The 7 Worst Characteristics About YA Books

I consider myself a Young Adult author in the sense that I'm most interested and most comfortable in this genre. Because I write YA fiction, I also read a ton of it. Or maybe that's the other way around? Maybe I'm so interested in it because I've read so much of it. Regardless, YA is my jam. That's why I need to do this post. There are some incredible YA books that I feel everyone needs to read with complex characters, smart plots, and narrative voices that say "Reader, I trust you to keep up." There are also YA books that do the exact opposite of these things and I've compiled a list of the 7 worst characteristics of many YA books so you and I can be cognizant of them in our own writing.

Annoyingly Hip
We've all read books that make us cringe with their slang, technology, and Mean-Girls-on-steroids type interactions. To me this is a little bit hard to overcome in writing because you want modern narrative and you convince yourself this is the way to do it. But there can be too much of a good thing here, we need to make sure we use this modern-speak in moderation. You can only mention Twitter, iPads, Apps, and popular websites so many times before readers say "Okay, we get it. The characters are teens in the 21st century..."

4 Young Adult Fiction Books You Need to Read

I know, I know. There are a hundred million thousand billion posts like this...but I can't help it. I want to tell you what to read. And then I want you to tell me how much you loved every book on the list and thank me for changing your life forever. Is that too much to ask? The list isn't comprehensive of all YA books since, well, I haven't read all the books. These books aren't in any order, nor are they necessarily my top four favorite YA of all time. For instance, you won't find Harry Potter on here even though I consider it a prerequisite to being my friend. I guess you will find it on here since I just mentioned it. Anywho... read Harry Potter.

 

1. Vampire Academy & Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Richelle Mead gets a twofer since these series are very closely related (just a switch of POV as the story progresses). What does this book have to offer?  Unique vampires, the school scene we all fell in love with in HP, romance, danger, strong female characters, and secret societies. If you saw the movie and weren't in to it, give it a second chance. The movie tried way too hard to be modern, sexy, and cool.

Are the "Great Works" of Literature Obsolete?

This post is inspired by my recent accomplishment: reading Catcher in the Rye. I like classical books as much as the next person, which is to say I mostly just like the idea of reading them and then impressing people with how well read I am.

The thing that got to me about Catcher in the Rye is that it wasn't really about anything. When trying to explain it to my boyfriend here's what I had to say: "Um...it's about a guy who gets kicked out of boarding school and he basically hates everything. He doesn't want to go home to his parents yet so he stays in a hotel and gets beat up by a pimp. Oh, but then he sneaks into his own house to say hi to his little sister and then later he tells her he's going to run away. But then he doesn't."

Ok, maybe I didn't do it justice, but can anyone tell me how to better explain it? I get that the kid didn't know what he wanted to do with his life and didn't see the point in going to school, those surly teenagers... But seriously, are these books actually doing today's youth any good? Is the reason we have them read this stuff in school to get the message? Or to learn how to expertly use spark notes to make it seem like they actually read the book?

Compare Catcher in the Rye to basically anything written by John Greene. I don't necessarily think John Greene is an incredible author but I've read a few of his books and they strike the same societal chord that, I believe, Catcher in the Rye was meant to strike. Teens going through a range of existential crises, trying to figure out what their purpose is. That about sum it up? 

So my question is, should the great works of literature still be used in the every day classroom, or have they become culturally obsolete? I don't know who determines what books are important for kids in school to read, but shouldn't they be reading pieces they can relate to? Is it so important for these kids to be able to decipher Shakespeare or understand the time and culture of Catcher in the Rye? 

Why not push new books with similar messages that may be of more interest to students and foster an overall greater interest in reading? Is there no other love story than Romeo and Juliet? Isn't it just as important, if not more so, to study literature from the past thirty years? Teach students about the issues we were just facing, are facing now, and will be facing. Leave the centuries old plays for some light reading when they're older and it won't completely deter them from the written word...   

The Great Gatsby

SPOILER ALERT!

When I was in high school, one of the obligatory novels we had to read was "The Great Gatsby." You know how it goes, the teacher assigns the book, you put off reading it until the day of your test, your flipping through the book to learn who the important character's are and what they did in the last four chapters...But, something was different about "The Great Gatsby" for me.

I won't say that the characters "spoke to me" because that sounds...pretentious, but they were much more interesting than the books I was forced to read up until that point. I should also note that at this time I was already an avid reader, I lovedlovedloved the Harry Potter books, I liked mysteries, romances, even a little poetry -- but I didn't love being forced to read something.

The characters in "The Great Gatsby" were tragically relatable. I was elated and heartbroken for them. I wanted life to undo their pasts and heal the scars that turned them into who they were at that moment. The structure of the book was so...poetic? Lyrical? Genius? The fact that the narrator is Gatsby's neighbor and Daisy's cousin didn't make sense to me when I first started reading the book, but then it DOES. You can't handle feeling what Gatsby feels. Sure, at first it might be okay -- some parties here, some loving from afar there. At the end, though, we would have felt Gatsby's desperation, the feeling of everything he's ever wanted slipping out from under him slowly. He devoted years of his life to become who he was to be worthy of Daisy.

Your First Novel by Ann Rittenburg and Laura Whitcomb

"Your First Novel" was the first entire book about writing and publishing that I've read. It came recommended through Writer's Digest and I thought I'd give it a try. This book was great for two reasons. It came with some great, well written advice, and it covered both writing and publishing in depth (and everything in between).

The first half of the book was written by Laura Whitcomb, who is an established author. She wrote the writing half and covered everything from generating ideas and encouraging creativity, to actually going through the editing and rewriting process.

Does Vampire Academy encourage teen sexuality?

For those of you who have not read the Vampire Academy series, you may be hesitant toward starting it because it seems like “another vampire romance.” It’s not. YES there are vampires, YES there is romance, YES the main character is a woman. Other than that, there are few similarities (not that Twilight was bad, I read the entire series in college and barely left my room when a new one came out).

Vampire Academy has a completely different premise. Vampires are not beautiful and romantic creatures and there are different types of vampire (Moroi – the good, Strigoi – the bad) and vampire slayers (dhampirs, a vampire and human mix). See? Already they are nothing alike.

Why do I recommend this book? Because it’s unique (at least I’ve never read anything like it), and it has a strong woman as the main character.  “But Hunger Games had a strong woman lead…” I KNOW, but this came out first. Richelle Mead went out on a limb and told her story from a perspective that others could respect, if not relate to. (ALSO, I’d like to point out here that the preceding paragraph makes me sound like a feminist. I’m not. I think it’s annoying. I think it’s silly to expect special opportunities and treatment in order to get equal treatment…)

MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

This is my first book review, so I'll give you a quick run down of how I'm going to do book reviews.

First off, I won't be reviewing books that we all know everyone loves and have been reviewed to death. Harry Potter, for example, I will not review. Actually here's a mini-review (I'm a rebel): everyone loves Harry Potter, and if you don't...well...I just can't deal with that, okay? Everyone loves Harry Potter, I have to believe that or the world is no longer a good place.

So the first book I'm going to OFFICIALLY review is MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche. In the review I'll include what I liked about the book, what I didn't like, links for book club info, and anything else that I think would be fun or helpful.

What I liked:
There is so much in this book that I liked. It was a very easy read and had some really relatable stories in it. Rachel basically documents her journey of finding a best friend in Chicago, where she has recently moved. She was a New Yorker her whole life and all of her friends are there. After a few months of not making a whole lot of headway making friends (would go out to lunch with coworkers and do couples nights with her husband's friends but didn't have a great female companion), she decided to do something about it, and write about it along the way.

Along with some hilarious stories of girl-dates gone bad, she also has a lot of research sprinkled throughout the book about friendship and health benefits it brings. Also, she was vulnerable. Who wants to write about how they can't make friends? Not me, but she put herself out there and it was refreshing to see that we're not alone.

Props to Rachel for writing this and make us all feel like less of losers :)

What I didn't like:
Yeah, I get that it's emotionally beneficial to have a best friend and that surrounding yourself with even a few decent friends can provide an incredible support structure...but not everyone needs 5 best friends. Honestly, even having two can be hard to keep up with. AND she says that family and significant others don't count. I actually consider my sister and my boyfriend to be my two best friends, so I guess I have to demote them.

 After a day at work, coming home and doing dinner, talking to my boyfriend, and writing -- I have no more time left to cultivate a relationship. Just do it on the weekend? That shit's hard too. The weekend is my time to relax and get stuff done around the house. After talking to my mom, dad, and sister, I really have time for one more person (if I'm lucky). I know that she forced herself to make time for it, but do I really want the other things in my life to suffer? Not really.

I give it a 7. I really like the fact that she wrote in relatable humor, but I question the feasibility of some of the things she did/suggested to make friends.

Actually, I would like to bump this up to an 8, because she'll actually call in or Skype in for your book club meeting if you coordinate with her, how many authors would do that?