Young Adult literature

What I've found most interesting so far in my research on what is known as "YA lit" is how the definition has changed over the years, and the reasons behind the changes. Most people think of YA lit as "teen lit," meant for ages 12-18, the age boundaries we are using in the course I'm taking. However, Michael Cart, past president of the Young Adult Library Services Association, former director of the Beverly Hills Public Library, and the most recognized expert in young adult literature in the United States, gives another definition: ages 19-25. He would divide young adult literature into further categories: ages 10-14 would be middle school literature, ages 14-18 would be high school or teen literature, and ages 19-25 would be young adult literature.

In the past couple of decades, the definition of young adult literature has been pushed backwards, sometimes all the way to age 10. My immediate reaction upon reading this was that in no era after the Middle Ages would I consider a 10-year-old to be a "young adult." Also, for marketing reasons, because many adults still enjoy YA literature, the definition has moved forward in recent years, sometimes all the way to age 35. As much as I enjoy the idea of only being a few years past "young adulthood" when I normally place myself in the category of "overweight middle-aged women with greying hair and crow's feet," I have to agree with Cart that that definition is not accurate either. As he says, people age 25 and above are not "young adults." They are adults.

I had initially agreed with Cart's designations of "middle school literature," "teen literature" and "young adult literature," but a discussion with some of my classmates brought up another point: the age designations might alienate people who would otherwise read the books, and it would be better to categorize the books by topics as oppose to age. Works of YA literature have several common characteristics: a teen protagonist who tells the story from his or her point of view, a coming-of-age story in which the protagonist has an epiphany that takes him or her to a new level of maturity, and an element of hope at the end. YA literature also often deals with "risque" topics such as mental illness, drug use, sexual behavior, and violence. YA authors receive the most challenges to their work. Judy Blume, who wrote YA literature during the conservative 80s, is one of the most challenged authors of all time. I grew up on her books; they helped define my own pre-adolescence and adolescence.

We were asked in class to name the first YA book we read and to defend it as a true YA book. I read most of the Judy Blume books but the book I named was Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones by Ann Head. This book was among the first to receive the YA designation. It was published in 1967; the designation of YA literature began with the publication of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in 1965. Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones deals with teen pregnancy. July, the 16-year-old protagonist (named as such because she was born on July 4) got pregnant by her 17-year-old boyfriend Bo Jo after sex on the beach on prom night. They married; that may be one element that separates a book published in 1967 from a book published today. The book describes how they, and their parents, dealt with their lives completely turning upside down. It discusses the issues faced by newlyweds of any age of adjusting to marriage, as well as the teen-specific issues of going from high school student to expectant parent overnight. I read this book several times in eighth grade; I enjoyed the romantic plot, including the element of hope at the end when July and Bo Jo continue to work on their marriage after the tragic loss of their baby. The characters, whose birthdates are given in the story, were born at about the same time as my parents; that was probably the first time I realized that my parents were teenagers once. July loses her baby to a placental abruption; when I had a placental abruption 20 years later, I remembered the symptoms described in the book, specifically the excrutiating back pain.

I only remember a few books that I read prior to middle school, but I remember vivid plot details from books I read in middle school and beyond; which leads me to wonder about the impact that a good coming-of-age story can have on a person who is trying to come of age. The value of young adult literature may be underestimated.