YA Books . . . And The Grownups Who Love Them

Publisher's Weekly just posted an article that describes a recently reported phenomenon in the Young Adult market.  Namely, that kids aren't the ones reading them.  Adults comprise 55% of buyers of YA titles, and when asked, a resounding majority admitted they were the intended reader.  While this isn't inherently surprising--the staggering success of Harry Potter, the Twilight series, and The Hunger Games was driven in large part by adults participating in them--the variety of involvement in this literary crossing of the aisles is.

Certainly, the YA distinction has only recently been invented.  A market niche intended strictly for people in their early teens and not much older was filled by authors whose primary target was adults.  Ender's Game, perhaps one of the most well-loved science-fiction novels was intended by Orson Scott Card for adults.  But the subjects of the novel--children--have since convinced marketers and publishers that it belongs in both the YA and Middle Grade niches.  As far as I'm aware, it indeed sells well there.

Readers willing to cross the artificial line doesn't strike me as odd.  Many of the books are as morally nuanced as their "adult" counterparts, without relying on the conventions of more grownup fare--sex and violence, namely.  The popularity of books like The Hunger Games, which itself is a deeply nuanced approach toward the examination of violence--and its glorification--in our society, does not rely heavily on depictions of violence that many readers would find offensive.  Twilight, purportedly inspired by Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers, suggests love without resorting to lurid sex scenes--though Fifty Shades of Grey, a fan-fic spin-off, suggests that the soccer moms indulging in Bella and Edward were rife for something a bit more steamy.

Perhaps what this report really suggests is that the artificial demarcation of YA and adult literature is even more ephemeral than we'd suspected, and that good storytelling crosses all boundaries.