Comments on: YA Exhaustion

By: Maya

Maya — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:05:59 +0000

Agree with the PS. Part of the problem is that we’re looking at this through the adult lens of market analysis. Has anyone asked the YAs if they have YA fatigue?

By: Tone

Tone — Tue, 24 May 2011 08:46:35 +0000

Excellent post. I think readers will always love a story well told, as long as they get to read it. Like journalists, publishers tend to hunt in packs.

By: Liesl

Liesl — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:49:47 +0000

I love YA, but I must admit that I’m feeling a little YA exhaustion. Even if the writing is good, I see so many of the same ideas cropping up again and again and AGAIN. The YA market just feels a little flooded. Everyone’s jumping on the band-wagon.

But this post makes me feel glad that I write middle-grade.

By: LEllsworth

LEllsworth — Mon, 23 May 2011 01:22:39 +0000

I often wonder about The Times reviewers – so often their reviews seem condescending when mentioning YA. But there are some great books being published – wonderful authors like Laurie Halse Anderson, M.T. Anderson, Gary Schmidt, R.A. Nelson, etc (I could go on and on) continue to write compelling books. I’ve heard great things about CHIME and plan to buy that. I’ll check out WORDS IN THE DUST and DIVERGENT as well. I still think this is an exciting time in YA literature. And thanks, Tegan, for mentioning UNFORGETTABLE.

By: John

John — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:30:48 +0000

Hey Tegan, thanks for the recs–I’ve been meaning to snag a copy of CHIME for a while now, and WORDS IN THE DUST sounds very interesting. And it seems like there’s a consensus that we ALL need to read DIVERGENT!

By: brooke Favero

brooke Favero — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:37:20 +0000

I think with YA being so big, there’s a lot of good and mediocre. It seems like every agency is looking for the next YA to go big. I just finished Divergent and can’t decide if I love it more than Hunger Games. It’s really well done. You should read it, it might change your mind.

By: Tegan

Tegan — Wed, 18 May 2011 23:15:52 +0000

I buy for an independent book store’s YA section, and I think there are still many great books coming down the pipeline. I have to admit that I started rolling my eyes in January at the Winter Institute when every publisher tried to tell us they had “the next HUNGER GAMES.” Yes, I loved that series and wish I could read it again for the first time, but even though I loved DIVERGENT and ENCLAVE and the upcoming LEVERAGE, I am not looking for Katniss’s clone when I pick up YA books. Some of my favorite unique finds have been CHIME by Franny Billingsly, WORDS IN THE DUST by Trent Reedy, and upcoming UNFORGETTABLE by Loretta Ellsworth.
Viva YA! For teens and adults!

By: Bethany Neal

Bethany Neal — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:42:55 +0000

Agreed, YA is the best genre EVER!

By: Bethany Neal

Bethany Neal — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:40:37 +0000

Amy– I haven’t read that one. I’ll check it out. Still, I see no cliche here.

By: John

John — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:33:31 +0000

Wow, talk about a pick-me-up! Maybe it really was just the rainy-day blues talking–great to see so many positive feelings about YA. Stephen, I totally agree with you on INCARCERON (be sure to check out SAPPHIQUE, too), and I’ve heard a lot of good things about DIVERGENT as well. Anyone else have recommendations?