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Young adult literature
Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality.
The earliest known use of term young adult occurred in 1942. Prior to the 1930s teenagers, adolescents and young adults were still considered children in society. After teenagers were recognized as a distinct social group, librarians developed the category of young adult literature to help bridge the gap between children's literature and adult literature. According to a study conducted in 2023, 55% of young adult literature consumers were over 18 years of age. 78% of adult consumers purchased with the intent to read themselves. Of these adult buyers, 51% were between ages 30 and 44. This highlights the fact that readers of young adult literature are often adults.
Author and academic Michael Cart states that the term young adult literature "first found common usage in the late 1960s, in reference to realistic fiction that was set in the real (as opposed to imagined), contemporary world and addressed problems, issues, and life circumstances of interest to young readers aged approximately 12–18". However, "The term 'young adult literature' is inherently amorphous, for its constituent terms 'young adult' and 'literature' are dynamic, changing as culture and society — which provide their context — change", and "even those who study and teach it have not reached a consensus on a definition".
Victor Malo-Juvera, Crag Hill, in "The Young Adult Canon: A Literary Solar System" note that in 2019 there was no consensus on a definition of young adult literature and list a number of definitions, including:
This provides an overall consensus in the literary world that the definition of young adult literature is unique to the author, reader and publisher. There are common themes and tropes seen across young adult literary work that lead a piece to be classified as young adult literature as a general classification with some aspects that may fall into adult literature as well as children's literature.
Librarians first defined this new category of fiction, in particular librarians from the New York Public Library. The NYPL's first annual Books for Young People list was sent in 1929 to schools and libraries across the country. Then "In 1944 [...] NYPL librarian Margaret Scoggin changed the name of her library journal column from 'Books for Older Boys and Girls' to 'Books for Young Adults', and the genre was christened with a name that has lasted to this day". Initially the YA genre "tended to feature the same" boy and girl love story. But in the 1960s the novels developed to more fully examining the lives of adolescents. Particularly noteworthy was S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
French historian Philippe Ariès argues, in his 1962 book Centuries of Childhood, that the modern concept of childhood only emerged in recent times. He argues that children were in the past not considered as greatly different from adults and were not given significantly different treatment. Furthermore, "Teenagers weren't a designated demographic in most respects until around World War II, due in part to advances in psychology and sociological changes, like the abolishment of child labor". With this development came the marketing of "clothes, music, films, radio programs, and ... the novel" for young adults.
All the same Sarah Trimmer in 1802 recognized young adults as a distinct age group describing "young adulthood" as lasting from ages 14 to 21. In her children's literature periodical, The Guardian of Education, Trimmer introduced the terms "Books for Children" (for those under fourteen) and "Books for Young Persons" (for those between fourteen and twenty-one), establishing terms of reference for young adult literature that still remain in use.
Young adult literature
Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality.
The earliest known use of term young adult occurred in 1942. Prior to the 1930s teenagers, adolescents and young adults were still considered children in society. After teenagers were recognized as a distinct social group, librarians developed the category of young adult literature to help bridge the gap between children's literature and adult literature. According to a study conducted in 2023, 55% of young adult literature consumers were over 18 years of age. 78% of adult consumers purchased with the intent to read themselves. Of these adult buyers, 51% were between ages 30 and 44. This highlights the fact that readers of young adult literature are often adults.
Author and academic Michael Cart states that the term young adult literature "first found common usage in the late 1960s, in reference to realistic fiction that was set in the real (as opposed to imagined), contemporary world and addressed problems, issues, and life circumstances of interest to young readers aged approximately 12–18". However, "The term 'young adult literature' is inherently amorphous, for its constituent terms 'young adult' and 'literature' are dynamic, changing as culture and society — which provide their context — change", and "even those who study and teach it have not reached a consensus on a definition".
Victor Malo-Juvera, Crag Hill, in "The Young Adult Canon: A Literary Solar System" note that in 2019 there was no consensus on a definition of young adult literature and list a number of definitions, including:
This provides an overall consensus in the literary world that the definition of young adult literature is unique to the author, reader and publisher. There are common themes and tropes seen across young adult literary work that lead a piece to be classified as young adult literature as a general classification with some aspects that may fall into adult literature as well as children's literature.
Librarians first defined this new category of fiction, in particular librarians from the New York Public Library. The NYPL's first annual Books for Young People list was sent in 1929 to schools and libraries across the country. Then "In 1944 [...] NYPL librarian Margaret Scoggin changed the name of her library journal column from 'Books for Older Boys and Girls' to 'Books for Young Adults', and the genre was christened with a name that has lasted to this day". Initially the YA genre "tended to feature the same" boy and girl love story. But in the 1960s the novels developed to more fully examining the lives of adolescents. Particularly noteworthy was S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
French historian Philippe Ariès argues, in his 1962 book Centuries of Childhood, that the modern concept of childhood only emerged in recent times. He argues that children were in the past not considered as greatly different from adults and were not given significantly different treatment. Furthermore, "Teenagers weren't a designated demographic in most respects until around World War II, due in part to advances in psychology and sociological changes, like the abolishment of child labor". With this development came the marketing of "clothes, music, films, radio programs, and ... the novel" for young adults.
All the same Sarah Trimmer in 1802 recognized young adults as a distinct age group describing "young adulthood" as lasting from ages 14 to 21. In her children's literature periodical, The Guardian of Education, Trimmer introduced the terms "Books for Children" (for those under fourteen) and "Books for Young Persons" (for those between fourteen and twenty-one), establishing terms of reference for young adult literature that still remain in use.