Some may argue that Young Adult (YA) literature is exclusively for teens, but here at Scholastic, we beg to differ--and we've got the data to prove it. A 2012 Bowker study found that 55% of YA books are bought by adults, and when asked about the intended recipient, respondents reported that 78% of the time they were purchasing those very books for themselves.
As you may have read in Deimosa's and Nadia's posts earlier this week, This is Teen has launched an entire campaign celebrating the awesomeness of YA lit. #IreadYA week encourages fans of all ages come together to celebrate their love of YA literature. Across the globe, authors and readers alike are sharing the I read YA badge, engaging with fellow YA book lovers using #IreadYA, and compiling lists of recommended titles.
#IreadYA got me thinking about the reasons I love YA. This is Teen's Emily Morrow summed it up beautifully in her OOM post last fall:“YA books are my escape of choice. No matter what time, world, or city they’re set in, they perfectly capture what it means and what it feels like to be growing up.” I couldn't have said it better myself.
But even more than allowing me to escape, YA books encourage me to tap into the rawest of emotions. I sometimes think that we're our truest selves before we become so-called adults, and reading YA enables us to get in touch with feelings that may have since been buried. One of my favorite trends: modern YA adaptations of the classics.
For years and years I've been trying to read Wuthering Heights, but it always seems like no matter how hard I try, I just can't get into it. Then, former Scholastic Librarian and OOM blogger Jessica Watson suggested I read Catherine by April Lindner--a modern re-telling of the Emily Brontë classic. It was as if a lightbulb clicked. Suddenly I was completely hooked and inspired to go back and give Wuthering Heights another chance. Having read Catherine, I better understood the plot and the language and was able to make it through. (Another recommendation: Lindner's Jane, an adaptation of Jane Eyre. Though I'm a huge fan of the original, I was really impressed with Lindner's interpretation.)
So there you have it. YA encourages me to reflect on emotions in their purest form and enables me to better understand other literature. That's why #IreadYA.
