Mundane secrets of the YA-YA authorhood

[prog]

Here is a troll for my kid-lit friends: What defines a young-adult (or even childrens') novel? I mean, what makes a given work of fiction YA versus, er, "grown-up"? Is it just a matter of PG-13-or-lower content with (usually) young central characters?

Comments

[rserocki.livejournal.com]

I was going to write a carefree response, but I feel a bit meek after reading all those thoughtful and literate posts. Isn't Catcher in the Rye considered a YA story? Yet it has the f* word. (I think it is a very good YA book, though. I'm mentioning the book because by some definitions, it would not be a YA story.) I saw The Lord of the Rings in the YA section at an airport bookstore. Although I don't have much of an opinion myself, I wonder sometimes if a book is classified as YA simply by virtue of where a bookstore decides to put it? Or who the publisher decides to market the book towards? Or what the writer says? (e.g. "Yeah, this book has plenty of cursing on every page, blood, guts and sex, but I'm saying it's meant for YA and I'm sticking with this label.") I saw a DVD for the graphically violent Watership Down cartoon in the children's animation section of Tower Records, and learned it was there by virtue of being rated PG, content notwithstanding.

[jadelennox]

Oh, an enormous amount of what characterizes a book as genre depends on the publisher's marketing, a little depends on who chooses to read it, and almost none depends on authorial intent. Adult books (by authorial intent) become children's constantly, by virtue of publisher choice (some editions of LotR), teacher choice (To Kill a Mockingbird) or reader choice (Ender's Game). Sometimes adult readers claim children's books (Harry Potter; Stinky Cheese Man).

Cussing's got very little to do with it, these days. Plenty of YA lit has graphic descriptions of incest, so George Carlin's seven words are pretty mellow.

And you can't blame me and colorwheel for flaunting our otherwise worthless degrees in ChLit whenever someone asks us to do so. ;) We get so few chances to use them!