[David Wright Posts: 963 Status: Offline Tell me that again.]

I have no comment on the piece, but I thought I'd post the link to the Toronto Star today, in case anyone wanted to offer their two cents.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/06/08/why_young_adult_books_are_not_for_old_adults.html
Dave

[Marissa Doyle Posts: 2,975 Status: Offline Charles Bewitched: out now! WWW]

I have a comment: who is he--or anyone--to judge what other people read for pleasure?  Sheesh! 

[Stephanie Ruble Posts: 1,904 Status: Offline author/illustrator WWW]

This response is worth reading if you read YA.

http://www.nerve.com/books/a-young-adult-authors-fantastic-crusade-to-defend-literatures-most-maligned-genre

Edited to add: If you see references to the Slate article or that article about YA, or choosing what you read etc. this is what they're talking about. It first appeared in Slate a few days ago.

[Melissa Posts: 852 Status: Offline]

That's the article from SLATE (last week? the week before?) that had folks irate again. Honestly, I think a lot of it is "click bait" at this point. The "YA is ____" articles pop up regularly, and the only reason I can see that they keep showing up is bc they get reactions.  The people that write these every few months aren't saying anything new.  In essence, they disapprove of YA.  Most of their objections boil down to:


a) it's not safe enough for kids/shame on these writers
b) it's pointless &/or not literary


There's also a weird subset of "stealing readers from adult fic" criticism.


It's all subjective stuff--and the rebuttals, no matter how well-phrased, do nothing to end the way these articles pop up regularly.  There ARE "clean" YA books. There are literary ones. . . .and the "stealing" readers one is painful to even ponder. Readers aren't owned by a genre, author, etc. They are individuals.  I suspect the writers of these articles know ALL of that, but an article that gets traffic & link-backs is good for their visibility. 

[Stephanie Ruble Posts: 1,904 Status: Offline author/illustrator WWW]

What Melissa said. I was going back to add the Slate info when she posted.

The article I linked to is not the usual rebuttal. It's more of a fun send up of YA alongside info of criticism of YA and genre fiction.

[Pons Posts: 2,674 Status: Offline]

The rebuttal's pretty amazing. It makes gentle fun of YA while simultaneously defending it.

[tara-giller Posts: 28 Status: Offline Aspiring YA author with a sarcasm problem. WWW]

Thanks for sharing this article David. I find it pretty interesting when people are so outspoken about what other people should read and what they should be embarrassed about. People who read for the sheer joy of it are totally uninterested in what they "should feel embarrassed by." Also, I find that reading YA actually helps me enjoy the type of fiction that the author of this article would approve of. Sometimes I find adult themes rather exhausting because they are often less idealistic and more depressing to read just because they are more "realistic." I find it refreshing to delve in to the idealism of YA for a while. But I'm in the wrong forum to be required to defend my love of YA!

[HaroldU Posts: 808 Status: Offline Exec. Editor, Kane Press WWW]

I LOVED the piece from Nerve.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,259 Status: Offline WWW]

Yeah, I saw it, Dave. And I thought, "Oh no, not that tired argument again."

[Liz Straw Posts: 981 Status: Offline That was a yummy book!]

Wonder why they never do this to adults who read picture books or adults who read middle grade books? Let's pick on adults who read YA books!

[AnneB Posts: 3,809 Status: Offline]

Liz, this is your chance to crack the Slate market! I can see it now: your byline over "Kid-Free Adults Who Buy Picture Books: Why Real Families Now Need Financing to buy Cars and Trucks and Things That Go"

[C.K. Posts: 907 Status: Offline WWW]

Love that Nerve article! Thanks, Stephanie.

[Liz Straw Posts: 981 Status: Offline That was a yummy book!]

Thanks, but with all that is flying around the YA AnneB, I am afraid my fragile ego would just fry. LOL  The person who wrote the article has no idea how many MG books are on my bookshelves let alone how many I have read... Just keep attacking the YA community.

[ChristinefromCorona Posts: 806 Status: Offline]

I think they're picking on YA because of the popular movies being made from them (Twilight, Hunger Games, The Fault in Our Stars).

The last adult novel I read had an ungrateful, spoiled brat MC who didn't change at all by the end of the book.   

[lisa-anderson Posts: 2 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

My feelings are almost hurt.  Almost. 
One must first ask themselves if they even care what this person's opinion is (about adults reading YA). 
Personally, I love YA books!  Why?  Because many of them actually stimulate brain activity whereas the majority of adult books are merely set up as stages for sex and violence. 
I feel the same way about movies!  Kids movies are funny and adult comedy is vulgar- this is my opinion.  Shame on us, as a society, for this!