Why Are So Many Adults Reading Young Adult Fiction?

 What is the allure these days of young adult books and their crossover appeal to the adult crowd the world over?  Many YA books, in fact, are standouts with the adult community.  This industry has grown astronomically to become worth millions of dollars worldwide, with authors such as JK Rowling and Suzanne Collins.  In fact, (55%, according to a 2012 study), are actually adults. So what's the reason?

Perhaps the real mystery, then, is not why the works of the authors above have been so successful commercially, but why they, and other books like them, have appealed to so many people beyond their target audience. This in itself creates a sub-mystery, too: why do these books remain popular years after they are first published, and what is it about society today that means that their messages and values are still applicable to us?

One reason is that adults have discovered this: that young adult authors are doing some of the most daring work out there. Authors who write for young adults are taking creative risks -- with narrative structure, voice and social commentary -- that you don’t see as often in the more rarefied world of adult fiction.

YA books can be a vehicle for evoking nostalgia; they can often remind older readers of their childhoods and teenage years.  Society nowadays is so intricately and overwhelmingly critical of YA, and yet it is its simplicity that often provides the most pleasure for young people and adults alike.

Their universal appeal is palpable New generations of young people grow up, and they are often found reading the same books as their predecessors due to the sheer quality and sense of purpose behind the writing, making them applicable to anyone, at any time.

So to all of my adult readers out there:  Check out a few young adult books.  See if you feel nostalgic, or excited, or better for having read your choice.  You may be surprised!

JK Rowlings and Hogwarts Style Tree House

Just a bit of fluff for a holiday weekend in the U.S.  And what better fluff than some sour grapes thrown at none other than JK Rowlings and her kids, no less!  But lest you get upset, Scottish sensitivities prevailed... 

 



Photograph: Jp Masclet/AP

It seems the city of Edinburgh council has given  author,  JK Rowling, the go-ahead to construct two  Hogwarts-style tree houses in the grounds of her home, despite objections from neighbors.

 

The author JK Rowling has won permission to build two Hogwarts-style tree houses in the garden of her home, despite complaints from neighbors
 
Rowling plans to build the two-story structures for her children David, nine, and Kenzie, seven, in the grounds of her17th century mansion in an Edinburgh suburb. The author of the Harry Potter series was given permission by City of Edinburgh council despite objections from several neighbours who are already upset by other renovations and building work around her home.
 
Drawings submitted to the council's planners show the tree-houses will be erected on tall stilts beside mature conifers in the garden. They will have tall cedar shingle conical roofs and be connected by long partly-elevated walkways and a rope bridge.
 
The buildings will feature turreted windows, pennants, a basket and pulley, and an owl perch. David's playhouse will include a long tunnel under a walkway and a fireman's pole; his sister's boasts a trapdoor, rope ladder, a metal slide and spiral staircase down to the garden.
 
Members of Cramond and Barnton community council had urged the council to reject the proposals because they believed a gap in a line of trees in her garden meant the tree houses would be visible to passers-by. Dr Patricia Eason, the community council's secretary, said: "Our concern is without this high and substantial screening belt of conifers, the entrance to the conservation area would be marked by this massive and very high tree house development and this would be quite out of character with the area and unacceptable."
 

Rowling's application was approved without a vote by the council's planning committee because less than six objections were received.  John Bury, the council's head of planning and building standards, said: "The proposals comply with the development plan and will not adversely impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area."
 

Ah, democracy and, again, a large dash of common sense at work in Scotland!   JK Rowlings, enjoy your hard earned compensation.  Authors rule!

Children's Books are Growing Fast Across the Genres

Have  a look at the children's section in the book store lately or see what's forthcoming this season, from picture books through titles for teens.

This fall's offerings span a wide variety of topics and suggest why children's books have turned into the fastest-growing segment of the publishing industry. And, interestingly, adults are crossing over to read their kids' books!

The magical spell J.K. Rowling cast over kid lit with "Harry Potter" found new blood with Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" saga and most recently, Suzanne Collins' fight-to-the-death "The Hunger Games," creating a halo effect for the entire genre that doesn't show any signs of slowing.

Last year, overall publisher revenues for children's books were up 12%, to $2.78 billion, and e-books made astounding gains, according to BookStats, a collaboration of the Assn. of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group.
 

In the middle-grade genre, Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" has begun a bevy of illustrated, humorous, confessional-style bestsellers, which will continue in the coming months.   Many forthcoming children's books have already been snatched up by movie studios.
 

The young adult, or YA, category is particularly healthy as a result of blockbuster franchises and strong crossover readership. Many young adult books are read as much by adults as they are by their intended teen audiences.

Scholastic reports that 50% of the readers of "The Hunger Games" are adults. And more than half of the readers of the bestseller "Divergent" by Veronica Roth are at least 25 years old, according to a HarperCollins spokeswoman.

The stigma of adults "reading down" with children's titles is gone, said David Levithan, editorial director of Scholastic Press, which also published the Harry Potter series in the U.S.

"Adults have no hesitation at all to buy young adult anymore, so it's very easy to cross over," said Levithan, who anticipates high adult readership for "The Raven Boys," a mythological paranormal thriller kicking off a four-book series by "Shiver" trilogy author Maggie Stiefvater, another Scholastic writer.

Like "The Raven Boys," many of the most anticipated titles for fall hybridize genres. Libba Bray's "Diviners," for example, is paranormal historical fiction that follows a young woman during the Roaring '20s who becomes embroiled in an occult-related murder mystery.
Paramount has already optioned Bray's book for film, which shows that readers aren't the only ones interested in what's coming.

"We're finding as much interest from networks and studios. They are so hungry for teen content they're acquiring rights even before the books come out," said Susan Katz, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books. On Tuesday, the publisher will release "Don't Turn Around" from debut author Michelle Gagnon. The thriller, about a teen computer hacker, has already been optioned for television.

"What seems to be different about the teen market as opposed to adult fiction is that young, first-time authors have a wide-open opportunity to sell like gangbusters," Katz said.

Veronica Roth was in college when she began writing "Divergent," the first book in a trilogy that will conclude next year. The series, which has sold 2 million copies since it began in May 2011, was recently optioned by Summit Entertainment, the production studio that brought Meyer's "Twilight" saga to the big screen.

Although overshadowed by the crossover appeal and attention paid to young adult books, the middle-grade, or tween, category for readers ages 8 to 12 is drawing a growing number of talented authors.

 

This fall also sees the release of several highly anticipated sequels in bestselling series, including new installments in Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" and "Big Nate" by Lincoln Peirce.

susan.carpenter@latimes.com