord’s Apple (I think) and it’s by Carrie Vaughn.
You might like the John Marsden “Tomorrow When The War Began” series – YA and Australian so it may be a bit parochial! But as a YA, sort of ‘the end of the world’ in the characters’ lives, very compelling and very addictive books.
I have two great YA books I can recommend that I have read and passed on to my fouteen year old son. He really liked them as well.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher should be read by everyone, IMHO. It really makes you think about how your actions affect everyone around you, even if you are not aware of it. Tyler has recommended this book to all his friends in junior high.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. Think of a humourous Lord of the Flies (and I HATED that book)but it is a good read.
Please let me know what you think of the Jay Asher book if you read it….
I got into reading YA for my teenagers and love it. I would highly recommend The Uglies trilogy if you haven’t read them. They’re by Scott Westerfeld, who is also writing a great YA Steampunk series. From the wiki: “It is set in a future post-scarcity dystopian world in which everyone is turned “Pretty” by extreme cosmetic surgery upon reaching age 16. It tells the story of teenager Tally Youngblood who rebels against society’s enforced conformity, after her new found friends Shay and David show her the downsides to becoming a “Pretty”. They show Tally how being a “Pretty” can change not only your look but your personality.” I feel every adolescent should read these.