In the Beginning... Books published in the beginning of the 19th century were focused on the education of children, not necessarily the amusement. Sunday school books taught kids how to grow up and be good adults. As time went on, authors introduced books for young people that were separated from instruction and religion, famous titles such as Oliver Twist (1838) and Alice in Wonderland (1865).
In 1868, the author Horatio Alger was plateauing in his authorship and needed a change of pace. He started to write books about poor boys and their struggle to rise through the ranks with honesty and courage, often helped along by a kind, rich, man. One book written by Horatio Alger that followed this format was Ragged Dick (1868). Edward Stratemeyer came along later in 1899 and began “The Stratemeyer Syndicate”. Though marketed as one author, books published by the syndicate were actually written by many. The books published under this syndicate include popular books that live on today, like the Nancy Drew series.
The Middle By the time Nancy Drew was published in 1930, books for teens were given the name “Juvenile” and were really targeted towards teen readership. Among these Juvenile books was The Sword in the Stone from 1938, which was later adapted by Disney into an animated movie in 1963. As 1951 arrived, Catcher in the Rye was published. Although thought of today as a classic Y.A. novel, Catcher in the Rye, as well as Lord of the Flies (1954), was actually marketed towards adults rather than adolescents. The 1960’s saw the concern over adolescence, and began to study what it meant to go through adolescence. The Outsiders (1967) was born out of the realization that adolescence is a complicated time for young adults. Very influential in its times, it remains one of the best-selling Y.A. novels.
To the Present Day The Golden Age of Young Adult Fiction occurred in the 1980’s, when publishers started to focus on the adolescent market, establishing the Y.A. genre. Authors challenged the status quo and wrote books that spoke to the experiences of a teenager. Young Adult literature continued to grow; the film industry has capitalized on the draw of Y.A. novels. Books such as the Harry Potter series, the Twilight series, and the Hunger Games series have turned into box office hits. So much so that these movie adaptions have sparked a newfound interest in reading for kids and adults who had never heard of these books until the movies came to theaters.
As different lifestyles have become more accepted, authors are taking even greater leaps and writing about the experiences of being LGBTQ. According to their website, weneeddiversebooks.org, the We Need Diverse Books campaign is on the mission to create diversity within young adult books, including (but not limited to) LGBTQ, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and people of color.
Where Will the Future Take Us? What’s up with New Adult (N.A.) fiction? New Adult literature focuses on life after high school for a “new adult” who is 18 years to 30 years old, highlighting college, life after college graduation, and many other experiences one would expect to be too mature for the typical young adult reader (12 to 17 years old). There is confusion between NA and YA because of the wide range of audiences YA lit draws in. Publishers may have consciously decided to market YA towards 12 to 17 years olds, but it is not uncommon to find older adults picking up these books as well. NA literature is caught between YA and Adult literature. As of now the handful of authors in the single publishing company focused on N.A. fiction have not warranted separate writing standards for this new genre. As the old adage says, create a set of standards for New Adult fiction, and they will come.