What is it about YAL that makes the genre so popular. Despite its name and set 'age range' young adult books are making waves and gathering attention to those of many ages allowing us to escape into the words created. Is it simply because we find the characters, situations, or world relatable? Are we living vicariously through the lives of characters we wish we could have been or been? What is it about YAL that is so captivating? Don't believe me? Just look at all the book to screen adaptations chosen to live on the big screen. How do you Escape into the fantasy world of dystopian or YAL. Young adults and teens alike choose to lose themselves in the words living and learning vicariously through the characters.
Something that would be interesting would be to compare YA lit to other kinds of niche/'genre' fiction like mystery or sci-fi/fantasy-- both YA and traditional genre fiction are extraordinarily popular, but don't get the kind of respect that more traditional "literary" fiction gets. – Sadie8 years ago
I've found that, often, classes on YA argue that the reason people read so much YA is the "reliability" factor, though I don't know if that's necessarily all of it. I also think that there is an aspect of YA that lets topics that may not necessarily be as accessible in other genres come through in subtle interesting ways. But that may just be my own thoughts on the thing. Interesting topic! I'd love to see it written! – Mariel Tishma8 years ago
I think part of the pull toward YA novels is that they are generally easy to read and fun. For the most part, I know what I'm going to get with a YA book, hence the appeal (for me, at least). – itsverity8 years ago
While YAL may rule the sales charts, it is important to remember that they are not exactly 'masterpiece-materials'. They mostly have very short shelf-lives and poor re-read value. – Vishnu Unnithan7 years ago
Perhaps the appeal for readers of dystopian YA novels is being able to favourably compare their realities to the situations that characters are facing. – India7 years ago
YAL is an easy escape, that's why it's read in my opinion. It is not necessarily about going into the worlds or lives of the characters, it's more about just being able to escape from the real world. – Tamieka7 years ago