To Start, What is YA Fiction?
To me, YA fiction is a book that has a teenager as the protagonist and that teenager has to deal with certain ideas and conflicts that arise. These ideas and conflicts are not always unique to just teenagers, which is why adults can enjoy these literary works as well.
Examples of YA Fiction
Some of my favorite YA novels are:
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- The Selection by Kiera Cass
- Die For Me by Amy Plum
Why Anyone Can Read YA Fiction
Relate to the characters
In YA fiction, the characters are written in a way where everyone can relate to them. You feel what they feel and go through the experiences with them. We have all been teenagers and have experienced the hurt after a fight with a friend, the butterflies and swooning during your first kiss, and the desire to change the world.
Even if you are reading a story about someone who has been chosen to save the world, there is a characteristic of the character that makes you able to relate to them.
Escape from reality
No matter what you are going through, picking up a book and getting lost in its pages can be a great way to relax. The act of reading YA allows you to think about someone else’s problems and forget about your own. It allows your mind to wander. It can be argued that you are more equipped to tackle an issue after a reading break because you have given yourself some time to unwind and have allowed your mind to think about the issue in a different way.
New worlds to explore
If you are anything like me, you have been swept up by the pages of a great YA book and thrown into the universe the author has created. There is so much creativity and the worlds the authors have created are absolutely stunning and mind-blowing. These worlds introduce unique topics and circumstances to us that really make us stop and think.
For example, in The Hunger Games, could you even imagine living in a world where there are games that are televised where children fight to the death? It’s a crazy topic, but it is intriguing and makes you want to continue reading to see how a world like that could survive and what it would look like.
Vast Topics
One of the greatest things about YA is that no topics are off limits. Some authors tackle difficult topics such as suicide, mental health, death, and drug use. Other authors may write about what it is like navigating through high-school or how to figure out who you are meant to be. YA is so great because it is full of different topics with so many different perspectives.
Have I convinced you to pick up a YA novel? Or have you always been a YA fan? What do you enjoy reading? Let me know in the comments!