Before focusing on the novels of MT Anderson, this article makes a very valid point about teen reading.  Don’t underestimate it.

Now, the title to my blog post is slightly skewed as what Anderson is pointing out is the intelligence of teenagers and how they don’t need separate books whereas I’m saying don’t underestimate the genre.  But I think the two go hand in hand, you think?

Do not underestimate teens.  I think that’s the crux of the argument and the rest is just details.  No, they haven’t lived as long as you and no, they don’t have the worldly experiences you do but that doesn’t mean they need their works stripped down to simplicity to understand.  Do I think teens need their own book category just for them?  No.  I read Interview with the Vampire (please don’t sue me) when I was 11.  I also knew how to mummify a corpse when I was ten.  So no, it’s not necessary.

But not every teen is an advanced reader and if we didn’t have that middle ground between middle grade and adult, kids would be going from Goosebumps to Stephen King.  Some do not have that kind of reading capacity.  Others do.  That’s also not to say YA is for the slower readers.  Bite me if you think that.  The majority of my TBR pile is YA.  It fits my patience level.  But it provides a stepping stone.  For those that run screaming from a novel that’s 600 pages in an 8 point font with a 3 millimeter margin (me), there’s the equally stimulating but much fat-trimmed YA.

So, I ask again, do teens in general need their own category of books?  No.  But the pre-teens do.  As do the teens that just don’t want to read mainstream adult fiction.  Or the adults with the short attention spans that enjoy reading without the pomp and meandering.  It’s like taking a stair or two out of your staircase.  It’s still manageable walking up and I’m sure a lot of people could do it, but there are those that can’t, or those that simply don’t want to.  YA is a stepping stone.  While all teens don’t read it, many (and many younger readers, and older) do so I don’t think it’s an obsolete category.

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