Young Adult Fiction

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The Books that Have Shaped Young Adult Fiction

Whilst YA Fiction in a sense existed before the 21st Century, it was never a properly defined genre that you could visit in the bookstore. You usually had your Childrens books and then your Adult books and your Classics. YA Fiction exploded into being with the publication of the Harry Potter books which we can consider as Modern Classics. This topic would be on the game changing books that have contributed to the growing shape and form of Young Adult Fiction.

For example, Harry Potter led to the popularity of YA adventure and action books such as Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games is a staple in the genre for creating a wave of Dystopian fiction. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter books paved the way for the multitude of paranormal fantasy books. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars contributed to the overwhelming popularity of Contemporary novels that delve into difficult and important topics that teenagers go through in life.

Of course there are positives and current or potential implications on these books in terms of how they have shaped the genre as well as how the genre is marketed, or at least what publishers looks for in this realm of Young Adult fiction. This would a very interesting topic to look at.

  • I love this topic. I would also suggest Veronica Roth's "Divergent", as that made a pretty big splash. – ValleyChristion 6 years ago
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  • I believe it is Young Adult novels are vital to literature because it touches on topics anyone can relate to, whether it is love and loss or finding your identity, the YA genre has something for everyone. – Yvonne T. 6 years ago
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  • Personally, I believe that The Giver by Louis Lowry is a predecessor to all the YA dystopias. – RedFlame2000 6 years ago
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  • Interesting? I think this topic is amazing. In fact, you might have to limit yourself to one genre so you don't get overwhelmed. :) – Stephanie M. 4 years ago
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  • Perhaps the Hardy Boys and its progency would be worthwhile to examine. – J.D. Jankowski 4 years ago
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  • As a young adult who grew up reading these books, they all shaped me but allowed me to enjoy fiction and empathize with characters. – jamierrandall 4 years ago
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  • A lot of scholars trace young adult literature, as a category, back to the publication of S. E. Hinton's 'The Outsiders'. It would be interesting for you to look into Hinton's motivation to write what has essentially become a defining novel, trends in YA since then, YA authored by young adults versus books written by authors that no longer fit in that age category, among other sub-topics. – vibhavarid 4 years ago
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  • I'd suggest exploring Risking it All: Pushing the Limits Next Generation by Katie McGarry. It's young adult romance – Laurika Nxumalo 3 weeks ago
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