There’s an odd juxtaposition between the world of YA literature pre-JK Rowling and everything that has come after.Harry Potter truly broke down the gates, allowing novels for teens to expand both in length and subject matter. Topics that were once taboo suddenly became commonplace, and themes once deemed too adult were now on the page for every reader who wanted to explore them.

And yet…

Recently I yanked down a number of old battered paperbacks by an old favorite of mine: Christopher Pike. H...