Week 13 Prompt Response

As someone who mostly reads comics, manga, and young adult novels, the topic of young adult novels remaining accessible to adults is important to me. While there are many adults who read young adult novels, many adults view these novels as being for teens only. It is interesting that many people have this opinion, and it is important to understand why they think this way. What are the differences between young adult and adult novels? In my experience, the difference is actually very slight.

Genres: Both adult and young adult books can be written in any genre category.

Length: Both adult and young adult books can range from novellas to epics.

Reading level: This is debatable. While there are young adult books written for a lower reading level, there are also many others that have the same complexity of vocabulary as adult novels.

This leaves "content" to be the last category for which I will compare adult and young adult books. There are differences in content, and I feel that the biggest differences are:

Adult novels can be "R-rated" while young adult novels tend to remain "PG-13"

Young adult novels tend to feature younger protagonists.

These are the two ways in which these two groups of books differ the most. Now, are these differences enough justification to tell an adult that they should not read young adult books? In my opinion, no. Adults should not limit themselves to R-rated movies, and they should not limit themselves to books that contain adult subject matter either. It is fine to enjoy these books or movies, but it is unreasonable to avoid a story that does not have sex, drugs, and gore. This leaves the difference in the ages of protagonists. The argument against young adult novels would be "Readers should read books that have a relatable protagonist in the eyes of the reader". While some readers may enjoy stories which have a protagonist that is similar to themselves, other readers may actually enjoy seeing a story through a different perspective. It is a wonderful challenge to place yourself in the position of someone that has a very different background than your own.

If adults want to read young adult novels, they should be free to do so without judgment. Young adult books contain fantastic stories that exercise the imagination, perhaps even more so than adult novels. As librarians, we should keep in mind that young adult novels are a valid option for adults looking to find a new story to read. There are wonderful young adult options available in any genre.