imogen Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 This is a nosy question for young adults, or adults who can remember being young adults! What do you prefer when you're looking for good books to read? A specific kind of 'young adult voice' (like Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries, for instance)? Or does that not matter to you--are you just looking for a good story? I suppose another way of looking at it is do you prefer books where the author or narrator sounds as if they're a young adult, too, or do you not care either way? I'm interested because I write--well, I call it crossover fiction. It tends to be suitable for young adults (my publisher defines that as having a main character in their late teens and no explicit sex), but I like to think it's enjoyed by young adults and adults. I don't want to put on some kind of fake 'teen voice' to write (and not that all young adults talk the same anyway...) but I've come across some opinions that state to write YA successfully you need to sound YA. Tell me what you think! Um, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I like it best when the "voice" sounds age-appropriate. For example, if the character is supposed to be 13, but talks like a 10-y-o or, worse, like a 17-y-o, then it just doesn't work for me. I prefer the mid-to-late-teens end of the YA market, as I think those who write at that end of the market tend to be able to et the voice right more often than those writing for a younger audience. That said, those who have kids themselves, or have lots of contact with kids, seem far better able to tune into the right kind of voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 As far as I can remember, when I was a teenager, YA fiction didn't really exist.. or at least it wasn't that popular. Or maybe I just missed it!? Apart from school books, I recall going straight from Enid Blyton to horror.. Stephen King, John Saul that type of thing. I'd be interested to hear what the teenagers on here think about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicnic Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I'm 27, but remember being a Young adult and work with them at the moment. I think, if it is to be written in the third person then the writer needs to take care not to talk down to the young person. Assuming that they are clever and savvy at this age usually gets better results. I also think that although you need to make younger characters 'real' you need to be careful not to use too much slang, as street language and colloquialisms tend to date rather quickly. I remember liking characters that were not too 'perfect' and that you could imagine having as a friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I'm 15, and here are my thoughts... A younger character can be annoying, but is usually quite interesting. An example of this would be "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" or "I Am David" - both younger characters, who sound younger but not thick if you get what I mean. Same-age: I don't like books about everyday life, such as the Mates, Dates books. They get on my nerves! However, there are plenty of good books with a character in their teens such as the Pellinor series, "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime" (about a 16 year old ... I can't think of the right word....I keep thinking alzeimers but it's not that....well it's good, anyway) and His Dark Materials. Adult characters: I like them as long as it's a good plot, story etc. But they can be boring sometimes. It doesn't bother me that they're adults, but it does mean that there can be better "real life" stories, because more is happening to them. I especially like "My Best Friend's Girl". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imogen Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 These are helpful thoughts, thank you! Doctor-Who-Mad-Gal, His Dark Materials is a great example, I think, of a successful crossover series. And I don't think Philip Pullman's narrative voice is very young-adult-sounding--I mean, he just wrote the story and it ended up being popular with all ages. Which is my ideal scenario. lol But bunches of other useful comments, thank you everyone! Michelle, I don't know how old you are. I'm 34, and when I was 11 and older, I remember there was quite a lot of teen romance in bookshops--Sweet Valley High and others. There was also Judy Blume. Um, Diana Wynne Jones. Madleine L'Engle. They all wrote children's books, but they also wrote books aimed at an older age group. I don't think they were particularly called YA, though. I remember an imprint called Teen Tracks, I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Well, I'm exactly the same age as you, so they must have passed me by! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imogen Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 lol, well I don't think bookshops/ libraries were great at marketing directly to YA customers. Our local library had a children's section, and a much bigger adults' section, and a shelf for 'teenage' books. So the stuff that was written for YA probably got shoved into either the kids' or adults' section. Apart from those few examples in my above post, I mostly, like you, went from children's fiction to adult fiction. In my case, from the age of about 9, some very inappropriate racy romances. My mother used to get them from the library for me cos they were historical, so I think she thought they were educational! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nazgul Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I'm an 18 year old male and I enjoy reading from the point of view of protagonists such as: Holden Caufield (Catcher in the Rye) Mark Renton (Trainspotting) Bernard Marx (Brave New World) ... I can't think of any more off the top of my head lol. I guess that the style that I enjoy is that of a disaffected, unruly scumbag who enjoys using cursing and colloquial terms in their language. I found that when I read these books I was sucked into the psyche of the narrator through the language used eg the Scottish colloquial terms used in Trainspotting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 My 13 year old is reading very little at the moment. The only thing that has kePt her attention is 'The Diary of a Chav' series by Grace Dent and the one you were reading about 10 days ago 'Size 12 isn't Fat' or some such title. And that's about it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime" (about a 16 year old ... I can't think of the right word....I keep thinking alzeimers but it's not that....well it's good, anyway) woo, I remembered - it's autism! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Asperger's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 is it? are you sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 I remember from when I read the book years ago; I'll have to go back to it again soon as I loved it - contrary to my 'heart of stone' it gave me a lump in my throat to read the ending! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Asperger Syndrome is a one of the autism spectrum disorders so you are both right. I agree - it's an excellent book. My 13-year-old son (who doesn't like reading fiction) absolutely loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I remember from when I read the book years ago; I'll have to go back to it again soon as I loved it - contrary to my 'heart of stone' it gave me a lump in my throat to read the ending! heehee that was my sister - don't blame me! lol:friends0: I don't actually remember the ending now...odd, because I remember pretty well what I've read...well, I had it on my list of re-reads anyway, so perhaps it's better I don't remember XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christie Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Well to answer your question I just gotta say Adrian Mole! I'm 16 and I love the way that I can relate to the way he speaks and reacts to situations! I would say that writing like a YA would make the story all that more appealing but I have read loads of books that don't so I wouldn't worry! Hope I've helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Even when I was a YA, I would get incredibly put off by books written in a purposefully YA voice - it felt like being talked down to. Though of course reading a book was an enterprise mainly embarked upon for the sake of story, I also looked to books as a way of pondering words... how are young readers meant to savour the elements of language if YA books don't do interesting things with them? There were enough kids talking like kids everyday at school; who would want to escape to that? Give them something different. I think children and YA are incredibly underestimated as regards their intellectual capabilities and preferences: publishers seem to believe that complex language will put kids off. In my experience, the opposite is true. No one likes to be treated like they're stupid. This is especially true if you're trying to appeal to an adult audience as well. So: believe in your readers. Give them more than bare minimum - they'll love you for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polly Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Theres a few authors I just can't read like Eion Colfer and Garth Nix I don't know why but they way they write doesent absorb me. J.K. Rowling's style suits me so from the point of view of one person but written kinda third person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladymacbeth Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 As a teenager I avoided any book that was purportedly written from a "teenager's perspective" as it really did feel condescending. I also used to hate it when young adult books were written in large print. There was nothing wrong with my eye sight as a teenager. In my last year of school I reviewed a number of young adult titles for the library. In the end the stories were not too bad but I would never have read them voluntarily because of the formatting. I think things have changed a bit since those days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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