Malinda Lo
Blog
Jun 22, 2011
A message to my adult readers
Every so often I get an email message in which a reader apologizes for reading my novels because they’re adults, and they think my books are only for teenagers. “I know I’m out of your target demographic,” they say, or “I’m not really the desired audience for your books.”
Adult readers
But I want to assure you, adult readers, that yes you are indeed part of my desired audience! That’s not to say that my books aren’t also for teens and some sophisticated children. They are! But don’t be misled by the fact that my books are categorized as “young adult” in the bookstore and in libraries.
The “young adult” classification only means that my publisher is primarily targeting those age groups in its marketing efforts — it does not mean that the only readers who are allowed to read my books must be between 12 and 18.1
Let me put it this way. Do you watch Glee? Or, perhaps more relevant for my novels, did you watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Those two TV shows are the televisual equivalent of YA. John Hughes movies, every single blockbuster summer comic book movie, even Star Wars (at least Episode IV, the original) could be thought of as YA-ish in feel. And when those media properties are novelized, guess where they’re often categorized? Young adult.
I think that sometimes adult readers feel a little embarrassed about reading a YA novel because they think that YA novels are, you know, less complicated than adult ones. So, if someone catches you reading a YA novel, they might think you’re a bit immature and can’t grasp the complexities of adulthood. You know how we all tend to judge people based on what they’re reading. If you’re trying to look impressive to your date, you’d probably bring War and Peace or some super highfaluting literary novel, not Teen Witch 3: Revenge of the Goth Girls. (I made that title up, although now I kinda want to read it!)
But you know what? The idea that YA is somehow dumbed down literature is a big fat lie. Children’s and YA books can be every bit as sophisticated and beautifully written and engaging and complex as adult novels. (Not all of them, of course — YA has its less-well-executed books just like adult fiction.)
In fact, I think that YA is really just another marketing category like romance, science fiction, mystery, or literary fiction. Every category of fiction has specific myths and stigmas attached to it. E.g., all romance readers are housewives; all sci-fi readers are nerdy men. If you buy into these stereotypes, that only serves to narrow your reading choices. So I advise you to forget about the stereotypes associated with YA or any other category of fiction, and choose what you want to read based on whether the story appeals to you. That’s really the only thing that’s important when you’re choosing a book.
And in case you’re still unconvinced my books are for you, let me tell you a secret.2 I wrote Ash for myself — when I was in my early thirties, not when I was a teen — and I fully believed it was an adult novel until it came time to sell it. Then I realized that it fit better into the YA market, because there really is a long tradition of retold fairy tales published as children’s and young adult novels.
When my publisher bought the book, they asked me to make the main character younger, but just by lowering her age, not by changing anything about her. In my original manuscript, Ash was in her early twenties at the end of the book. So I did what they asked — in the published version, Ash is about 18 at the end. But you know what? Nobody else’s ages really changed. Sidhean stayed the same (really old!). And Kaisa stayed the same; I just omitted any mention of her age at all. Originally, she was in her late twenties; now she’s just sorta … older. Now that Ash is 18, Kaisa’s maybe 10 years older. If it helps, feel free to think of Ash as an adult. I do.
Last but not least, I think many of my adult readers are lesbians and bisexual women who have found my books because they were looking for novels about women like them. A lot of you write to say that you wish you’d had a book like Ash when you were a teen, and I’m very honored to hear that. Also, I get it, because I wish I’d had a book like that, too.
You, especially, don’t need to apologize to me for reading my books. There is no better audience for my book than lesbians and bisexual women, of any age. You are absolutely my perfect audience. Thank you for reading my books.
- Don’t take my word for it. Read this recent article in Library Journal that has facts to back it up! [↩]
- OK, not a secret anymore. [↩]
I love YA books and they make up the largest part of what I read. I don’t think anyone should apologize for that. One of the things that I love about YA books is that they very frequently involve stories of personal self-discovery that tend to be somewhat more unfettered than those kinds of stories when they are categorized as “adult.” I haven’t read Huntress yet, but Ash definitely fits into that category. It’s a common thread that I really enjoy reading and that allows me the freedom to think about and relate my own personal path of self-discovery, too.
Thanks, it’s a necessary thing to be said sometimes!
Thank you for this post! You’re 100% right–all the stigmas about “who reads what” only serve to narrow our enjoyment and experience reading. I know that for me, as a full-fledged “adult” there is a part of me that’s still seventeen, and young adult books speak to that part of me. The part that’s seventy gets really into other stuff (and my real age leans toward cookbooks for some reason…). I’m learning not to apologize for what I read and enjoy!
Exactly this. Yes.
I never understand it when people talk about how they are afraid of looking like creepers when they look for books in the YA section of the bookstore…there are so many, many books by their marketing designated for children or teens that are perfect for readers of any age. I love this post, and I so hope that adults will read my own book when that time comes, just so I can point them toward this post!
Yes! Young Adults/teens really want all the same things that adults do: love, friendship, meaningful work, interesting things to do and think about, a sense of purpose in life…so I’ve never understood why literature marketed to teens (with the caveats you mention about less-well-executed books of all genres) shouldn’t appeal to adults just as well.
I still love kids books and loads of Disney films. =) I read YA but mostly 9-12 books. LOVE Ash! =D
As children grow into adulthood earlier these days, the YA genre has changed dramatically. Thanks for posting this.
Ann
Interesting. I find that when people reach college years, many stop caring about how mature their interests are in perception to others and just enjoy them (There’s this webcomic about Pokemon with that theme but I can’t recall where I found it).
“YA books is that they very frequently involve stories of personal self-discovery that tend to be somewhat more unfettered than those kinds of stories when they are categorized as “adult.””
–> I love this too!
You rock, Rowenna! I love cookbooks, too.
People feel like they’re creepers when they’re in the YA section? That’s too bad, because those are the ones who definitely aren’t being creepy.
Thank you!
Many do that, yes. Not all though.
I have actually been *treated* like a creeper for going to the YA section. I no longer shop at that bookstore.
Great post to inform everyone that anyone can read YA. Huntress is next up in my to-be-read pile! I just have about a hundred pages left of Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta.
Excellent article. My reading has gone inverse. As a kid and YA I read mostly “adult” novels, particularly gruesome, scary ones, though not much King. After going back to school at age 24, my Children’s Lit professor changed the course of my reading. She brought back my love of YA fiction with a vengeance and in the 13 years since, that is primarily what I read. And what’s more, I don’t care what people think. Of course, most of my friends (who live in my computer) are huge YA fans as well. My hubby also reads most of the YA books that I read as well and it has led to some wonderful discussions. I am in the process of writing my first novel, a YA, and I am simply writing something that *I* would want to read.
Thank you for this fab message. I love YA fiction, but I find that people sometimes don’t get it. I’m an English teacher, so I’m ‘supposed’ to only like Austen and Dickens. It’s cool to be able to discuss books with my students, though – and to swap them with my 12 year old daughter (who loved Ash, by the way).
Fantastic post and so true.
<3 Gina Blechman
I, too, have experienced the Creeper Phenomenon when shopping in the YA section.
Somehow this makes e-readers appeal to a great many individuals, no? Because no one can tell what you’re reading, be it bodice-busting Harlequin romance, 101 Housekeeping Tips, YA fantasy, or the Kama Sutra… no one can tell!