I’ve been reading a lot of book blogs lately and have come across a fascinating phenomenon: a number of adult women who say their favorite genre is YA. (That’s young adult to those of you not hip to all the genre designations.)
Apparently, I’m a little slow on the uptake, because people who do market research have been onto this for a while. I found this Publishers Weekly article on the topic, which quotes research that readers ages 30 to 44 account for 28 percent of YA book purchases these days.
I could come up with a zillion theories why this is happening. Here’s two off the top of my head: Moms want to read what their kids are reading and the popularity of The Hunger Games and other recent YA blockbusters.
Are you a grownup who loves YA? Tell me about it in the comments. Your experiences are a whole lot more interesting than my theories.
Mark Twain knew about the allure of YA. Tom Sawyer is definitely young adult and Huck Finn turned into something much more. Not sure Twain started out consciously approaching them differently.
The first book in the Hunger Games trilogy is YA and much more, but the next two books regress.
Ender’s Game is a wonderful tale for any age.