Rated YA-MA discussion

So... what are you favorite YA books published long before YA was an established fiction category? My nominations:

Lord of the Flies
The Catcher in the Rye

Add your favorites!

Hmm when was "YA" established...

This is an intriguing question. I went to a really small highschool and never read half of the books that most schools would consider required reading (I now feel gypped over this) so I have never read Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies. The only one I can think of off the top of my head that might qualify as "pre-ya YA" would be The Rapture of Canaan.

Anne of Green Gables!
Little Women!
The Little House books (I read all of these in a week).
The Outsiders

I also remember loving the Robert Cormier books (The Chocolate War and I Am the Cheese) as well as pretty much everything Judy Blume ever wrote. Though, would that be when YA was already a thing?

Casey wrote: "Hmm when was "YA" established..."

Going by today's standards of YA fiction, a good cut-off date for "YA before it was an established fiction category" would be anything published before 1967. That's when the genre really started gaining popularity, and began getting its own section in libraries.

The Outsiders is considered to be the book that started the current YA movement, so it's often used as a milestone.

Hhhmmm, I'm with Casey... when was YA established? If I can put on my history professor hat for a second (pulls out geek flag to fly)... the social construction of the "teenager" as a demographic came about at the end of WWII and during the consumerism of the 1950s. So would that mean books published before then? I think Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys were definitely directed at a "YA" type audience.

But!!! I like the idea of listing the YA books that I read when I was actually a YA, lol. Fear Street, the original LJ Smith Vampire Diaries, Where the Red Fern Grows (probably more middle grade but sooo many feels!), etc.

Did anyone else read the Lurlene McDaniel books about the teenagers dying from chronic illnesses? I had a love-hate relationship with those... the romance was sweet but I went through middle school thinking I had cystic fibrosis, cancer, liver disease, or a secret heart transplant no one had told me about 0.0

Well when I was a kid three was a Young Adult classification at the bookstore, but the books shelved there would now be shelved in the 'early reader' section. That's where you find Nancy Drew these days.

So while YA was always a classification I think the question more has to do with books that were shelved as adult back then, but are now found in the YA section. Like Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Outsiders, Flowers in the Attic, books like that.

Or at least, that's how I understood the question.

Yeah the forward trend of presenting mature themes in ya fiction was around when I was a kid, but it's gotten worse I think. Although I'm still amazed at some of the stuff in those VC Andrews books, and that was in the early 90s. My mom wouldn't let me read them but I smuggled them from my cousins and now wish I had listened to my mom.

I loved Anne of Green Gables and The Borrowers and Roald Dahl. So many good ones.

lol, Flowers in the Attic were definitely in the Adult Horror section when I was a kid. (I'm 34.) I remember going there to scout them out with the Dean Koontz and John Saul, lol. My mom let me read them though. She really didn't censor my reading much.

Now though, they're definitely in the YA section with their pretty new covers, ha.

The YA section for me as a kid was Babysitters club, Nancy Drew Files, Sweet Valley High, RL Stein and Christopher Pike. I think the deep books were Lurlene McDaniels and classics like Red Fern and Black Stallion, lol.

There were no books like Speak and the like. At least not that i remember.

Wendy F wrote: "lol, Flowers in the Attic were definitely in the Adult Horror section when I was a kid. (I'm 34.) I remember going there to scout them out with the Dean Koontz and John Saul, lol. My mom let me ..."

Flowers in the Attic was super creepy, but nothing was quite as bad as My Sweet Audrina. I still think about that book 20 years later, probably because my innocence died a little at the hands of those books haha.

Black Stallion! Yes! Although I only read those until I discovered The Saddle Club, which was way more my speed. I loved Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew too. I guess those would all be considered middle grade now? I don't even know what to let my 11-year-old read. The teen section at the library freaks me out for him to explore.

Like many of you, the YA section in stores when I was a YA was mostly what would be in the children's/middle grade section today. So I read YA in elementary school, which consisted of stuff like Babysitter's Club, Nancy Drew, Newberry Award winners, etc. And in junior high we started reading adult books and classics. For literature class in 6th-8th we had to read stuff like Lonesome Dove and Rebecca. That is probably part of the reason I like YA now.

I don't really consider stuff like Catcher in the Rye YA because to me those are just classics that have no age classification. I think it's freaking weird when I see books like Jane Eyre in the YA section.

omg Baby-Sitters Club. My friends and I were obsessed! I had a BSC themed birthday party where everyone came dressed as their favorite club member. There were ten Clauadias there, haha. But she was pretty BAMF so I couldn't blame anyone.

Rachel wrote: "omg Baby-Sitters Club. My friends and I were obsessed! I had a BSC themed birthday party where everyone came dressed as their favorite club member. There were ten Clauadias there, haha. But she..."

lmao @ the ten claudias, but I agree, she was totally the best! I could never figure out what 'almond shaped eyes' meant but I knew I wanted some.

I was obsessed with anything Caroline B. Cooney. Steady diet of her, anything Fear Street by Stine, Sweet Valley High: Senior Year (I also read the Junior High books). Basically any mindless, trade paperback I could get my hands on! LOL I still did read things like The Outsiders and Lord of the Flies though (on my own, cause I was on English fast track, but they picked the most bizarre books for us to read). I also didn't read To Kill a Mockingbird in school, but on my own! :)

Kira wrote: "Rachel wrote: "omg Baby-Sitters Club. My friends and I were obsessed! I had a BSC themed birthday party where everyone came dressed as their favorite club member. There were ten Clauadias there,..."

I'm assuming you remember those BSC Eighth Grade Books, where Claudia and Stacy stop being friends, Claudia starts dating Alan Gray and the girls FINALLY graduate from middle school! LOL :D

Anna (Gatsby's Girl) wrote: "Kira wrote: "Rachel wrote: "omg Baby-Sitters Club. My friends and I were obsessed! I had a BSC themed birthday party where everyone came dressed as their favorite club member. There were ten Cla..."

Shut your mouth! Claudia and Stacy broke up?!

Lol @ at the almond-shaped eyes! I tried hiding candy in my room like she did and we got ants in our house as a result... lol

A Wrinkle in Time and Island of the Blue Dolphins for me also The Summer of My German Soldier come to mind. I'm not sure if those are YA today or Middle Grade but I Loved them. I was into the whole VC Andrews series and other adult type of horror like Stephen King and John Saul but I know they were geared for older readers.

Diane wrote: "A Wrinkle in Time and Island of the Blue Dolphins for me also The Summer of My German Soldier come to mind. I'm not sure if those are YA today or Middle Grade but I Loved them. I was into the whole..."

Yup on Wrinkle In Time! :) More YA than kid's definitely (can be read by both though). Love those books!

Rachel wrote: "Anna (Gatsby's Girl) wrote: "Kira wrote: "Rachel wrote: "omg Baby-Sitters Club. My friends and I were obsessed! I had a BSC themed birthday party where everyone came dressed as their favorite clu..."

Here's a link to the series page, so you can see the awesome early 2000s-ness of the covers/storylines! :p

http://www.goodreads.com/series/41893...

wow, BSC...I saw a bunch of these in our library the other day...it was like a walk down memory lane

Kira wrote: "Wendy F wrote: "lol, Flowers in the Attic were definitely in the Adult Horror section when I was a kid. (I'm 34.) I remember going there to scout them out with the Dean Koontz and John Saul, lol...."

Oh man!!! I didn't think anyone would have read Saddle Club! I loved those books!

what was the gymastics one...there was the one about the girl who broke her leg skiing...was it just called The Gymasts club?

Not sure when YA was established, but aside from the occasional Newberry award-winning novel I mostly read series. BSC was a favourite. I recently bought a graphic novel of for nostalgia's sake. I read Goosebumps, Fear Street, Sweet Valley Kids, Twins and the Unicorn Club. I never made it to SVH and SVU because I discovered my aunt's collection of trashy romance novels then. I also loved (Extreme Zone), Animorphs, Sweet Dreams and Love Stories for Young Adults. I still have my copy of .

I graduated from SVT and SVH (which was so 80s to me and I read it in the 90s back in high school) to Sidney Sheldon :D

My standing favorite Sweet Dreams Love Stories book is still and my fave Christopher Pike is which I still think about when I'm driving by myself at night.

Rachel your Lurlene McDaniel recollection reminds me of how I used to pretend I was a secret princess, my parents are king and queen of a hidden country and we were undercover middle class because our wealth is a threat to democracy. Yeah, I loved my Disney movies :D

Road to nowhere is a good one! I liked that one too. I actually also loved and .

I read just about every possible YA series growing up. I had every BSC book, Sweet Valley High and Twins (I think SVT was the name of the middle-school series?), a series called Girl Talk, the Sunset Island series about besties who were au pairs for families every summer, Freshman Dorm, any Christopher Pike book, Caroline B. Cooney books (Face on the Milk Carton was her biggest I believe), Lurlene McDaniel, and even book transcriptions of things like My So-Called Life (a show I adored). I read a lot of good books in school, but in 7th grade I read The Outsiders and was introduced to Lois Duncan. I got really into both authors and remember getting huge stacks by both authors that year for Christmas. Loved Lois Duncan, and I think my favorites of hers were The Third Eye and The Stranger With My Face. By high school I had started borrowing more racy books off my Mom's shelves, but I always think fondly of my old books. I think I still have them all packed away in my basement!

Wendy F wrote: "Road to nowhere is a good one! I liked that one too. I actually also loved and ."

I read both of those! Loved them :D I can't remember if its Pike's or Stine's but there's one about a guy whose hand got stuck in a meat grinder. I liked that one too :)

Ash Wednesday wrote: "Wendy F wrote: "Road to nowhere is a good one! I liked that one too. I actually also loved and ."

I read both of those! Loved them :D..."


Wendy, in my opinion the Remember Me Trilogy were his best work - other than the Last Vampire books. Best existential vampire series EVER for teens! :) Oh God, I was absolutely obsessed with Fear Street and read EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. My faves I can't even list. Far too numerous!

Amanda wrote: "I read just about every possible YA series growing up. I had every BSC book, Sweet Valley High and Twins (I think SVT was the name of the middle-school series?), a series called Girl Talk, the Suns..."

Lois Duncan was another obsession of mine too! :) was my favorite, along with

OMG!!! Teen Love Stories!!! I checked those out of the library like a broken record! :o My favorite ones (ones I read the most times):

......and wow, almost all of those were written by Rachel Hawthorne. That list was unconsciously drawn up. Slightly spooky! :p And speaking of trashy romances, don't re-read your favorites as an adult. I'll never look at the same way again. SO RACIST. And sexist. :(

I read Lois Duncan, too.
I also read some of those gymnastics books, Dee, but I can't remember what they were called either.

Anna (Gatsby's Girl) wrote: "Wendy, in my opinion the Remember Me Trilogy..."

I actually only read the very first one. I'll have to go back and check out the others.

ah ha!!
The Gynmasts series by Elizabeth Levy - http://www.goodreads.com/series/56979...

Bahaha, yeah that's the one.

Maybe one month we could do a "Retro YA" group read? It would be kind of fun to revisit some of these books in light of what the YA genre looks like now. We would just have to watch out for any middle-grade sneaking in, lol.

Thinking about it and looking at what people are posting, it seems that the early YA were mostly about the relationships (friendship, dating or family) of high schoolers. Its almost as if it went from being a genre to an age classification with all the genres.

When I was in high school I read mostly adult sci-fi and fantasy because there weren't many ya sci-fi and fantasy but now they are everywhere.

Anna wrote: "Thinking about it and looking at what people are posting, it seems that the early YA were mostly about the relationships (friendship, dating or family) of high schoolers. Its almost as if it went ..."

That's a really good point! :) Lots of YA books with relationships - either that or horror/thrillers! LOL

Ooh. A Retro YA group read is a great idea, Rachel!

Or a group challenge- we could pick 6 from a retro list to read that quarter or season. That way you could revisit an old fave or experience someone else's old fave.

the brothers Grimm, Alice in wonderland, peter pan, Aesop s fables

I'd considered doing a classic YA group read month, but wasn't sure if we'd get enough readers for it. If we have enough interest, I might go for it.

I read the shit out of those Sleepover Friends books.

Anyone else read The Magic Attic books? I wanted the dolls so bad, they were similar to American Girls but with time travel/learn a lesson in someone else's shoes as a major theme! :) I loved them!

Wendy F wrote: "lol, Flowers in the Attic were definitely in the Adult Horror section when I was a kid. (I'm 34.) I remember going there to scout them out with the Dean Koontz and John Saul, lol. My mom let me ..."

Ahhhh love all of those!

Though I was reading BSC and SVH and Goosebumps first-I'd say this would be the first coming of age book I ever read, and probably the best.

i also remember the Sunfire romances from the 70's/80's - they were all historical fiction...where a girl normally had to choose between the socially acceptable and the bad boy - they were normally key time periods in history - I remember one during Pearl Harbor