Young adult is a direction of fiction, aimed at a youth audience from teens to 20s. As a rule, the age of the main characters of the young adult books corresponds to the age of the readers, but often among the fans of this type of literature, there are also older people. The young adult category distinguishes between various genres such as science fiction, fantasy, romance novels, manga, dystopia, and so on. In general, this includes books and films about young and for young people.
A Bit of Young Adult Fiction’s History
The very concept of literature for young readers with similar characteristics to young adult arose back in the 19th century, when such writers as Jules Verne (“The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain” and “Children of Captain Grant”), Mark Twain (“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”), Charles Dickens (“Oliver Twist”) lived and worked. At that time, these works were still intended to a greater extent for adults.
Therefore, this genre came into its real form only in the middle of the 20th century. The first book for teenagers was Susan Eloise Hinton’s 1967 novel The Outsiders. It is interesting that the author herself was 17 years old at that time, so her view of the taboo topics of adolescence turned out to be very fresh and accurate. The work became so popular that in 1983 the famous director Francis Ford Coppola made a film based on the book.
After some lull and the absence of big hits in the literature on the life and problems of young people, in 1997, the publication of the novel “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling took place with great success. The commercial success of the writer’s works made it clear to publishers and other writers that the literature for young people had great potential. After Harry Potter, there was a literary and film adaptation boom in the series “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.”
Thus, although many will agree that people living in the 21st century, and especially young people, read very little, it became possible to attract their interest to printed sources thanks to the publication and adaptation of books whose main characters were their peers.
Why Young Adult Is Popular in Our Days
Teenagers who are entering real adult life want to feel independent and believe that they can already solve problems on their own. Therefore, writers who create characters finding themselves in various difficult life situations are perfectly catering to this age group. In young adult literature, you will not find moralizing because the authors speak with readers on equal terms, often showing how best to act in a given situation and behave with people around them. Teenagers love to associate themselves with characters, to find their emotions and their experiences in books.
So, what do the characters in young adult literature look like? Why are they special to draw the attention of a young reader? In fact, they have practically nothing special because, for the fascination of the plot, it is important to create a hero who, at least at first glance, is no different from their peers. So, it will be easier for the reader to sympathize with the protagonist and try on their role for themselves. Besides, you can often meet the main character devoid of distinctive characteristics and endowed by the author with certain problems with family, health, or in communication with peers. The YA authors’ frequent trick is to use the spirit of rebelliousness, which is especially characteristic of dystopias.
As the plot develops, the main characters or heroes discover superpowers or the enormous potential to fight the book’s antagonists. This is where the firmness of character, positive and negative traits of the characters, and their gradual development from children to adults begin to appear, inspiring adolescents who read young adult literature. Bright and interesting characters in books, films, and games for young people can exist outside the work, including in the creative works of fans.
To Sum It Up
Since this genre does not depend on the events of the epoch and is a type of literature describing the life and adventures of young people, there is every reason to believe that young adult fiction is firmly entrenched in the literature and film industry. Sometimes, the storylines of these works are so skillfully thought out, and the addition of fantastic or futuristic elements is so on point that even adults will gladly spend time, if not reading, then watching a movie based on the book. So, it can be advised to all people, regardless of their age, to pay attention to this genre.
