YA books aren't about coming of age
For years, traditional publishing, retailers and critics have loved to cast teen or young adult fiction as 'coming of age' or 'rites of passage' works - which is simply another way of saying these books are about growing up. I think they are missing the point - and in a deeply patronising way.
You can see this most clearly in fantasy, although it's also increasingly apparent in real world novels like The Hate U Give or The Exact Opposite of Okay, which feature young people experiencing societal dysfunction on a wretched scale.
Think of the last six fantasy novels you read - I'm betting that most of them opened with young protagonists who had one or more of the following traits:
- they had dysfunctional or missing parent(s)
- they looked after themselves or took on the parental/carer role for their families
- they were already skilful providers whether through hunting, working or thievery
The reason for this is that most young adult novels are concerned with people who are already being forced into adult roles within their own families - and now, through the course of the novel will be pushed into adult roles on a much wider scale.
Think about Bella Swan; Matt in The Subtle Knife; Izzy in The Exact Opposite of Okay; Katniss in The Hunger Games. All who have lost parents or care for their parents and have had to grow up way too fast.
There are lots of others if you think about it.
These books are not about them leaving childhood behind - they did that long ago. Their stories are about them finding and learning to use power. And before someone tells you that's a function of growing up, I'd refer to you to the millions of powerless adults in this world - and often in novels.
Characters may well experience their first love or their first loss but that's almost coincidental. Show me an adult novel that doesn't feature characters experiencing new love or new loss.
No. I think YA novels are about power. They harness the determination, energy and idealism of young people, all of which are necessary to change their world. It's rare for us to find older protagonists who have that purity, that determination to see injustices righted without already being scarred or disillusioned by time.
That's the great gift and exploration of YA fiction - that it says: what could you do if life had not yet shown you your limits? What could you achieve if you didn't yet know that you could fail?
And that's something we should all ask ourselves - or, if we feel too old for that, maybe try to remember.
You can see this most clearly in fantasy, although it's also increasingly apparent in real world novels like The Hate U Give or The Exact Opposite of Okay, which feature young people experiencing societal dysfunction on a wretched scale.
Think of the last six fantasy novels you read - I'm betting that most of them opened with young protagonists who had one or more of the following traits:
- they had dysfunctional or missing parent(s)
- they looked after themselves or took on the parental/carer role for their families
- they were already skilful providers whether through hunting, working or thievery
The reason for this is that most young adult novels are concerned with people who are already being forced into adult roles within their own families - and now, through the course of the novel will be pushed into adult roles on a much wider scale.
Think about Bella Swan; Matt in The Subtle Knife; Izzy in The Exact Opposite of Okay; Katniss in The Hunger Games. All who have lost parents or care for their parents and have had to grow up way too fast.
There are lots of others if you think about it.
These books are not about them leaving childhood behind - they did that long ago. Their stories are about them finding and learning to use power. And before someone tells you that's a function of growing up, I'd refer to you to the millions of powerless adults in this world - and often in novels.
Characters may well experience their first love or their first loss but that's almost coincidental. Show me an adult novel that doesn't feature characters experiencing new love or new loss.
No. I think YA novels are about power. They harness the determination, energy and idealism of young people, all of which are necessary to change their world. It's rare for us to find older protagonists who have that purity, that determination to see injustices righted without already being scarred or disillusioned by time.
That's the great gift and exploration of YA fiction - that it says: what could you do if life had not yet shown you your limits? What could you achieve if you didn't yet know that you could fail?
And that's something we should all ask ourselves - or, if we feel too old for that, maybe try to remember.
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K.A.
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Apr 19, 2018 11:32AM
This perspective helps me so much - thank you!
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Hurrah! I'm glad you found it useful. Do you write YA?
Louise wrote: "Hurrah! I'm glad you found it useful. Do you write YA?"Yup, and I read absolute masses of it, and have never quite understood the "coming of age distinction -- especially when it comes to a lot of recent YA MA or -NA crossovers. Lots of it seems to be more about identity and power, self-knowledge and empathy, and having a voice or making a difference.
I think 'coming of age' is outdated, based on a view of childhood which we left behind after the second world war. I think you are right - much of YA is concerned with young people expressing dissatisfaction with the world they are inheriting and the roles they are expected to play within them - and that includes lots of issues such as sexism, racism, oppression, poverty, illness... And yes, identity, and in defining oneself, coming to understand others. But I suspect that's a feature of most novels to some extent, and not restricted to YA at all.
