This is the golden age of young adult literature. Or, to put it another way, young adults have never had it so good.
A generation ago, reading choices were limited to Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary and a few others, together with a selection of classic novels old-school teachers considered safe for young and impressionable minds. The target audience was young adults approximately 12 to 18.
Those days are gone. Authors now write for a group including ages from 10 to 25. These authors meet their audience where they are at, living in a world where they deal with important choices daily, including decisions concerning sexuality and drugs and discussion of big topics such as the environment, religious conflict and the changing world.
Teenreads.com has put together an Ultimate Teen Reading List with more than 300 titles of books compilers describe as “perfect choices for reading and discussing.” Some, like George Orwell’s “1984” and J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” are classic, but many more are titles culled from the growing wave of recent books aimed at the young adult reader.
Great River Regional Library (GRRL) has a Teen Fiction list in its New, Best & Fun listings available at the library catalog page, to help you find teen books newly arrived at the library.
And for those with a serious or professional interest in teen reading, the Young Adult Library Services Association just launched a Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. The first issue of this online journal includes scholarly articles on engaging youth of color in the library, sexuality in teen literature, and part 1, introduction and methodology, of “A study of differences in interest and comprehension based on reading modalities.”
If you are a young adult reader, use library resources and talk to library staff to find your next great book to read.