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Young-adult fiction (often abbreviated as YAdult fiction, or simply YA) is fiction
Fiction

Fiction is an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes. Although the word fiction is derived from the Latin fingo, fingere, finxi, fictum, "to form, create", works of fiction need not be entirely imaginary and may include real people, places, and events....
 written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents, roughly between the ages of 12 and 18.

Characteristics
Young-adult fiction, whether in the form of novels or short stories, has distinct attributes that distinguish it from the other age categories of fiction: Adult fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Children's Fiction.






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Encyclopedia


Young-adult fiction (often abbreviated as YAdult fiction, or simply YA) is fiction
Fiction

Fiction is an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes. Although the word fiction is derived from the Latin fingo, fingere, finxi, fictum, "to form, create", works of fiction need not be entirely imaginary and may include real people, places, and events....
 written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents, roughly between the ages of 12 and 18.

Characteristics


Young-adult fiction, whether in the form of novels or short stories, has distinct attributes that distinguish it from the other age categories of fiction: Adult fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Children's Fiction. The vast majority of YA stories portray an adolescent as the protagonist
Protagonist

A protagonist is the main Character of a drama or Narrative. The word "protagonist" derives from the Greek language p??ta????st?? , "one who plays the first part, chief actor." In the theatre of Ancient Greece, three actors played all of the main dramatic roles in a tragedy; the leading role was played by the protagonist, while the othe...
, rather than an adult or a child. The subject matter and story lines are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character, but beyond that YA stories span the entire spectrum of fiction genre
Genre

A genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other Art#Art forms or utterance....
s. The settings of YA stories are limited only by the imagination and skill of the author. Themes in YA stories often focus on the challenges of youth, so much so that the entire age category is sometimes referred to as problem novel
Problem novel

Problem novel is a term used to refer to a sub-genre of young adult literature that deal exclusively with an adolescent's first confrontation with a social or personal ill....
s or coming of age
Coming of age

Coming of age is a young person's transition from adolescence to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition....
 novel. YA novels are often as short as 16000 words. Writing styles of YA stories range widely, from the richness of literary style to the clarity and speed of the unobtrusive. Despite its unique characteristics, YA shares the fundamental elements of fiction with other stories: character, plot, setting, theme, and style.

History of young-adult fiction

The first recognition of young adults as a distinct group was by Sarah Trimmer
Sarah Trimmer

Sarah Trimmer was a noted writer and critic of British children's literature in the 18th century in literature. Her periodical, The Guardian of Education, helped to define the emerging genre by seriously reviewing children's literature for the first time; it also provided the first history of children's literature, establishing a cano...
, who in 1802 described "young adulthood" as lasting from ages 14 to 21. In her self-founded children's literature periodical, The Guardian of Education
The Guardian of Education

The Guardian of Education was the first successful Magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature in Britain. It was edited by eighteenth-century educationalist, children's author, and Sunday school advocate Sarah Trimmer and was published from June 1802 until September 1806 by J....
, Trimmer introduced the terms "Books for Children" (for those under fourteen) and "Books for Young Persons" (for those between fourteen and twenty-one), establishing terms of reference for young adult literature that remain in use today. However, nineteenth-century publishers didn't specifically market to young readers, and adolescent culture
Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental Human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological , social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively....
 didn't exist in a modern sense. Nonetheless, there were books published in the nineteenth century that appealed to young readers :
  • The Swiss Family Robinson
    The Swiss Family Robinson

    The Swiss Family Robinson is a novel, first published in 1812, about a Switzerland family who are shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Port Jackson, Australia....
     (1812)
  • Oliver Twist
    Oliver Twist

    Oliver Twist is Charles Dickens second novel. The book was originally published in Bentley's Miscellany as a Serial , in monthly installments that began appearing in the month of February 1837 and continued through April 1839, originally intended to form part of Dickens' serial The Mudfog Papers....
     (1838)
  • The Count of Monte Cristo
    The Count of Monte Cristo

    The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, p?re. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas' most popular work....
     (1844)
  • Tom Brown's Schooldays
    Tom Brown's Schooldays

    Tom Brown's Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes first published in 1857. The story is set at Rugby School, a public school for boys, in the 1830s....
     (1857)
  • Great Expectations
    Great Expectations

    Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens first serial ised in All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It is regarded as one of his greatest and most sophisticated novels, and is one of his most enduringly popular, having been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
     (1860)
  • Alice in Wonderland (1865)
  • Little Women
    Little Women

    Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . Written and published in two parts in 1868 in literature and 1869 in literature, the novel follows the lives of four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March — and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters....
     (1868)
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum Southern United States on the Mississippi River in the fictional town of St....
     (1876)
  • Heidi
    Heidi

    Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning , usually abbreviated Heidi, is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps....
     (1880)
  • Treasure Island
    Treasure Island

    Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book in 1883, it was originally serialised in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881-82 under the title The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island....
     (1883)
  • Huckleberry Finn
    Huckleberry Finn

    Huckleberry Finn may refer to:*Huckleberry Finn , a fictional character in the Advetures of Tom Sawyer series by Mark Twain*Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , a classic Mark Twain novel...
     (1884)
  • Kidnapped
    Kidnapped

    Kidnapped may refer to:* the crime of kidnappingIn books:* Kidnapped , a book by Robert Louis Stevenson which has been adapted a number of times in different media...
     (1886)
  • The Jungle Book
    The Jungle Book

    The Jungle Book is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contained illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling....
     (1894)
  • Moonfleet
    Moonfleet

    Moonfleet is a tale of smuggling by the England novelist J. Meade Falkner, first published in 1898. The book was extremely popular among children worldwide up until the 1970s, mostly for its themes of adventure and gripping storyline....
     (1898)


Examples of other novels that predate the young-adult classification, but that are now frequently presented alongside YA novels are :
  • Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
    Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

    Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic United States 1903 in literature children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin. Rebecca Rowena Randall goes to live with her two stern aunts in the village of Riverboro in Maine....
     (1903)
  • Anne of Green Gables
    Anne of Green Gables

    Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canada author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. It was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book....
     (1908)
  • The Secret Garden
    The Secret Garden

    The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in 1911 in literature. Its working title was Mistress Mary, in reference to the English nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....
     (1909)
  • The Yearling
    The Yearling

    The Yearling is a 1946 in film family film drama made by MGM. It was directed by Clarence Brown and produced by Sidney Franklin . The screenplay was by Paul Osborn and John Lee Mahin , adapted from the The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings....
     (1938)
  • My Friend Flicka
    My Friend Flicka

    My Friend Flicka is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara , about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by Thunderhead, Son of Flicka and Green Grass of Wyoming ....
     (1941)
  • Johnny Tremain
    Johnny Tremain

    Johnny Tremain, a 1943 children's novel by Esther Forbes, retells in narrative form the final years in Boston prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution....
     (1943)
  • The Outsiders
    The Outsiders (novel)

    The Outsiders is a novel by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she began writing the novel and 17 when it was published....
     (1967)
  • The Pigman
    The Pigman

    The Pigman is a Young adult literature written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. In his autobiography, Zindel revealed that "the Pigman" is based on his grandfather....
     (1968)


In the 1950s, shortly before the advent of modern publishing for the teen market, two novels drew the attention of adolescent readers: The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 in literature novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, the novel has become a common part of high school and college curricula throughout the English-speaking world; it has also been translated into almost all of the world's major languages....
 (1951), and Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is an Allegory novel by Nobel Prize for Literature-winning author William Golding. It discusses how culture created by man fails, using as an example a group of United Kingdom school-boys stuck on a desert island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results....
 (1954). Unlike more-recent fiction classified as YA, these two were written with an adult audience in mind. [FitzGerald 2004, p. 62]

The modern classification of young-adult fiction originated during the 1950s and 1960s, especially after the publication of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. This book focused on a group of teens not yet represented and instead of having the nostalgic tone that was typical in young adult books written by adults, it displayed a truer, darker side of young adult life because it was written by a young adult.

As publishers began to focus on the emerging adolescent market, booksellers and libraries, in turn, began creating YA sections distinct from either children's literature
Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres....
 or novels written for adult
Adult

The term adult has at least three distinct meanings. It can indicate a biologically grown or mature person. It may also mean a plant, animal, or person who has reached full growth or alternatively is capable of reproduction, or a person who has attained the legally fixed age of majority; as opposed to a minor....
s. The 1970s to the mid-1980s have been described as the golden age
Golden age

The term Golden age in ancient Greece mythology and legend but can also be found in other ancient cultures . It refers either to the highest age in the Greek spectrum of Iron, Bronze, Silver and Golden ages, or to a time in the beginnings of Humanity which was perceived as an ideal state, or utopia, when mankind was pure and immortal....
 of young-adult fiction - when challenging novels began speaking directly to the interests of the identified adolescent market.

Popular contributions to young-adult fiction


  • C. S. Lewis
    C. S. Lewis

    Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as Jack, was an academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist....
     (1898–1963): 95 million copies of his Chronicles of Narnia series have been published worldwide since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe debuted in 1950.


  • J. K. Rowling
    J. K. Rowling

    Joanne "Jo" Rowling Order of the British Empire , who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, is a United Kingdom author, best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990....
     (born 1965): British author, J.K. Rowling is an award winning young-adult author today and arguably the most successful. Being the author of the extremely successful Harry Potter
    Harry Potter

    Harry Potter is a Heptalogy fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the eponymous adolescent wizard Harry Potter , together with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his friends from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry....
     series, her books have been sold in more than 400 million copies worldwide and are translated into more than 63 languages. She is also the first billionaire-author (in terms of US-dollars).


  • Susan Cooper
    Susan Cooper

    Susan Mary Cooper is a United Kingdom author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume fantasy saga set in and around England and Wales....
     wrote the popular The Dark is Rising sequence.


  • Philip Pullman
    Philip Pullman

    Philip Pullman Order of the British Empire is an England novelist. He is the best-selling author of His Dark Materials , and a number of other books....
     (born 1946): British author, Philip Pullman wrote the successful controversial His Dark Materials
    His Dark Materials

    His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy literature by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass ....
     trilogy.


  • Cornelia Funke
    Cornelia Funke

    Cornelia Caroline Funke was born December 10, 1958, in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia. She is a multiple award-winning Germans author of children's fiction....
     (born 1958): German author, Cornelia Funke wrote the succesful Inkheart
    Inkheart

    Inkheart is a young adult literature fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and the first book of the Inkworld trilogy.The book is about a 12-year-old girl named Meggie Folchart whose life changes dramatically when she realizes that her father, a bookbinder named Mortimer Folchart , has an unusual ability: when he reads aloud, he can bring c...
     trilogy.


  • Garth Nix
    Garth Nix

    Garth Nix is an Australian author of young adult literature fantasy novels, most notably the Old Kingdom series, The Seventh Tower series, and The Keys to the Kingdom series....
     (born 1963): Australian author, Garth Nix wrote the Keys to the Kingdom and Old Kingdom series.


  • Eoin Colfer
    Eoin Colfer

    Eoin Colfer is an Republic of Ireland author and comedian. He is most famous as the creator of the Artemis Fowl , but he has also achieved success with other books....
     (born 1965): Irish author renowned worldwide for the Artemis Fowl series.


  • Stephenie Meyer
    Stephenie Meyer

    Stephenie Meyer is an United States author, known for her romantic vampire series Twilight , which is aimed primarily at young teenage girls. The Twilight novels have sold over 40 million copies worldwide, with translations into 37 different languages around the globe....
     (born 1973): An American author, wrote the popular vampire
    Vampire

    Vampires are mythology or folklore Revenant who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living. In folkloric tales, the undead vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive....
     romance     Twilight series of novels.


  • Paul Zindel
    Paul Zindel

    Paul Zindel was an American playwright, author, and educator....
     (born 1936): This Pulitzer-Prize winning American author wrote over 40 young adult novels, including The Pigman
    The Pigman

    The Pigman is a Young adult literature written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. In his autobiography, Zindel revealed that "the Pigman" is based on his grandfather....
    . His books have sold over 10 million copies and have been translated into languages all over the globe.


Edgy content

From its very beginning, young-adult fiction has portrayed teens confronting situations and social issues that have pushed the edge of then-acceptable content. Such novels and their content are sometimes referred to as "edgy."

In particular, authors and publishers have repeatedly pushed the boundaries of what was previously considered acceptable regarding human sexuality
Human sexuality

Human sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings. Human sexuality has many aspects. Biology, sexuality refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive that exists in all species and can encompass sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms....
. Examples include:
  • Paul Zindel
    Paul Zindel

    Paul Zindel was an American playwright, author, and educator....
    's     The Pigman
    The Pigman

    The Pigman is a Young adult literature written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. In his autobiography, Zindel revealed that "the Pigman" is based on his grandfather....
     (1968) (teen smoking, drinking, pranks, peer pressure)
  • Paul Zindel
    Paul Zindel

    Paul Zindel was an American playwright, author, and educator....
    's     My Darling, My Hamburger (1969) (a teen's first sexual encounter & abortion)
  • Judy Blume
    Judy Blume

    Judy Blume is a popular United States author. She has written many novels for children and teenager which have exceeded sales of 80 million. She is married with three children....
    's     Forever
    Forever (novel)

    Forever... is a 1975 in literature novel by Judy Blume dealing with teenage sexuality. Because of the novel's content it has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number eight....
     (1975) (a teen's first sexual encounter and teen pregnancy)
  • Nancy Garden
    Nancy Garden

    Nancy Garden is an United States author of children's and young adult literature....
    's     Annie on My Mind
    Annie on My Mind

    Annie On My Mind is a 1982 novel by Nancy Garden about the romantic relationship between two 17-year-old New York City girls, Annie and Liza....
     (1982) (two high-school girls who fall in love)
  • Shelley Stoehr's Crosses (1991) (self-mutilation)
  • Chris Crutcher
    Chris Crutcher

    Chris Crutcher is a contemporary American fiction writer and a family therapist....
    's     Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
    Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes

    Staying Fat For Sarah Burnes is a coming of age novel by Young adult literature author Chris Crutcher. The book was well received, including being noted by the American Library Association as a "Best Book for Young Adults" and winning the California Young Reader Medal ....
     (1993) (religion, peer pressure, child abuse, abortion, suicide)
  • Melvin Burgess
    Melvin Burgess

    Melvin Burgess is a British author of Children's literature. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk , which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting , and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of...
    's     Junk
    Junk

    Junk may refer to:* Waste, any undesired thing or substance** Scrap, recyclable waste* Junk , a sailing vessel of Chinese originSlang and lingo:...
     (US title: Smack
    Smack

    A smack is a strike, similar to a slap or spank.Smack may also refer to:* Smack , an open-source library for XMPP messaging* DJ Smack , a portuguese DJ of Progressive, Psychedelic and Electro...
     (heroin addiction)
  • Rob Thomas
    Rob Thomas (writer)

    Rob Thomas is an American author, producer, and screenwriter, best known as the author of the 1996 novel Rats Saw God and creator of the television program Veronica Mars....
    's     Rats Saw God
    Rats Saw God

    Rats Saw God is a novel written by Rob Thomas , published in 1996. It follows the main character Steve York. Steve is a high school student who has had issues with marijuana and has found himself in the counselors office....
     (1996) (drugs, sex)
  • David Belbin
    David Belbin

    David Belbin is an England author primarily of Young Adult Fiction, along with books for both younger and older readers.He was bornin Sheffield, Yorkshire and has lived in Nottingham since attending the University of Nottingham where he earned a degree in English Literature and American Studies....
    's     Love Lessons (1998) (teacher/student sexual affair)
  • Linda Glovach's Beauty Queen (1998) (teenage exotic dancing, threesomes, and heroin addiction)
  • Laurie Halse Anderson
    Laurie Halse Anderson

    Laurie Halse Anderson is a U.S. author who writes for children and Young adult literature....
    's     Speak
    Speak (novel)

    Speak is a 1999 novel by Laurie Halse Anderson about a teenager named Melinda Sordino who is raped at a party during summer vacation. It was made into a Speak in 2004....
     (1999) (rape)
  • Stephen Chbosky
    Stephen Chbosky

    Stephen Chbosky is an United States author, screenwriter, and film director best known for the coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower ....
    's     The Perks of Being a Wallflower
    The Perks of Being a Wallflower

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an epistolary novel written by American novelist Stephen Chbosky. It was published on February 1, 1999 by MTV....
     (1999) (suicide, teenage sexuality, drug use, and abusive relationships)
  • Sarah Dessen
    Sarah Dessen

    Sarah Dessen is an American writer for young adult literature, who lives and teaches in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, North Carolina.Dessen was born in Evanston, Illinois but was raised in North Carolina....
    's     Dreamland (2000) (emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive relationships)
  • Alex Flinn's Breathing Underwater (2001) (emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive relationships)
  • Alex Sanchez
    Alex Sánchez

    Alex S?nchez may refer to:*Alex Sanchez *Alex S?nchez *Alex Sanchez *Alex S?nchez *Alex Sanchez Cruz ...
    's     Rainbow Boys
    Rainbow Boys

    Rainbow Boys is the first novel in a trilogy by Alex Sanchez, focusing on the issues gay and questioning youth face as they come of age. This book is followed by Rainbow High and Rainbow Road ....
     (2001) (high school boys exploring gay sex, accepting their sexuality, and falling in love)
  • Patricia McCormick's Cut
    Cut (novel)

    Cut is a 2000 novel by Patricia McCormick , targeted at young adults. It is considered a cult classic among teens ....
     (2001) (self-mutilation)
  • Alice Hoffman
    Alice Hoffman

    Alice Hoffman is an United States novelist and Young adult literature and Children's literature, best known for her 1996 in literature novel Practical Magic , which was adapted for a 1998 in film Practical Magic....
    's     Green Angel
    Green Angel

    Green Angel is a 2003 young adult novel written by Alice Hoffman....
     (2003) (self-mutilation)
  • Angela Johnson's The First Part Last
    The First Part Last

    The First Part Last, a young adult novel by Angela Johnson , deals with the subject of teen pregnancy. The story is told from Bobby's perspective, which sets it apart from most books on teen pregnancy....
     (2003) (teen fatherhood)
  • Julie Anne Peters' Luna
    Luna (novel)

    Luna is a Young adult literature novel, by Julie Anne Peters, and was first published in 2004....
     (2004) (transsexuality)
  • Steve Berman
    Steve Berman

    This article is about the writer. For the lawyer, see Steve Berman ; for the Mayor of Gilbert, Arizona see Steven M. Berman.Steve Berman is an United States novelist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and now living in New Jersey....
    's     Vintage, A Ghost Story (2007) (depressed gay boy who deals with suicide and loneliness)


YA novels currently in print include content about peer pressure, illness, divorce, drugs, gangs, crime, violence, sexuality
Human sexuality

Human sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings. Human sexuality has many aspects. Biology, sexuality refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive that exists in all species and can encompass sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms....
, incest
Incest

Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons that is illegal or socially taboo. The type of sexual activity and the nature of the relationship between persons that constitutes a breach of law or social taboo vary with culture and jurisdiction....
, oral sex
Oral sex

Oral sex refers to Human sexual behavior involving the stimulation of the Sex organ by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on a woman while fellatio and irrumatio refer to oral sex performed on a man....
, and female/male rape
Types of rape

Rape can be categorized in different ways: for example, by reference to the situation in which it occurs, by the identity or characteristics of the victim, and/or by the identity or characteristics of the perpetrator....
. Critics of such content argue that the novels encourage destructive or immoral behavior. Others argue that fictional portrayal of teens successfully addressing difficult situations and confronting social issues helps readers deal with real-life challenges.

Debate continues regarding the amount and nature of violence and profanity appropriate in young-adult fiction.

Hyphens (young adult vs. young-adult)

Recognition of the noun young adult and its punctuation as an adjectival modifier are inconsistent. Some dictionaries recognize young adult as a noun , while others do not . When recognized (as by Random House), young adult is treated as an open compound noun, with no hyphen.

When the noun young adult is placed before another noun (such as fiction, novel, author), however, the use of a hyphen varies widely. For example, an Internet search (of the Web or of news articles) using the key words young adult fiction shows widespread inconsistency in hyphenation. Although the Chicago Manual of Style falls short of declaring the omission of the hyphen as grammatically incorrect, it clearly addresses the issue in "Compounds and Hyphenation," sections 7.82-7.86: "When such compounds precede a noun, hyphenation usually makes for easier reading. With the exception of proper nouns (such as United States) and compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective, it is never incorrect to hyphenate adjectival compounds before a noun." The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference is a little more forceful on the subject: "The most complicated business conducted by hyphens is uniting words into adjectival compounds that precede nouns. Many writers neglect to hyphenate such compounds, and the result is ramshackle sentences that often frustrate the reader." The Wikipedia Manual of Style also addresses the issue of hyphens for compound adjectives.

Although none of the sources cited above list young adult as an example, each clearly expresses a preference for hyphenating compound modifiers. With that in mind, young adult is a noun (without a hyphen) as defined by Random House. But when the noun young adult precedes another noun, it becomes a compound modifier and warrants a hyphen, as in young-adult fiction, young-adult author, young-adult novel, and so on. Especially since the sources do not declare the absence of a hyphen as grammatically incorrect, widespread inconsistencies in the punctuation of young adult are likely to continue, either out of ignorance or as conscious choice of style.

Literature

Whether any particular work of fiction qualifies as literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 can be disputed. In recent years, however, YA fiction has been increasingly treated as an object of serious study by children's literature critics
Children's literature criticism

Children's literature criticism comprises both generalist discussions of the relationship between children's literature and literary theory as well as a literary analysis of a specific work or works of children's literature....
. A growing number of young-adult-fiction awards
Young-adult-fiction awards

Young-adult-fiction awards recognize outstanding works of fiction for adolescents....
 recognize outstanding works of fiction for adolescents.

Trends

The category of YA fiction continues to expand into new forms and genres: e-books, graphic novels, manga
Manga

, , are comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after World War II, but they have a long, complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art....
, fantasy
Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of Plot , Theme , and/or Setting . Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three ....
, mystery fiction
Mystery fiction

Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term that is often used as a synonym of detective fiction — in other words a novel or short story in which a detective solves a crime....
, romance novels, even subcategories such as cyberpunk
Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low-life". The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk subculture and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983, It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coup...
, splatterpunk
Splatterpunk

Splatterpunk is a term that David Schow coined in the mid-1980s at the World Fantasy Convention in Providence, refers to a movement within horror fiction distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence and "hyperintensive horror with no limits." It is regarded as a revolt against the "traditional, meekly suggestive horror stor...
, techno-thriller
Techno-thriller

Techno-thrillers are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy Thriller s, war novels, and science fiction. They include a disproportionate amount of technical detail on its subject matter ; only science fiction tends towards a comparable level of supporting detail on the technical side....
s, contemporary Christian fiction.

Boundaries between children's, YA, and adult fiction

The distinctions between children's literature
Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres....
, YA literature, and adult literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 are often flexible and loosely defined. At the lower end of the YA age spectrum, fiction targeted to readers age 10 to 12 is referred to as middle grade fiction. Some novels originally marketed to adults have been identified as being of interest and value to adolescents and, in the case of several books such as the Harry Potter novels, vice versa.

Other publications

  • Authors and Artists for Young Adults, serial publication (Gale, 1989+) with bio-bibliographies of novelists, poets, dramatists, filmmakers, cartoonists, painters, architects, and photographers which appeal to teenagers. Entries typically are six to twelve pages in length, have a black & white photo of the author/artist and other illustrations. Recent volumes include a sidebar recommending similar books/works the reader might like also.
  • ALA Best Books for Young Adults by YALSA, edited by Holly Koelling.
  • Books for the Teen Age, annual book list selected by teens for teens, sponsored by the New York Public Library
  • , by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), professional organization for librarians serving teens in either public libraries or school library/media centers; a division of ALA.
  • Diana Tixier Herald. (2003) Teen Genreflecting. 2nd ed. Wesport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.
  • , by Cat Yampbell, The Lion and the Unicorn; Sep 2005; 29:3; Children's Module, The Johns Hopkins University Press
    Johns Hopkins University Press

    The Johns Hopkins University Press is the publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running university press in the United States....
    , pp348-372, at p350-351.
  • Frances FitzGerald, "The Influence of Anxiety" in Harper's, September 2004, p. 62-70
  • Grenby, Matthew. “Introduction.” The Guardian of Education. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 2002. ISBN 1843710110.




External links

  • "", by Mike Klaassen, Helium.com, 3 Mar 2007.
  • . A list ranked by literary honors and awards.
  • , by Lianne George, Macleans, 15 Oct 2007.


  • "", by Janet Shamlian, NBC News, 15 Aug 2005.


  • "," by Tanya Lee Stone, VOYA, Feb 2006.
  • Michel Martin interviews ALA President Loriene Roy, 19 Jul 2007.


  • "," by Tania Padgett, Newsday, 4 Apr 2006.


  • "," by Linda Shrieves, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Aug 2005.


  • "", Seattle Post Intelligencer, 7 Mar 2007.
  • , WDBJ-7, 5 May 2007.


  • "" , by Mike Klaassen, Helium.com, 21 May 2007.
  • by Erinn Hutkin, Roanoake Times, 30 Oct 2007.


  • "," by Naomi Wolf
    Naomi Wolf

    Naomi Wolf is an United States author and political consultant. With the publication of The Beauty Myth, she became a leading spokesperson of what was later described as the Third-wave feminism....
    ,     The New York Times, 12 Mar 2006.


  • "" , by Mike Klaassen, Helium.com, 1 Jan 2008.
  • by Robert Gould, a modern-day fairy tale for young adults.






See also

  • Children's literature
    Children's literature

    Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres....
  • Children's literature periodicals
    Children's literature periodicals

    Children's literature periodicals include magazines about children's literature intended for adults, such as:* Academic journals focusing on the Children's literature criticism and young adult literature...
  • Gay teen fiction
    Gay teen fiction

    Gay teen fiction may refer to:*Gay teen fiction*Lesbian teen fiction...
  • Lesbian teen fiction
    Lesbian teen fiction

    Lesbian teen fiction is a subgenre of young adult fiction and LGBT literature. Books that fall under this category include themes of romance or attraction between female teenagers, including bisexual teenagers....
  • List of young adult authors
    List of young adult authors

    This is a list of writers whose audience is predominantly teens or young adults....
  • Young Adult Library Services Association
    Young Adult Library Services Association

    The Young Adult Library Services Association , established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. The mission of YALSA is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population....