Want to read young adult books, but you’re not a young adult?
It’s okay. Read what you want.
Fresh off this article about how YA books are on the rise and might have saved publishing, let’s talk about the literary stigma still attached to YA and why that’s bullpoop.
The Characters Make it Okay to Read Young Adult Books
It’s okay to read young adult books because they often have great characters. Too many “adult” books sacrifice character in the name of plot. How much do you deeply emotionally resonate with Jack Reacher? Not much. But Pudge in Looking for Alaska? You read the story because you care deeply about Pudge and what happens to him. Same with Charlie in Perks of Being a Wallflower, or Sutter in the Spectacular Now.
She likes Twilight, and that’s okay.
Collin Key via Compfight
The Variety Makes it Okay to Read Young Adult Books
Young Adult is a category, not a genre. Within it are many genres, not just coming-of-age tales or paranormal romance, although those get a lot of press. Consider More Than This by Patrick Ness, a book about a young man who wakes up after his death in a strange land, and he has to figure out where he is and what’s happened to him. No paranormal romance with glittering vampires here.
The Themes Make it Okay to Read Young Adult Books
YA gets dinged for being simplistic or containing no themes of note. Anyone who says that, I’d advise them to read Perk of Being a Wallflower or Lois Lowry’s The Giver and then ask themselves if those novels don’t have anything to say. YA can be just as thematically deep as any literary fiction made for stuffy grownups.
Finally, You can Like What You Like
Screw everybody else. Who cares what they think? I think naughty Billionaire erotica and teenage paranormal vampire romance books are not my cup of tea, but if you like them, then forget about what I think. You’re allowed to take enjoyment from whatever you want. It’s a big, wide world, and whatever you’ve got on your kindle is cool with me. I’ll never know, anyway. :)