Young adult novels are a definite force to be reckoned with. Some books are completely timeless, such as The Giver, anything Judy Blume, Series of Unfortunate Events, and soon to be (if not already) anything apart of The Hunger Games and Divergent series. These books are made into movies and fall into the hands of generations following their primary release. Some are even then instilled as required reading. How do young adult novels withstand the demands of time and generations? What keeps them so relevant and readable? What books can you think of that have done this well? Explore that.
Let's not forget the first teen novel, The Outsiders. For a teenager by a teenager. Classics like Catcher in the Rye have inspired King Dork by Frank Portman. These two YA novels are related in a clever way.
The YA genre is all about the angst. Going through it, you want to read about it because it validates your teen feelings of alienation. Growing up is like dying to your childhood. I think the relevance comes from this experience as every teen goes through it. Even as people get older the happiest adults seem to have never fully given up their inner child. Very smart topic. – Munjeera9 years ago
I have to say though that I do know a bunch of moms who were perplexed by the Judy Blume books not resonating with their "tween age," or teenage daughters. With that being said, I do agree that the majority of YA novels do have a much longer shelf life than adult novels. This is a very interesting topic, and one that I am quite happy to see on this site. – danielle5778 years ago