Younger Adults Flexed Their Reading And Buying Muscles in 2014

According to Jonathon Sturgeon, Literary Editor of Flavorwire, who points out in his December 16th article that the dramatic rise in ebook sales of Young Adult fiction titles can be linked to the increase in readership of 18+ readers of Young Adult literature.

Yet another piece of evidence to add to the case for redefining "Young Adult" to include the amorphous 18-30 year old readers.

Please, Dear Authors

Dear Young Adult Authors,

I can imagine writing your first young adult novel is a bit like getting the keys to a feisty little Mazda Miata. You're having fun, you're fingers are moving speedy quick trying to keep up with your head, you get the occasional writer's high after a good spin at the keyboard.

And that's all great. But, please, use the keyboard wisely. Just because you have the power to rev up your little Miata of a keyboard doesn't mean you should always exercise that power.

I'm talking specifically about exercising your power to italicize.

I know it's there. Command or Apple and "I" is all it takes. Why would they put it there if they didn't want you to use it, right? It's not against the law after all.

The thing is, when you italicize a word or phrase repeatedly you're telling me how to read your story. It's as if you don't trust me to read your story or to get where you're going with it. So you're prodding me to read your story, your words, in such a way that I'll hopefully replicate how those words expressed themselves in your head when you typed them long ago.

Here's the paradox. You don't get to earn my trust. It's me, the reader, who's learning to trust you with every page I read. When you put headlights on words to get me to read them the way you want me to you're telling me not to trust you. That you maybe don't believe in the merit of the words you've strung together strongly enough to allow them to stand on their own printed legs.

Please, if you must, use italics at your own discretion. They are a tool, not to communicate how you want me to read your story but of the storytelling itself. When I see two, three, four or more words italicized on a page, repeatedly, that's not the storytelling talking. It's the storyteller talking.

You don't get to hold my hand while I read your story. You gave it away and they took it our of your hands a long time ago. And I congratulate you for all your hard work and success you've achieved between your Mazda Miata keyboard all the way to me at my kitchen table.

But you don't get to tell me how to read your book.

Cordially,
H

A Book Review Starring "Lies We Tell Ourselves" by Robin Talley

The short version:
Set in 1959 Virginia, Jefferson High School is starting their school year in January after the state government's failed efforts to stop integration. African-American Sarah and her sister Ruth, recently transplanted from Chicago because their parents want to be part of the movement for equal access to education, enter the halls to jeers and shoving, sneers and wads of paper. On the other side is Linda, born and raised in Davisburg and the daughter of a Southern conservative newspaper publisher, Linda only knows segregation and sticks to it. But when she and Sarah are thrown together as part of a French class project, she begins to not only question her views but also who she thought she was when both girls are unable to deny their attraction to the other.

Over the course of the school year, Sarah and Linda will learn about the hard repercussions of integration but also about discovering who you are even when who you are isn't what you thought was right or easy.

The long version:
What a strong debut.

Talley has managed to write historical fiction that feels real and rooted in fact without sounding didactic or dry. She's also woven in a lesbian subplot that feels genuine given the time period.

She's written two authentic main characters who both engage you and make you want to root for them, Linda in spite of her inherent bigotry. At the same time, it would have been nice if Sarah had a flaw or two, something to give her more humanity. She's a lovely character, strong and smart and yet conflicted about her sexual identity, but she's very all-good in a way that I think main characters written by first time writers sometimes are. In that sense I thought it was much easier to give Linda humanity because she's a bigot who's only just started to question how she sees the world.

Talley also created a somewhat vast cast of secondary characters but still manages to give them their own voices and personalities and maintain their consistency.

The plot takes place over the course of the abbreviated school year, it's well paced with constant and mounting tension. She doesn't shy away from the violence or consistent verbal abuse and taunting that likely happened to kids put in the position of integrating schools.

Diversity On the Shelf 2015 Challenge

What should arrive this morning via my library system's inter-library grey envelope but the May, 2014 Diversity Issue of School Library Journal (only a little late, but I'll take it, as we do have a large library system after all). It just so happens that this past week I'd been revisiting Walter Dean Myer's New York Times editorial from this past summer entitled "Where Are the People of Color in Children's Books?"  in which he reflects upon the lack of novels with African-American characters he read growing up and his concern that the landscape hadn't changed all that drastically since his childhood.

At the same time I'd been thinking, in hindsight and perhaps with a hint of smug, that I'VE read a fair number of young adult novels featuring diverse main characters this year and loved them. But when I went back through my Goodreads list of books I'd read I was unpleasantly surprised to come up with this anemic number: 8.

8 out of 102 books I read this year. Eeek.

(Can I count the two I only coincidentally happen to be in the middle of right now which both happen to feature African-American main characters? I must admit I picked them up before coming upon my anemic little number.)

So I was pleasantly surprised to come upon the world of book challenges thanks to an article from SLJ's Diversity Issue. I'm not speaking of zealots burning Catcher In The Rye but rather pages online where you can sign up for challenges to read a certain type or quantity of books. I'm a librarian, I had no idea.

Hence I'm hitching my ride to the Diversity On the Shelf 2015 Challenge in an effort to feed my anemic 2014 number.

Beginning January 1st I'm shooting for the 3rd Shelf of the challenge: 13-18 books featuring diverse main characters.

As I read mostly young adult novels, some of the titles I look forward to reading in 2015 can be found on my beautiful, vacant-but-soon-to-be-filled Diversity on the Shelf 2015 Goodreads bookshelf.

Happy New Year (of Reading)!

A Book Review Starring "Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

The short version:
Sammy Santos lives in the poor Mexican neighborhood of Hollywood in Las Cruces, New Mexico circa late 1960s. Here he tells the story of his friends, his family, his community in a coming of age story about a boy who learns about loss and hypocrisy much too soon.

The long version:
This book was a gift in the way some reads are. Knowing that if you'd read it earlier in life, you probably wouldn't have felt that same way.

I already knew Saenz had a gift for writing engrossing Young Adult after reading Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe. This book was written seven years prior and has more of the feel of fictional autobiography, or rather fiction steeped in personal experience. Even though I know that's entirely presumptuous, or sounds as if I'm not giving the author credit for having an imagination.

But I think the opposite is actually true. His sense of place and people and time is so keen and evocative, you can't but help but think it's coming from real experience.

Sammy reads very much like stream of consciousness, with internal repetition and him talking to himself. Which gives the narrative a sense of both immediacy and intimacy. Your heart aches for him throughout the book. It aches for him, it aches for his friends and family and Mrs. Apodaca, the crusty, opinionated neighbor.

It's also a beautiful window to a working class Las Cruces circa 1968, where the battle for civil rights and the war in Vietnam and the Summer of Love are all distilled through this small corner of the county as seen through the eyes of a smart, sensitive, heartbroken Mexican-American kid.

Good stuff.

A Book Review Starring "Perfectly Good White Boy" by Carrie Mesrobian

The short version:
Following a summer of getting laid and then left by Hallie, Sean spends his senior year rudderless. Despite his newfound friendship with co-worker Neecie and the return of drop-out Hallie it's not until he secretly decides to join the Marines that he finds the direction that will get him out of small town Minnesota.

The long version:
Mesrobian's strength is that she writes really good young adult novels with main characters who are male, she's clearly interested in exploring the lives of boys in their late teens. She's really good at it, judging by her two novels. She's good at finding and maintaining a male voice that's credible and doesn't devolve into teen-boy-fantasy as so many YA novels written by women do. More than writing credible male characters, you really get the sense she enjoys exploring how boys of that age are.

This is a fine character piece, Sean is endearing and entertaining, and his unique and complex friendship with Neecie over the course of the book is what was most interesting. But there isn't a lot of plot to drive the story along. It's very character focused, whether it's Sean and his relationship with his brother, mother or absent, recovering alcoholic father. Sean and his relationship with his friend Eddie. Sean and Hallie. Sean and Neecie. Which may be why I found it so hard to push through, despite it being under 300 pages. The book was a lot like it's main character, a little rudderless, wanting for a bit more wind to propel it.

Which didn't prevent it from being a perfectly good read.

A Book Review Starring "Destroy All Cars" by Blake Nelson

The short version:
James Hoff, a Portland (OR) high school junior, uses diary entries mixed with English Composition essays to expound upon why cars are bad for the earth, but his writing also reveals the contemplations of a boy beginning to question his place in the world.

The long version:
I should start by saying I love Nelson's writing. His acerbic wit. His keen sense of observation and ability to articulate it in an entertaining fashion. His affable male protagonists. His ability to write high school and its inhabitants in ways that are revealing and empathetic and entertaining. He's become one of my go-to authors for when I fear I might be approaching a reading rut that needs avoiding.

This is my fourth Nelson book and it was the least satisfying. Perhaps it was because James spends so much of the book railing against so many things and people, which I'll be the first to admit is a common adolescent trait, especially at the dawn of those teenage years when one first comes into their own self-awareness and/or insecurities in comparison to others. But reading consistent railing got a little old.

The story lacked focus. I found myself thinking "I know what the plot is supposed to be I think" or "there it is in the title." And I knew I was supposed to draw a parallel or connection between James' grappling with his understanding of a larger world or planet (though it was less grappling and more consistent railing) with the things that are going on in his suburban teen existence. Only I couldn't seem to do that. I suppose they shared a common sense of futility, knowing cars are destroying the planet and being a teen who's not cool or awesome or totally together who still has to manage to get through high school.

Not only did it lack focus, but it didn't seem to have a thoroughly advancing plot either. I know it's Nelson's story and not what I wish his story were, but I would have appreciated it more had James come to some conclusions about his relationships with Sadie and his Dad. Some personal revelations at the conclusion of the story (on a small and believable level as opposed to capital R revelations) would have made all the railing more palatable.

Nelson's a great writer. I love him. It's his writing that made me continue with the book even though I didn't love it.

A Book Review Starring "Alex As Well" by Alyssa Brugman

(this is a review of an Advanced  Reader Copy)

The short version:
Australian teen Alex Stringfellow harbors a big secret, she feels she's a girl, not the boy she was raised to be. After being bullied at her old school she takes it upon herself to enroll in a new school as a girl where she makes friends and finally feels like the person she was meant to be (despite her parents resistance). Needing a birth certificate that identifies her as a girl in order to complete enrollment she employs a lawyer (solicitor, if you will) to help her get a new one, despite the repercussions involved in trying to explain who she is to her parents.

The long version:
So much of the plot felt flimsy, underdeveloped.

Like a kid being able to just switch schools and enroll herself (maybe they do it differently in Australia). Or the subplot involving Alex's crush on one girl, but treating a girl who likes her in a brazen yet aloof fashion (for someone who's struggling with their identity AND their sexuality to be so easily brazen was pretty unbelievable). The mother was a one-dimensional narcissistic tyrant, which she's entitled to be (it's not my book after all), but after so many interactions, her breakdowns became repetitive and boring to read. Though I did enjoy how the author told her point of view via postings to a motherhood website, and then delivered a bevy of responses in the comments section from other moms (some responses good, others bias and odd, as would be on a comments section). Both parents were so thoroughly in denial, which is quite realistic and possible but still made them pretty uninteresting and repetitive (how many times will they tell Alex it's all her fault? Multiple throughout the book, but without any progression of the plot or real character development from Alex, all the scenes wind up being variations on the same one). My sense was these weren't character decisions but rather a matter of underdeveloped secondary characters and plot.

There were quite a few subplots that felt the same way, never felt thought through and didn't really amount to anything: the modeling thing, the parent's deception, the girl who develops a crush on Alex, the girl Alex develops a crush on, Alex's father figure relationship with the solicitor, Alex's grappling with both her intersex physical identity as well as her sexual orientation at the same time (which was also the most poorly handled, as there's so much that I would imagine could be mined from being intersex, raised as a boy, identifying as a girl AND discovering she's a lesbian. It was as if having all these subplots allowed the author not to have to focus on writing a more fleshed out plot and main character, these subplots would just come and go to fill in the predetermined spaces as needed.

I don't think there's been a young adult novel to tackle a teen who is intersex and that's commendable. And I appreciated that, given the gravity of the subject matter, the author eschewed the explicit or graphic and wrote a story that could easily be given to a middle reader or early high school reader.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's their story, not the story I wish it would be.

I just wished this story was better written so that I bought it.

A Visit to Cinco Puntos Press

Things I knew before visiting Cinco Puntos Press:


1. They published Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Saenz (which in fact does not take place in my own Hollywood)

2. They were located in El Paso, Texas (i.e. not in New York, the supposed heart of the publishing industry)

3. My friend Anne Giangiulio designed some of their book covers and would often post/talk about them

Things I knew after visiting Cinco Puntos Press:

1. The act of loving, nurturing and publishing books can be found outside New York City. 

Tucked away in western Texas in an unassuming yet special building in downtown El Paso, Texas is Cinco Puntos Press. A small, independent publishing house started by husband and wife team Bobby and Lee Byrd in 1985.

2. "Publishing is very creative work. Like writing, it's a marvelous act of self-discovery" 

Publisher Lee Byrd (on left)

     - Lee Byrd, publisher and author.

From the moment you walk in to their storefront office, the creative element of publishing is evident. The posters on the walls aren't necessarily current or framed to promote but are put up and stay up because they want to be surrounded by work they are proud of and love, both current works as well as art and posters that may be unrelated to a new title. Talking with Lee you feel her passion for discovering and nurturing talent and stories, forging editorial relationships with authors based on their individual and specific needs. Talking to Lee about books is like having a conversation you know could continue all day and wander into all sorts of interesting and surprising places.

3. The diversity thing can be the best afterthought to discovering well-written books

So their imprint is in Spanish (for "five points" not that I learned what those five points are). And you look around the room and see a healthy dose of Mexican American, African American and Latin American author names on the tables. But after talking with Lee and reading two of their Young Adult titles, you get the sense that the primary goal is finding the good stuff and the fact that their titles happen to tell stories of diverse (i.e. not white, because isn't that what we really mean when we say "diverse"?) people is a happy consequence of that.

4. Independent publishers are finding a niche not in art books but in Young Adult novels!

Graphic Designer Anne Giangiulio at the first display table 

How often do you see an independent publisher that specializes in Young Adult novels? Candlewick I suppose, but they are a powerhouse today, they feel too big to call independent even though they are. It made me smile to walk into  a publishing house where the first display table was of Young Adult titles. 

THE FIRST DISPLAY TABLE! 

The covers were all fascinating (even the ones that weren't designed by one of my best friends) and original. They take stylistic chances with artists as opposed to many marketing departments that design book covers. I might not have loved them all, but I really appreciated the attention to detail and narrative all the book covers shared. It made me rethink how I view book covers overall.

Thank you Lee Byrd and Anne Giangiulio for inviting me into your world at Cinco Puntos Press.

A Book Review Starring "Gabi A Girl in Pieces" by Isabel Quintero

The short version:
Gabi Hernandez keeps a journal during her senior year of high school in a Southern California border town, during which she grapples with being an overweight, smart Mexican girl in a traditional Catholic Mexican family and community. Over the course of the year she discovers a love for poetry, her first boyfriends and when to stand up for herself (and her friends), among other things.

The long version:
Where to start?

Utterly charming.

Smart, funny, witty, ascorbic, emotional, contemplative, all within the voice of an 18 year old Mexican-American girl.

It's clear from the beginning how much love and attention Quintero has invested in all of her characters. Not only is Gabi a main character you root for and identify with from the start, but her supporting characters (of which there are more than a handful) are so full and have such complete, individual emotional lives too.

She touches on so many issues but does so within Gabi's voice and perspective, from sexism and double standards in Mexican-American culture to how deeply drug addiction affects an entire family; from how weight affects self-image to when and when not to stand up for what you believe in. There's drug addition, there's sex, there's sexual assault, so much is going on in Gabi's world and Quintero has managed it all with grace, gravity and humor all while keeping her character's voice consistent. It could have easily devolved into kitchen-sink-hood but it never did.

In an age where we're all talking about diversity-diversity-diversity, Quintero has given us not only a story full of diversity but first and foremost a fabulous read (and we all know that just because a story is diverse doesn't mean it's fun to read).

I couldn't put it down.

It's one of the best young adult novels I've read this year.

ps

The cover. Was I in love with it? No. It's a hard sell from the perspective of a browsing patron, I think. It's not easy to glance at and take it in, there's a lot going on, and I wasn't sure it matched with the story I was reading. I felt less so after getting to the point later in the story where the cover art corresponds with the story. But still. I'd love to hear what other readers have to say about it.

Read to the Rhythm: 2015 Summer Reading Club

It's not even 2015 yet but my head wants to get in the Summer-Reading-Club game. Perhaps because the theme gets to me and my love of music. Or maybe because of the infinite possibilities swimming in my brain when it comes to marrying books and music, or music and the library.

One thing that always gets me come summer reading club programming is just how divorced programs are from actual books or other sundry library items. With the exception of displaying a few books related to a program, we really don't marry the two often despite being the library.

So I'm thinking of creating book-specific inspired programming that will allow me to book-talk a music themed book and present a craft inspired by that book.

Let me begin with what so many great things begin with. A Booklist.

ROCK ON READING!
MUSIC THEMED YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

MUSIC LOVERS

Audrey Wait!, Robin Benway

Ballads of Suburbia, Stephanie Keuhnert

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, Kristin Cohn-Mills

Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell

Fat Kids Rule the World, K.L. Going

For What It’s Worth, Janet Tashjian

Girl, Blake Nelson

Hairstyles of the Damned, Joe Meno

Heavy Metal and You, Christopher Krovatin

How to Rock, Meg Haston

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, Stephanie Keuhnert

Just Listen, Sarah Dessen

King Dork, Frank Portman

Lovestruck Summer, Melissa Walker

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Notes From the Blender, Trish Cook

Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chblosky

Supergirl Mixtapes, Meaghan Brothers

When We Were Good, Suzanne Sutherland

BEING A MUSICIAN

Audition and Subtraction, Amy Fellner Dominy (clarinet)

Always A Catch, Peter Richmond (piano)

Being Friends With Boys, Terra Elan McVoy (singing)

Chopsticks, Jessica Anthony (piano)

Disenchantments, Nina LaCour (rock band)

Drummer Girl, Karen Bass (drummer)

Glee series, Sophia Lowell (singing)

Guitar Notes, Mary Amato (guitar, cello)

Honeycomb, Patricia McCowan (guitar)

I’m Glad I Did, Cynthia Weil (songwriter)

If I Stay and Where She Went, Gayle Forman (cello)

In The Band, Jean Haus (drummer)

Lemonade Mouth, Mark Peter Hughes (rock band)

The Lucy Variations, Sara Zarr (piano)

Matthew Meets The Man, Travis Nichols (drummer)

My Misadventures as a Teenage Rock Star, Joyce Raskin (rock band)

No Place to Fall, Jaye Robin Brown (singing)

Paradise, Jill Alexander (drummer)

Power Chord, Ted Staunton (rock band)

Prom and Prejudice, Elizabeth Eulberg (piano)

Rockstar Superstar, Blake Nelson (bass)

The Scar Boys, Len Vlahos (rock band)

Screaming Divas, Suzanne Kamata (rock band)

Second Fiddle, Rosanne Parry (fiddle)

Sister Mischief, L. Goode (rap)

Skinny, Donna Cooner (singing)

Ten Miles Past Normal, Frances O’Roark Dowell (rock band)

This Song Will Save Your Life, Leila Sales (DJing)

Virtuosity, Jessica Martinez (violin)

Wise Young Fool, Sean Beaudoin (rock band)

BEING A STAR

Amplified, Tara Kelly

Big Time, Tom Ryan

Born to Rock, Gordon Korman

The Daughters Take The Stage, Joanna Philbin

Rockoholic, C.J. Skuse

On The Right Track, Sam Kadence

Open Road Summer, Emery Lord

Pop, Catherine Bruton

Pop Princess, Rachel Cohn

Rock Star, Adrian Chamberlain

Sound of Us, Ashley Poston

Wildflower, Alecia Whitaker

FANTASY

Awoken, Timothy Miller

The Girl Who Became A Beatle, Greg Taylor

Chantress series, Amy Butler Greenfield

Seraphina, Rachel Hartman

Strange Sweet Song, Adi Rule

Younger Adult Reader of the Day: Stephen Colbert

Alright, Younger Adult reader of the day some day last June.

Were we not all collectively cheering (not at the same time at 11:45pm on a weeknight, thanks to our DVR culture that allows us to collectively do things independently on our own time) when John Green rocked The Colbert Report on Monday, June 23rd.

And did we not all fall in love with Stephen Colbert for the millionth time when he said:

"As far as I can tell a young adult novel is a regular novel that people actually read."

Spoken like a true father of teenaged children.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-a-young-adult-novel-is-a-regular-novel-that-people-actually-read-20140624-story.html

A Book Review Starring "Lies My Girlfriend Told Me" by Julie Anne Peters

The short version:
When Alix's girlfriend of six weeks Swanee dies of an aneurysm, Alix learns that Swan isn't the girl she thought she loved and so much more.

The long version:
Here's the thing.

There are so few authors writing young adult novels with gay or lesbian main characters. If you have fewer authors, you have a smaller pool of those kinds of books to recommend to potential readers. And if you have a smaller pool, perhaps as a result the quality of books may not rise to the level of greatness you would like.

Conversely speaking, it's nice to know that the pool of young adult gay and lesbian novels is so big today that we have a nice variety that includes those average relationship melodramas that may not rise to the level of a well-written, quality, creative novel but is nice enough to feature out lesbian teens in a narrative in which they are done coming out and we can move onto other, perhaps more entertaining, lighter storylines.

This is my second Peters novel. I feel much the same way as I did after the first. I find her novels lack character development, she writes main characters I not only don't like (not that it's a prerequisite, but it helps to keep me involved in the story) but don't feel they make logical decisions or are terribly interesting or compelling in some basic way. Rather, they make decisions in accordance with the story the author wanted to write ahead of time. I find her plotting and dialogue meandering, the secondary characters flat and one-dimensional.

I'm conflicted. Because there are so few young adult novels for the teen lesbian audience and because out of those that do exist a good portion of them are of the coming-out variety, it's nice to have books to recommend in which lesbians both feature prominently and they're doing something other than deliberating over coming out. And it's a cute cover that's pretty representative of the book, which is nice.

As an adult reader of young adult, I can't recommend this book. But I'm not sure that would stop me from suggesting it to a teen reader who's accustomed to that level or quality of writing and doesn't have enough lesbian young adult novels to choose from.

A Book Review Starring "Some Assembly Required" by Arin Andrews

The short version:
Oklahoma teen Arin Andrews recounts his childhood and adolescence, struggling to identify and articulate his gender dysphoria, coming out to his mother and family and falling in love as he realizes his true self.

The long version:
It's both really special and a little unfortunate that this book is so intertwined with Katie Rain Hill's "Rethinking Normal," her memoir recounting her own childhood and adolescence overcoming gender dysphoria. Great in the sense that we have two people who discover their transgender selves separately and together, and also together as a couple (which adds a little bit of special novelty). But also maybe a little unfortunate in that, given they follow the same general format (perhaps because they were both published by Simon & Schuster at the same time) in terms of both narrative and physical structure (with the same style of inserted picture at the beginning of each chapter) you can't help as a result to compare the two in terms of narrative. It's inevitable, but somewhere along the way I put that aside and was happy that I did so.

This book is wonderful on multiple counts. Aside from its being the first of its kind to confide in readers the journey of a transgender teen, it manages to be graceful and well written. Andrews recounts his tale with such great detail for recall of past events and ability to describe his feelings as he felt them at the time. What a great feat he's accomplished. He takes you on his journey and manages to never lose you as a reader (with the able assistance of his co-writer).

And being that I'm a sucker for a good cover, I really loved this one.

Younger Adult Reader of the Day: movie producer Nina Jacobson

From the November 16th New York Times Magazine:

Nina Jacobson, prolific movie producer of "The Hunger Games" trilogy among others. When asked if she had:

"any feelings about whether adults should be so into reading Y.A. novels?"

She answered:

"To me, a great story well told is a great story well told, and just because the protagonist is a young adult doesn’t mean that story has less merit or worth than if the protagonist is a full-grown adult."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/magazine/nina-jacobson-isnt-afraid-to-fight-hollywoods-old-guard.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A13%22%7D&_r=0

The Redefintion of Young Adult

The Young Adult Library Services Association is the division of the American Library Association which focuses on

 "library services for teens, aged 12-18."

But is "Young Adult' the equivalent of "teen"?  Is the definition of a Young Adult someone only between the ages of 12 and 18?

The advent of Young Adult literature in its current form is still so relatively young, maybe twenty years since publishing divisions first started creating divisions for those readers between children and adults and libraries have created departments that seek to serve those readers. In its infancy Young Adult literature and its audience was defined narrowly as for teenagers.

I happen to think the time has come to revisit the initial definition of "Young Adult" and here are a few reasons why:

• As the genre has expanded and diversified, the audience has expanded and diversified. Those who are responsible for the majority of purchases of Young Adult literature for their own reading consumption (as opposed to gift giving) are over the age of 18.
• As the genre has diversified, so too have the characters portrayed in them. More characters in Young Adult literature are in their post-collegiate years, ages 18-20. It's become so diverse that an entirely new subgenre of literature has sprung up in recent years: "New Adult" defined as more risqué novels marketed to women in their early twenties, among others. Much of these "New Adult" titles are cataloged as Young Adult novels in libraries.
• The genre has gone on to produce not only rich novels, but cinematic novels. Movies based on young adult novels are not only being produced in greater numbers, but are being marketed to and attended by a more general audience that includes adults as much as if not more so than teenagers.

I propose a new, broader term to describe the audience between Children and Adult. And all I had to do was come up with a suffix:

 

Younger Adult

My definition of Younger Adult includes pre-teens and teenagers but expands to include later teens ages 18-19 and the audience and readers in their twenties: 18-30 years old.

A Book Review Starring "The New Rules of High School" by Blake Nelson

The short version:
Max Caldwell's life seems to be on the right track in a big way: poised to be editor of the school paper, applying to elite colleges, straight A student, pretty sophomore girlfriend. But something's not right in an undefinable way that makes Max kick the tires of his own life, not yet aware that perhaps there are consequences to that sort of thing.

The long version:
Blake Nelson is such a readable author. And I mean that in the best of ways. This is my third Blake Nelson read and I love his pace, his characters, his acerbic sensibilities. He entertains with his ear for detail and ability to put those details together to create pictures in a story. This is a classic boy book in the best of ways where boys talk and act like boys and not YA author teen fantasies of what they wish boys were when they were teenagers.

The book was pretty lo-fi in the plot department. It did an excellent job of describing the minutia of high school as seen through Max's eyes with the benefit of Nelson's fabulous writing, where all those small interactions and moments are fraught with meaning and importance. The story chock full of truly laugh out loud moments.

But man did the plot, lo-fi as it was, part of the story get going late and end a tad abruptly. As someone who likes to plow through books, I'm usually one to say when a book is too long but in this case I thought the story deserved more. I needed the repercussions of Max's response to a life that was pre-determined and highly controlled by his parents to play out more rather than come to what I felt was a bit of a stunted, not fully realized conclusion.

It also had the feeling of a novel written in 2003 with good reason. I'm not even sure they still make Certs breath mints, but there is not likely to be a new White Stripes album in the near future, which is the trouble you sometimes get in to when you insert current pop culture references into your story. Makes it sound authentic, which I'm sure it did ten years ago, but it also becomes plain that this was a story written at the dawn of the cell phone age, pre-texting. Not that I minded, but I'm not convinced I could sell the book to the youngsters today.

Did I already say how much I love Blake Nelson's writing?

Other Young Adult Boy Books I Adored:

Noggin and Where Things Come Back, John Corey Whaley
The Prince of Venice Beach, Blake Nelson
When I Was The Greatest, Jason Reynolds
Crash and Burn, Michael Hassan
It's Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
Paper Towns, John Green
King Dork, Frank Portman
Crossing Lines, Paul Volponi
Grasshopper Jungle and Winger, Andrew Smith

A Book Review Starring "What Happy Looks Like" by Jennifer E. Smith

The short version:
Maine teen Ellie has been emailing with Californian Graham for three months after he mistypes a friend's email and finds her instead. Little does she know that the movie production coming to her quaint seaside town has been arranged by this hot, budding movie star so he can finally meet the girl he's fallen for via email.

The long version:
Jennifer E. Smith is really good at doing what she does. This is the second of her three two-person, character-focused romance-dramas and every time she manages to create a lovely little book you can't put down. It flows, it's sweet and thoughtful, it draws you in. True, the boys are a little to left of YA boy fantasy, but not so much so that they're caricatures of real life.

She doesn't delve into the explicit or overtly sexual and still manages to come across as realistic and highly entertaining. Clearly she knows her stuff.

A Book Review Starring "Grasshopper Jungle" by Andrew Smith

The Short Version:
Part science fiction, part comedy drama about Iowa teen Austin who's in love with his girlfriend Shann and his best friend Robby and also happens to be present at the beginning of the end of the world when a dormant science experiment is revived and results in the unleashing of six foot, highly destructive, man-eating grasshoppers.

The Long Version:
What is this book? I don't know. But Andrew Smith does, and you can tell. Even if you're not ready to go where he's going, or you can poke holes in the details of the narrative, it doesn't seem to matter because Smith is such an assured writer that you trust him.

It's explicit and violent with a cast of entertaining secondary characters and still its fun Yet with all the things that make it what it is, the sexual references and profanity and violence and so forth, it's not a book I'd recommend for younger readers. But man, if you're open to it, it's going to be a gross read with undertones of contemplative self-discovery about a boy who's confused about who he likes, and therefore who he is. Smith does throw a lot at the wall, and fortunately enough of it sticks.

I'm always on the hunt for boy books that sound like boy books. Boys who think about sex and aliens and video games. This is one of those books.

Transgender Awareness Week 2014

Transgender Awareness Week takes place November 14th  through 20th. It's an opportunity to celebrate so many of the great advancements, achievements and dialogues that have taken place this year as well as reflect upon those who have been victimized by violence, in part or in whole, because of their transgender identity. The week culminates with the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th.

I should preface this by saying I am by no means an authority on all things transgender, I arrive at this moment as a Young Adult Librarian who happens to also be a wife and mother as well as someone who aspires to be, in many facets, kickass.

As all those things, I'd like to thank:

Time Magazine. Even though I'm not sure how relevant it is as a periodical of record today, Time Magazine's May cover story featured actress and activist Laverne Cox (who I love and adore on "Orange Is the New Black") and marked the first time a transgender person was featured on a major national news magazine cover. They even had the audacity to call this year the "transgender tipping point." I dig it, because lots of people who aren't my liberal friends and family read Time even if I haven't seen it in my house since I was a kid.
I regard it as a bellwether news source going back to my childhood before the internet when the news was delivered via the mailbox, the front door or the television.

Jill Soloway. I adored "Six Feet Under" (on which Soloway was a staff writer) but have yet to see "Transparent." But I feel like I have based on all that writer/director/producer Jill Soloway has done on its behalf since its release on Amazon last month. She's been a crazy worker horse appearing everywhere talking about her show in all sorts of ways, chief among them in that she's working to provide a voice for transgender people behind the scenes, as members of the writing staff and production team, giving them control over their stories when the entertainment industry typically hires non-LGBT folk for those behind the scenes tasks.

Katie Rain Hill and Arin Andrews. I know it's probably a lot more complicated than what I
know to be their story, but here's the short version: two transgender teens meet in a Tulsa support group and start dating and then some time later find themselves in the national spotlight via 20/20 and Inside Edition and the like. What's remarkable about their story is that they were each grappling with both being teenagers and being transgender. Their two memoirs, Hill's Rethinking Normal and Andrew's Some Assembly Required, both released this month by Simon & Schuster, are insightful and well-written and, for the first time as far as I can tell, will prove to be a valuable, very current resource for kids who are beginning to question their gender identity.

Ashton Lee. Lee is a 16 year old transgender boy in Central California who
came out to his parents last year and, in his fight to feel comfortable at school, not only defended his right to use the boy's bathroom at school but went on to work for the passage of our state's first transgender equity law, the "School Success and Opportunity Act." And when I say "fought" he testified in Sacramento, he solicited over 5000 signatures and delivered them to Governor Jerry Brown. I don't know about you, but if I were meeting Governor Brown, I'd be sufficiently tongue-tied and freaked out. Not this kid.

I'm sure there are other great people who did other great things too. And I give thanks to them as well. Thank you for loving yourself and showing other people how it's done. Thank you for being an example for others of your strength and determination.

At the same time, I think it's important to remember that 2014 feels like the beginning of things in terms of accepting and respecting transgender people, allowing them to live openly and freely. It's taken gay and lesbian men and women over thirty years (and more) to get where we are today; for transgender people there remains a long road ahead.

In honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance I'd like to remember two of those who died this year.  Aniya Parker of East Hollywood and Zoraida Reyes of Santa Ana.

While neither of their deaths have been pronounced hate crimes, there is a growing body of evidence from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs and the Transgender Violence Tracker Portal among others that suggests that being an out transgender person puts one at an increased risk of violence.

A Book Review Starring "Rethinking Normal" by Katie Rain Hill

The short version:
Oklahoman Hill recounts her childhood and struggle to articulate who she was from an early age, through her adolescence when she discovered transgenderism through online searching and was finally able to articulate what wasn't right, her subsequent bullying as a trans teen and into her early adulthood living as a transgender young adult while attending college at the University of Tulsa and embracing her role as a public advocate within the LGBT community.

The long version:
I always feel the need to preface a review of a work of memoir with my definition of what memoir is. Which is to say that I see memoir as a highly subjective version of historical events, not exactly fiction but certainly with made up, recollected aspects, particularly when it comes to using dialogue within quotation marks and recall of specific events.

That being said, I found this memoir to be pretty fabulous. An engrossing, easy page-turner of a read from a voice that sounded very much like a very recent teenager (which she was with affections for the Jonas Brothers, video games and Bruno Mars, among other things) which served to make her highly relatable to young adults regardless of their gender identity. But it was also written in a mature, thoughtful voice that articulated experiences well (perhaps with the help of her ghostwriter Ariel Schrag. We could all do tons worse than to have accomplished writer Schrag as our ghostwriter or writing partner).

True, the story seemed to end awkwardly and abruptly, as if they didn't know how to draw a conclusion so tried to invent one that seemed forced. And the last fifty pages are spent recollecting Hill's first romantic relationships, which are illustrative of so many teen relationships which makes it universal in way and yet is still shown through the prism of a transgender girl with her own baggage, but it's definitely not the strongest part of the book.

The book is at its best throughout the first two hundred pages as Katie starts her freshman year of college and then returns to her childhood and takes the reader deliberately through her history with a fabulous attention to detail and place and people. So much so that you're smiling and your heart breaks at points throughout, a testament to the writers' abilities to develop Hill's story and the people who populate it.

On a side note, the book paints a vivid picture of Oklahoma which I really appreciated, having never spent time in the real south. Not only in terms of growing up as a misfit teenager in suburban Tulsa, but she also paints a portrait of Oklahoma teens, suburbia in the Bible Belt, and the great LGBT community there that supported her and her family.

She also provides a "how to talk to transgender people" addendum which was really great and felt new and fresh and of course pertinent today, compared to all those books that just provide 'additional resources" (which she does that too.

A Book Review Starring "The Geography of You and Me" by Jennifer E. Smith

The short version:
Lucy and Owen first meet when their NYC building elevator stops in the middle of a city-wide blackout (a la the 2003 NYC blackout). After spending the next day together, their friendship develops via correspondence as they both navigate their personal journeys on the road: he travels with his father across county in search of a home as they recover from his mother's death and she moves with her parents first to Scotland, then London. All the while their friendship blossoms in its various ways.

The long version:
Jennifer E. Smith might be my new favorite "girl book" author. Which I don't think is a disparaging label in the slightest. This is my second Smith read (she only has three young adult books). She has a lovely ability to draw two-person, character-heavy stories with nuance, pathos and intelligence. The boys in her novels, like Owen, may be on the right side of YA boy fantasy, but not too much that it might drag the story into a place I'd find saccharine. Like "The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight" she does an excellent job of establishing place, and in this story she has so many places she's chosen to illustrate.

It's no surprise that two of her three novels are already in theatrical development. Let's just hope the character based plots survive with the subtlety and fleshed-out tone she's manage to put into her books.

Is it Dessenesque? Sure. But she's her own voice and what an entertaining and engaging one it is.

A Book Review Starring "Everything Leads to You" by Nina Lacour

The short version:
Aspiring LA production designer Emi unearths a letter in one of her estate sale finds that leads her to Ava, the illegitimate granddaughter of a recently deceased movie icon. At the same time, she's got her first big break designing sets for a charming indie film and learns about herself as a designer in the process.

The long version:
Part mystery-romance, part endearing melodrama. Lacour does a confident job of weaving the two plots together. You could kick the tires of the story if you wanted, but if I were a lesbian teenager, I'd be so happy to read a story about cute girls, a main character that is already out and a credible Hollywood-centric plot that comes across fun and convincing enough.

Main character Emi is cute and stylish, mystery girl Ava is hot yet sensitive and interesting. The two characters are given a nice subtly, as both could have easily devolved into over-the-top land. True the secondary characters don't do much other than serve the main characters, though it would have been nice if the best friend had an independent life and wasn't just there to serve. But the writing is sure handed and the minutia of production design is fun to read (especially if one doesn't dwell too much on the many accomplishments of an eighteen year old).

Cute, easy reading page turner.

Please, Dear Authors

Dear Young Adult Authors,

If you find yourself typing the dialogue:

"You just don't get it" or

"You just don't get it, do you?"

Please hit delete.

Recognize this phrase for the crutch that it is.

Please know that his is a universal crutch, used by authors of adult and young adult fiction, screenwriters. Know that you are not alone in your impulse to employ it.

But you are responsible for employing it nonetheless. Type it at your own peril.

Cordially,
H

A Book Review Starring "One Man Guy" by Michael Barakiva

The short version:
14 year old New Jersey Armenian teen Alek is forced to go to summer school if he's going to remain on the honor track. During Algebra class he meets junior Ethan and discovers he's attracted to boys.

The long version:
This is one of those books that's structurally fine but substantively average. I found all the characters pretty one dimensional and unconvincing. The plot thin and full of highly convenient plot points. The main character inexplicably discovers he likes boys out of nowhere, without much convincing build-up.The story was also peppered with lessons in Armenian culture in forced moments injected into the plot. I found the pop culture references indicative of an author substituting his own cultural references (My Fair Lady, The Object of My Affection) for his current day teenage characters'. I wish the author had read his characters' dialogue out loud, as much of it didn't sound verbally true. Long spoken sentences, phrases that don't sound natural to teenagers, people speaking in paragraphs. .

In all it was a decent first effort, but thin and lacking credibility. One of those books where I find myself asking where was the editor.

Please, Dear Authors.....

Dear Young Adult Authors,

Please use pop culture reference points that are a reflection of what teenagers today actually watch and enjoy. You grew up in the eighties therefore your reference points are John Hughes movies. Mean Girls is Heathers, for kids today. YouTubers are their VeeJays.

It's not cute or a reflection on your characters affinity for things retro when they like things you liked when you were a teenager. It's actually a subtle alarm pulsing from the book in their hands that's letting them know that this book was written by an adult when really they don't want to sense that. They don't want to know about you and all the cute or cool or quirky things you liked, it just makes your book seem unrealistic. So please don't do it.

Instead, do your homework in he form of research. Discover what they listen to and watch and read and find those examples that are pertinent to your story. Just because you loved Audrey Hepburn movies doesn't mean the kids your writing for do. Unless, of course, you really are writing for adults.

In that case

please don't pretend you're writing a young adult novel.

Cordially,
H

A Book Review Starring "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

The short version:
Two suburban Chicago area teens, both named Will Grayson, one gay, one straight, meet by chance encounter at a porn store in Chicago and find their lives changed as a result.

The long version:
Oh John and David, two of the finest YA authors of the uber-witty-in-a-not-real-teenage-life sort of way but because they both do it so well, we forgive them for both the fact that their characters don't sound like real teenagers and that all their characters have an extremely similar uberwit sort of voice. It's ok, because they make us smile and still manage to tell stories that are a bit more complex than the standard YA fare.

And this was certainly one of those. Two boys struggling with self-acceptance.  And with a cast of supporting characters, parents and peers alike, that make us smile, written with depth and fabulous empathy in spite of their similar sounding uberwit.

Why do we forgive Mr. Green and Mr. Levithan for their uberwit? Because their brand of uberwit is more entertaining and more witty than others. So be it.

A Book Review Starring "Belzhar" by Meg Wolitzer

The short version:
New Jersey teen Jam is sent to a Vermont boarding school for kids dealing with emotional problems after a mysterious end to her first relationship. Once there, she's assigned to a special English class that requires her and the other four handpicked students to write about themselves in a leather bound journal which transports them into an alternate reality that brings each of them closer to their reasons for being there.

The long version:
Having never read any Wolitzer before this, but knowing her as an adult writer of (possibly) melodrama, this felt like that but with teens and an added fantasy element that came across as stiff and awkwardly inserted into the narrative, from someone who didn't seem to have much experience (or possibly really even affinity for) fantasy-infused drama.

She really didn't seem to have much of an ear for teens either, in terms of their voices or impulses. Her boy characters are of the fantasy ilk written by adult women, they don't sound like authentic teenage boys. The set up of this school never feels plausible (all these kids have emotional problems of some kind but there's a big lack of adult supervision and a total lack of medical oversight, no one there goes to see a therapist despite being sent there for their problems. What exactly were these fictional parents paying for?) It all just felt slight, not well thought out, like the author didn't really enjoy writing it.

She does a decent job of keeping you hanging on for the big reveal, which is the only real page turning element. It's all technically and structurally ok, but its also never enough. Never enough depth of characters, depth of drama, depth of fantasy.