Strategies and hallmarks of Young aDult Literature

1). Think Like a Teen The novel sees the world through the main characters eyes. The perspective is rooted within the teenage characters point of view. The characters make the same mistakes they would in real life at that age. Example: Readers experience the world of Holden Caulfield in the Catcher in the Rye only through his point of view.

2). Find the “Emotional Truth” of the Teenage Experience The best YA captures the trials and conflicts of the crucial and emotional high stakes nature of the interactions they have with others every day. Even if the teens are not the characters they read about, the issues and emotions feel like they are dealing with issues like who they are, who they should be, what they should and shouldn’t do that all teens deal with. Example: Even though we are not Katniss in the Hunger Games, her responses to event make emotional sense to us and feel real.

3). A Good Pop Culture Reference Goes a Long Way References to pop culture teaches us about the character as a teen and as a character. It explains what the characters like and is like. Pop culture references ground the novel in teen reality. Pop culture references change meaning quickly and can make a piece of YA Lit feel dated and out of touch. However most authors will select a reference that will still seem possible anywhere from 5 to 30 years from now. Example: Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars watching “America’s Next Top Model”.

4). Get input from Real Teenagers News Flash: Adult authors don’t think like teens! So…getting input or interviewing teens makes the story feel more authentic. Teens use language differently than adults so getting input from real teens can make the story more relatable to current teens by using the current usage of the words or make current connections to try to sound more like them. Successful authors ask teens, “Does this ring true to you. Example: Current meaning of: wasted, chocolate wasted group of popular girls are described like a bunch of grapes because do you ever see just one of them alone?

5). Use Slang Words at Your Own Risk A YA Book has a “current” shelf life of two to three years. Authors who use too much modern vocabulary can seem out of touch or trying to hard. Classic YA uses more common language because the coded language of teens changes every four years. It’s like facebook, now the parents are using it more teens to be different are using other kinds of social networks more often. Example: “Cyd Charisse, that young man is not your homes.”

Keep it moving YA doesn’t have to be “adult” so it can seem like the plot is developing at a faster pace. It is more exciting. Also, YA feels more immediate since the narrator is most likely written in 1st person and in present tense. “It’s happening to me, right now” making the action feel more exciting and immediate. You settle in the narrator’s head and just go. Example: Cohn teaches that if she’s not writing in first person present and she is stuck, she switches so that she can settle down in a character’s head and just go like a reader.

7). It’s Okay for YA to Get Dark No subject is off limits which means that YA will explore topics such as death, drugs and rape. YA gives a safe way to experience and explore the darkness without the danger of the darkness being real. Example: Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why is about a girl who commits suicide and sends out tapes to explain why she did it and who was responsible. The younger the teen the more distance between the characters and issues take place. e.g. In “The Book Thief” the narrator is Death. In another book about the Holocaust, The Devil’s Arithmetic, the teen time travels giving an escape route from the horror by time traveling back.

8). Find the “Kernel of Hope” While dark subjects are explored, and not all books have a happy ending, there is almost always an underlying optimism. There is a sense that it is worth waking up in the morning. 99% of YA books have things that are dark, that are terrible, but tomorrow’s another day. Terrible things happen, but you get through it and find a way to survive. Just like life. Example: When Johnny dies in The Outsiders, he tells the survivor, Ponyboy, to “stay golden”, to keep believing in his dreams.

Hallmarks of Young Adult Fiction Hallmarks of YA Fiction – CNN 2015