What Makes a Book YA? (Patreon)

This is a supplemental post I did for my YA MFA class- talking about the differences between YA, Middle Grade, New Adult and Adult fiction.

What exactly makes a book "young adult" can be a tricky sometimes. It's defined by both the age range of its target audience as well as the content aimed towards that audience.  But what exactly is it that separates a young adult novel from a middle grade or adult novel? Sometimes the lines are unclear and maybe this guide will help a bit.

Middle grade novels are aimed at an age range from 8-12. A large portion of the target audience is in middle school, hence the name. What differentiates middle grade from YA most definitively is the age of the protagonist, which tends to be 10-13, rather than the older teens. But middle grade books also don't delve into sexual situations (romance may be explored but it will be puppy love and maybe some kissing), will only feature light profanity if any at all, won't feature graphic violence and, though this isn't always the case, the narrative is usually the main character reacting to their immediate world with a focus on friendship and/or family. The average length for these books is 30,000-50,000 words (though there are exceptions!)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan is one of the most quintessentially middle grade series- it features a twelve-year-old protagonist, the writing style is very light, the romance is chaste, the initial setting is a summer camp for kids with cool powers and it has a big focus on Percy getting to know his family and making new friends.  However, don't think because a book is middle grade doesn't mean it can't be profound or touch on complex issues- Charlotte's Web is generally classified as a middle grade book these days and it deals heavily with the theme of death and loss of innocence. Middle grade books can be affecting even for adult readers.

Young adult novels, on the other hand, generally feature protagonists that are 14-18, and the target audience is 13-18, though many adults enjoy young adult novels too. The content of a young adult novel can vary based on whether it's aimed at younger or older teens, but the prose tends to be a little more complex than middle grade. They're also typically longer. Unlike middle grade, YA can feature graphic violence, profanity and sexual situations. It can even explore heavy issues like sexual assault in a very in-depth manner. The characters in YA tend to be more introspective than middle grade characters- often really exploring tricky questions about their own identity- and there can often be more of a focus figuring out one's place in larger society. YA can be almost any length, but the average length is 50,000 words to 85,000 words.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a good example of a book that's definitively older YA. The protagonist, Starr, is sixteen and the book is very focused on her figuring out her relationship to society as a young black woman. It explores both the trauma and social unrest that results from racially-based police brutality, has profanity throughout, talks about drug use, and has sexual situations and language. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray is another example- the series deals with themes like sexual abuse, self harm and drug addiction as the main character grows up and discovers the darkness in the world around her.

However, the lines between YA and Middle Grade can be blurred. Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet is an example- the first book in the series features a pre-teen protagonist and has a heavy focus on things like bullying among kids, but by the third book, Alanna has aged into a young adult, she's killed several opponents, and she's having to deal with concerns like offers of marriage from a love interest after a passionate night with him.

As mentioned before, there are a lot of adults who like the sensibilities of young adult literature, particularly the themes of exploring one's identity and emerging anew. Which has given rise to the new genre of New Adult.

New adult fiction features protagonists in the 18-30 age range. It has a lot of the themes of the young adult genre, but expands those themes to encompass adult concerns like career choices and leaving home. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers is a good example of a New Adult book because it's a "coming of age" narrative for 29-year-old PHD graduate who's trying to figure out her life after leaving university. She breaks from family expectations, comes into her own identity, and so on.

New Adult is technically a subcategory of adult fiction with a bit of YA sensibilities mixed in. Adult fiction is naturally mainly differentiated by the fact is focuses on and is aimed towards adults. In the rare adult novel that focuses on a younger character (like with Stephen King's The Body), the narrator will generally be an older and wiser adult reflecting on their youth. For most adult fiction, there's not really an emphasis on coming-of-age narratives, the characters are less likely to be forming their identities, the protagonist can be a gruff sixty-year-old and the story can even focus on something like the struggles of old age.

Though YA can have dark themes, adult books can go even darker. A big example is The A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin, which has graphic violence you're unlikely to see even in the darkest of YA. You're also unlikely to see a YA book with a detached or super academic narrative voice (as YA tends to be very emotionally driven). And while YA can have sex scenes, you're unlikely to see anything marketed as erotic, but that's a big genre in adult fiction, which can get way more intense in its sexual content. Adult fiction is also where you'll find the 1,000 page behemoths- you're unlikely to ever see a YA book that long.

As with any genre or demographic, there's some crossover, but it's important to know what the general expectations are. I hope this guide provided a little clarity!

(Sidenote for Patrons: Looking through all the other covers and then going to the Game of Thrones one is such an experience...like, could that cover be more unappealing and boring? I'm glad adult fiction has started trying to do nice-looking covers again).