YA Myths Debunked! 3 Massive Young Adult Fiction Misconceptions That Need Clarification
Hi readers and writerly friends!
I’m back again this week with 3 YA Misconceptions that just need some clarification. So grab your magnifying glasses and sleuthing caps because we’re going debunking!
These are just a few widely-believed, yet completely false views on young adult fiction.
1. YA Fiction Is Free of Cursing/Swearing and Sex.
Totally False. 😂
According to the Chicago Tribune, “The most recent Gallup Youth Survey addressing the issue of swearing was published in 2001 and found that 46 percent of surveyed teens ages 13 to 17 used profanity at least several times a week or daily, while 28 percent said they heard their parents cursing a few times a week or on a daily basis.”
You can read more from the Chicago Tribune’s article “Youth Swearing: A Curse On the Rise” by Melanie B. Glover here.
Since most kids/teens come into their own way of speaking during their teens, it’s not completely out of the question that YA Fiction contains swearing. Most American teens swear so it makes sense that literature would mirror reality if not for the authenticity of depicting the real-life teenage experience, than to at least lend a hand to the relatability of a story and it’s characters.
However, this myth might have gotten its start from a subcategory of YA Fiction called “Clean Reads” which is named after and created by Clean Reads Press (Formerly Astraea Press). As per the Clean Reads Website, the press is proud to offer wholesome reading without compromise. They “don’t believe a story has to have profanity, sex, or graphic violence to catch a reader’s attention. Our stories – rich and vibrant with life – leap from the page, welcoming readers to a world they’ll remember long after the last words are read.” -Stephanie Taylor of Clean Reads Press.
Read more about Clean Reads Here.
While there are many wonderful written books out there that are free of profanity or mature content, sometimes readers prefer a little more sauce in their reading experience. This goes for YA Fiction as well. Similar to the presence of swearing in YA Literature, sex and graphic violence are also present there. Just because YA stands for Young Adult, doesn’t mean that it’s always intended for older kids and teens. Many adults read Young Adult fiction because of the key characteristics of the genre that are just not as prevalent in more notably adult genres.
However, writers expecting younger audiences to read their work should take care to not overuse F-bombs or involve too many details in sexually suggestive or graphically violent scenes in order to avoid limiting themselves. It is easier to market a more suggestive novel to upper YA and adult readers and more G-rated literature to lower YA and children readers. Much like the TV Content Rating system, the key difference in YA and Adult literature is the severity in explicit detail of sex/sexually suggestive scenes, violence, and amount of swearing. It all boils down to how the scenes are written.
2. YA Fiction Doesn’t Contain Heavy/Dark Subject Matter
Piggybacking on the first YA Misconception, many readers believe that young adult fiction is clear of any mention of heavy topics or dark subject matter. For whatever reason, many believe that because the seemingly angelic moniker might suggest the YA fiction genre is geared towards younger audiences that it can’t possibly be graphic, or violent, or involve discussion of taboo, difficult to breach, or problematic topics and this is simply just not true.
One prime example of this is Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games, a dystopic YA novel in which children are forced to slaughter each other on the battleground in an annual event watched by millions for sport. Only, that’s not how its marketed, nor is it how it’s written. The thing is, the story breaches many hard-to-reckon with subjects and dark topics, but its all in the way these things are presented. It’s not like teens are reading explicit descriptions of children hacking and slashing at each other and imagining the overly-detailed images of the bloodshed they’re reading about—no, the story is presented as that of survival. Collins wastes no time on lengthy, bloodcurdling descriptions of child-violence. Instead, she gives the bare bones descriptions and spends more time on the pacing, emotions, character-building, and other story-telling elements that made Hunger Games one of, if not the most successful dystopian YA fictions of this decade.
Much like the use of sex/profanity/violence in YA literature, books geared for younger audiences can also contain dark/heavy subject matter. It’s all in the way it is written. Many of my favorite YA reads are pretty dark, but they key difference is that they are not graphic or overly-explicit.
3. YA Is Simple/Juvenile
Many non-YA-readers seem to think that—once again, due to the name YA—since young adult fiction is directed primarily at younger audiences, the writing must have to be “dumbed down” or simple for older kids and teens to absorb and understand. However, once again this is just another ridiculous misconception for the young adult genre. As a writer, one of the very first rules I learned was to “never write down to your audience” and instead, writers should write their stories exactly as they feel they should be told, and expect readers to rise to the occasion.
Many adult readers believe that YA fiction is juvenile and thus, “not quite as literary,” or not as deserving of the same merit as adult fiction. However, this view is more indicative of the readers than the literature itself. Readers who say this, must not be well-read in the YA genre and therefore are not as familiar with the higher level of writing common to most YA novels. Unfortunately, there are a decent amount of flashy, big-name novels that ruin it for the genre as a whole, and this may be where this misconception stems from. That being said, I can’t ignore the fact that this view is a broad-sweeping generalization that would likely have people believing it if more people read more YA fiction.
Additionally, some of the most beautifully woven prose comes from the YA fiction genre and many stubborn, ignorant adult readers are doing themselves a great disservice by avoiding the genre altogether because they’re worried the writing won’t be of a high enough caliber for their enlightened minds to consume. (That sounded petty, but it’s not, I promise.) The interesting thing is, nearly 55% of YA titles are purchased by adults, according to a 2012 article by Publisher’s Weekly:
“More than half the consumers of books classified for young adults aren’t all that young. According to a new study, fully 55% of buyers of works that publishers designate for kids aged 12 to 17 -- known as YA books -- are 18 or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 44, a group that alone accounted for 28% of YA sales. And adults aren’t just purchasing for others -- when asked about the intended recipient, they report that 78% of the time they are purchasing books for their own reading. The insights are courtesy of Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age, an ongoing biannual study from Bowker Market Research that explores the changing nature of publishing for kids.” -Publisher’s Weekly.
Read more from the article here.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you, that this misconception is completely unfounded, I should add that it really gets my goat when people use this as an excuse to avoid YA fiction. People who look down on the YA genre because its “lesser” or “juvenile” because it is geared for younger audiences are just uninformed and spreading a misrepresentation of the genre as a whole. Additionally, many adult readers seem to think that YA fiction is somehow easier to write and thus, sell due to this misconception, but I digress. YA is not dumbed down, and nor is it simple. There is plenty of beautiful, elegant, and complex prose within this genre.
And that’s it for my top 3 biggest misconceptions about the YA genre. Have you ever heard any of these misinformed views before? Did you think any of these were true? Did I change your mind? Let me know in the comments below!
Thumbnail photo by Element5 Digital.
—Payton
Classic Romance Reading Challenge for February 2020
If you’re new, thanks for dropping by and if you’ve been around for a minute, this month, we’re talking about romance, because it’s February and most people associate romance with February (even though I know Valentine’s day is just an excuse to eat chocolate— but hey I’m not complaining, I love chocolate and I’ll shamelessly eat it whenever I can.)
I digress. Today, in the bookish things’ category, I am giving you guys a February Romance Reading Challenge. It’s very much like Booktober, where the bookish community participates in various thriller, horror, and downright creepy reading challenges to get in the Halloween holiday spirit. However, this reading challenge comes with a twist: classics. In this reading challenge, we’re going to be reading classic romances. Not only will we start the year of strong with some of the well-known classics but will be in the mushy mood all month! Let’s get reading!
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, a young orphan under the care of her cruel, wealthy aunt attends the Lowood school where her life is less than idyllic. She studies there for years before taking a governess position at a manor called Thornfield, where she teaches a lively French girl named Adele. There, she meets a dark, impassioned man, named Mr. Rochester, with whom she finds herself secretly falling in love with. However, this classic romance transcends melodrama to portray a woman’s passionate search for a wider and richer life than that which Victorian society traditionally allowed.
Click here to view Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte on Amazon
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I could go on and on for days about Austen’s Writing and she definitely has the novels to support that loving rant, but I’ll save you guys the sifting and just say that if you’re going to read Jane Austen, why not read her quintessential romance novel, Pride and Prejudice. It has all the elements of an amazing romance novel and is one of, if not the greatest romance novel of all time. It’s a witty comedy of manners that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.
Click here to view Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on Amazon
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
An American classic that inspired one of the most influential movies of all time, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a classic romance that opens with the unnamed narrator meeting for the first time, Holly Golightly. The two are both tenants of an apartment building on Manhattan’s upper, east side. As the story progresses, the reader learns more and more about Holly and the relationship between her and the narrator as he recounts fondly their memories and finds himself quite enamored with her curious lifestyle. She, a country girl turned New York Café Society, works as an expensive escort (not prostitute) and hopes to marry one of the wealthy men she accompanies one day.
Click here to view Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote on Amazon
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Another novel from the other Bronte sister, this wild, passionate romance story of the intense and almost obsessive love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine’s father continues to strike readers today. The story is one of, if not perhaps the most haunting and tormented love stories ever written and tells the tale of the troubled orphan, Heathcliff and his doomed love for Catherine.
Click here to view Wurthering Heights by Emily Bronte on Amazon
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
What list would be complete without a little Shakespeare and especially, his most famous story, Romeo and Juliet. Though anyone who has actually read it will tell you that the story doesn’t have a particularly happy ending (in fact, its particularly unhappy, if you ask me) the story is a classic romantic tale that showcases one of the most important questions humanity has ever faced, and that is: how far will one go for love? Elizabeth Eliot said, “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.” which eloquently and succinctly describes Romeo and Juliet.
Click here to view Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare on Amazon
Try reading these in order of most romantic to least romantic to start the month out with a really romantic read and finish it out on a little reader heartbreak. Or, read least to most romantic to end February with a happy ending.
What do you think of my February 2020 Classic Romance Reading Challenge? Have you read any of these stories before? Which of these five is your favorite and which is your least favorite? For me personally, I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and I look forward to rereading it this month, however I’d say Wuthering Heights makes number 5 on my list. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!