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

[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!