My friend Cassi and I were talking recently about HIGH SCHOOL and how when we were there we both knew that it definitely wasn't "the best times of our lives", and how we knew there was so much better to come once we could finally get out of there.....
So at that point we looked at each other and were like:
Why Read YA??
It got me to thinking why exactly do I read almost exclusively Contemporary Young Adult books when most of them are set in high schools? Isn't that sort of odd given that I didn't really love my own high school experience?
I don't want to over-exaggerate I didn't have it bad in high school. I had friends and sure, I had some fun. But mostly, I had to go out of my way to make my own fun because the rebel inside of me wanted more than what I was being offered. I also have quite a few bad memories of high school. Girls being mean, boys being immature and heart-breaky, teachers not giving a shit, and me not knowing who the hell I was.
So why do I want to go back there when I'm escaping in a book?
1. I like the flow and feel of YA
- There's just something about the way typical YA is written that hooks me. Yes it's about high school, and sometimes YES I am reminded of things I'd rather not think about.... but mostly I get so into the characters and the plot that I'm not thinking about myself very much.
2. Maybe the pain is good??
- The most emotional reading moments for me are the moments when the character makes me feel understood. When something happens in the book that reminds me of something that happened to me or some feeling that I have had.... and I instantly feel this overwhelming sense that I'm not alone in this world. That those insecurities that I've had or that mistake that I made.... well, other people have and make them too.
3. Even though I hated high school, I still like reading about those formative years.
- It's so interesting to me to read about those years where things just MATTER so damn much. Things that happen to us as teens really have a big impact on making us who we are. I'm not saying people "figure out who they are" during those years because let's be honest, I'm still trying to figure it out, but I think those years are formative and important.
4. YA IS SO FUCKING COOL!!
- I look at Adult books sometimes when I'm at the bookstore and library and I get SO bored. Adult books just seem SO rigid. There's the Murder Mystery Detective books, the Sci-Fi, the Cozy Mysteries, the Romance. It all feels very formulatic. I'm not saying there's not those creative books in Adult, but I'm saying that YA books are about so much. Maybe I'm off on this, but the subjects and the way the stories are told in YA just feel a lot more free-er to be unique than Adult.
5. Adulting isn't very fun :(
- I really like my life, but UGHH working and being responsible for another human life, and bills, and animals, and marriage, and the harshness of the "real world"-- it really makes me want to escape. The last thing I want to read about is someone who has all those same responsibilities. I just don't wanna.
Let's Talk:
If you read and love YA, but didn't love your own high school experience-- why do you think that is?? Isn't it kind of odd that we would revisit those years time and time again when we really didn't love it ourselves????? What do you think about this?
What a great post!!! I love reading YA too. I love those years and all that goes on and how much growth can happen. They are also usually quicker to read which is a plus for me. High school was ok for me nothing crazy bad or good. I read adult books though too. I like women's fiction a lot I think because I can relate to the wife/mother aspects. Again great discussion!!
ReplyDeleteIt's weird because I probably SHOULD like reading about a character that's a wife/mother... but I just don't! I guess I just want more of an escape from my life rather than reading a book that reminds me of daily things. I totally agree though, YA years definitely has A LOT going on. Maybe that's why it's so interesting to me. Those characters have a life wide open.
DeleteYES! Totally agree. I didn't really enjoy high school because I definitely thought there was better days to come but I love reading YA. I totally agree on the flow and about how it was such formative years. I feel like reading about teens figuring the world out and their place in it is just so compelling. And even though I read mostly genre fiction I think the best fantasy, historical fiction, and science fiction also have that aspect of plot and character development. Great post!
ReplyDeleteCassi @ My Thoughts Literally
Agreed-- that time of life is all about figuring out their place in the world (even though I STILL haven't figured that shit out LOL). But maybe that's why I'm so drawn to it??? IDK, but thanks for giving me the idea for this :)
DeleteI've had that question thrown my way a time or two since I have a daughter IN high school. But I read YA for the same reasons that you do. The flow of the writing, all of the firsts (love, crush, etc..) and teenagers feel things a lot more strongly than adults do. Reading YA is just a lot of fun and it makes me all nostalgic because while I don't miss being in high school, I did have a good high school experience and it's good to reminisce every so often.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
I do like reading about all the firsts as well. And I definitely don't reminisce too much about HS, but I know I do imagine what I would have changed. That's really cool that you read YA and have a YA-er at home :)
DeleteThat's a great question, and I agree with your answers, especially #1. I think in a lot of the YA books I've read they don't actually spend that much time in school, you know? Maybe it's just the ones I'm reading, but even if they're high schoolers they're usually on the run or being chased by clones or something lol. I think if it was all high school angst and stuff I probably wouldn't be as interested? I also think coming of age is such a universal thing we all relate to, even if ours was problematic it's something that draws a lot of us. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is, and this may just be a weird "me" thing, but I've noticed I age up the YA characters. Like the book I just read- Replica- the protag is sixteen and in high school but I didn't see her as sixteen- I think I thought of her as like twenty or something. So when it was mentioned that she was sixteen at one point it was almost jarring. So maybe I'm sort of compensating for the young age by aging them up?
And... sorry this is long... I like how YA flows too. I think if adult contemps or fantasy or whatever had more of a YA type flow they'd be better. I'd like to see more protags in their twenties in fantasy or whatever, but a lot of the fun stuff seems to be happening in YA. And everything is so REAL as a teen, to your third point. I think that's big too.
I've tried to read adult books, and I don't know what it is about them, I can't get into them. Maybe I'm picking the wrong ones, I don't know. I love YA. There's just something so innocent about it, and I agree with everything you said about it. I didn't have an awful time in high school, but I don't think I was true to who I really was. I was a bit of a follower, I would say. Not in a bad way, but more in a way that I hid my nerdy self. And maybe that's partly why I enjoy YA so much. You get to experience the characters discovery of who they are, and that's not really something I got to do as a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI was probably a bit of a follower too. I mean I was super rebellious, but I didn't KNOW myself that well and tended to let other people tell me what was cool and not. And I definitely hid my nerdy self!!! That's a great thought though... maybe I read YA as well because I like how the characters grow and find themselves in ways that I never did.
DeleteI love YA, but no lie, I have been struggling with it lately. Especially contemporaries...
ReplyDeleteNereyda│ Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist
Romantic Contemporaries have always kind of given me problems. But I'm sure there will come a time where I get bored of YA and want to branch out a bit!
DeleteI wasn't a fan of HS either, but I love YA! I think what I love most about it is that the genre is just poppin right now. YA is where the most diverse, unique, and imaginative stories are right now. I love that. Great post!
ReplyDeleteSAME. YA is so creative and I just feel like Adult books are so pigeon holed.
DeleteOh god, I hated high school too! But I love YA. I think that it's mainly because I read for entertainment and just quick excitement, and thats mostly YA (not so much adult literature). But I also like reading about, I don't know, someone elses experience since mine sucked? Even though it's fictional. That doesn't even make sense haha
ReplyDeleteMolly @ Molly's Book Nook
That makes total sense. I'm starting to think I read it so I can imagine my HS life as different... or imagine all the ways I would change it. But I probably wouldn't change mine to be like the character's lives in the books I read bc I mostly read about people going through some really HARD stuff.
DeleteThis is a great question! High school was, without a doubt, the worst period of my life. I think I agree with your main points and add that I still can relate to YA more. It might be different once I'm out of college and working but as of right now I still relate more to young adults than adults at 21 xD
ReplyDeleteYA is just so good, so much to read, so much to learn, so much to see. It's just awesome!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this! I agree with you so much, I read YA because of a lot of the same reasons. I didn't hate high school- actually, fine, I loved it- but there were PARTS of it that I wish had been different, and I do enjoy reading about it. Of course, I generally read more non-contemporary YA so maybe that is a part of it too, but I am 100% with you about it being less rigid and more creative. I also think the responsibilities thing plays a HUGE part- like, the MC can do things that we could not- we can't like, ditch our kids to go be the Mockingjay or whatever haha, and I think that the whole "endless possibilities" thing is HUGE. (Also, I find the look/synopses of most adult books boring too, so I feel you!) Great post!
ReplyDeleteUgh, high school. I didn't hate it but it definitely wasn't hte best time of my life either. Adulting IS hard and sometimes it's fun to become a different person. I'm one of those people who don't really read contemps (I'm a fantasy girl), so I typically imagine the YA characters older in my head.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with all your reasons but especially the flow and feel of YA -- something is so refreshing to read about that time period even as an adult. There's always this thread of anticipation, which I love. Great post! ♥
ReplyDeleteOhh, my time is school was not so good. I am so glad it's over, tbh! I was bullied in Middle School so when I went to High School I had my guard up and when someone was mean to me I just already knew how to read people and I had no problem to tell someone their word means nothing to me and what was lame about them. I even got into physical finght more then few times during my first year of highschool, to defend myself (I should mention that I fighted only boys, so that speaks about them more then about me), so they left me alone, I had two friends and rich social life with people who did not go to my school. Most of them were older (and polite).
ReplyDeleteBut I love reading contemporary ya now when I'm adult, I think that's because I like to experience highschool in a way I had no chance to experience when I was high schooler.
And also because I am from Europe, and our school system is totally different from American, so I like to read about american schools because it's like a whole new world. I also really like watching movies set in highschool, and one of the best things about those kind of movies is music.