Ask any YA author why they write for a teenage audience, and more than likely their first answer is they are creating the kind of books they would have wanted to read when they were that age. You see, for the majority of us, there was a void in literature between middle-grade and adult fiction when we were younger, making it difficult to find age-appropriate books.
Nowadays, the young adult shelves in bookstores and libraries are overflowing. Though not a genre within itself, young adult books have one of the largest followings on social media, and this is due to one thing. Emotion.
We all joke about teenagers being drama queens, but it’s true. Young people are recording themselves reacting in over-the-top manners to the way the books they read have made them feel.
As a library assistant in a large secondary college, I’ve seen the influence that having access to different genres and authors can have on teenagers. Literature has always been an essential part of human culture, providing a means of education, entertainment, and inspiration. But for young adults, literature also plays a critical role in shaping their lives and values.
Reading can help young adults to understand their own thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Not only can this help them navigate the challenges of adolescence and beyond, but it also provides a sense of comfort and understanding to young adults who are struggling with emotional challenges. By reading books with characters that are dealing with similar problems, they can gain a sense of perspective and realise that they are not alone in their struggles.
As I was writing my debut novel, Spill, I didn’t set out intending to tackle mental health issues. They just sort of happened organically as the story progressed. I had a blood-letting ghost and a protagonist who could see him whenever she drew blood. This first happens by accident, but then she starts bleeding herself on purpose. Add in a boyfriend who was a former cutter, and you’ve got some heavy issues.
However, drawing on personal experience and having teenagers of my own, I could see a clear theme beyond the mental illness—something that affects nearly every young person at some point—not being understood, believed, or truly seen. My character, Amy, spends most of the book feeling invisible to everyone who isn’t a ghost. A very small number of my early readers challenged this idea, citing that she had a great friend group and people who loved her—how could she claim to not be seen? As adults, we might find this hard to understand, but for any young person going through this tumultuous phase of life, these seemingly irrational feelings are completely valid. It’s not up to us to tell anyone else how they should feel. But there are ways we can help.
As parents, mentors and educators, our role is to encourage young adults to seek literature that helps them explore the world from a safe place. This is also the time when they begin to develop their reading habits and interests, and the books they read can have a profound impact. If I can help just one young person feel validated, while providing entertainment and the promise of hope for the future beyond the last page, then I couldn’t ask for anything more.
That’s why I write for young adults.
