Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A Very Brief History of Young Adult Literature



Young Adult literature is becoming more and more prominent these days. You can't go to a bookstore, movie theater or even the internet without hearing about the latest young adult book in some way or another. Many people dismiss it as a new thing to market to impressionable teens or that it surged about with Harry Potter. Truth is, this genre has existed for quite some time.

And by quite some time, I mean more than a few centuries back.

Young adult literature can easily be traced back to at least the 1700's. Thought it wasn't an official genre, books like Treasure Island and Little Women which were published throughout the years after were aimed at the fourteen to twenty year old market. Around the early 1900's it became easier to publish materials but at the same time it began to gather negative attention. Most of the books aimed for this age group were considered trash and they were barely carried by book stores.

Near the late 1950's up to the mid 1960's a small resurgence in the young adult genre began. People began to get concerned about that age group again and iconic books began to get published.  The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (1967) was among the leaders in this resurgence setting up the genre straight into the 1970's where it entered somewhat of a preemptive golden age. Books such as The Bell Jar and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings were published during this era, focusing squarely on the young adult demographic and bringing the genre into the limelight.

The 1980's was when the young adult genre truly went into the golden age. Young adults had a voice and their representative literature reflected that. No longer were the books rated G, instead they spoke about issues like homosexuality, drugs, racism, AIDS and sexuality.  The 1990's pushed the envelope even further, with subjects such as suicide, abuse, parental death and bullying. Dark and gritty as some of them were, the books published around this era dared to provide a unique voice and a window to taboo issues. Suffice it to say, that some of the books published around this period are still being challenged and in some cases banned to this day for their supposedly risqué themes. 

But regardless of that, the genre itself wasn't nearly as mainstream as it is today. That is, until 1997. When a boy wizard called Harry Potter skyrocketed the young adult literature genre into the limelight, giving a whole new meaning to the word resurgence.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published in the United States in 1998. It became a worldwide phenomenon, since it was just as popular in its native England. The first book spent around 79 weeks in the New York Times bestsellers with its sequels right behind it in sales and pre-order records. More and more publishers saw the potential in these books and began to give the genre more attention. As the new millennium rolled in, many new series came to life, each with their own themes and voices for the new generation. 

As we entered the second decade of the new millennium, we saw many of these series get adapted into movies. Some were well made, while others weren't and the young adult genre managed get a firm stronghold in the market with the recognition it deserved. As front running series like Harry Potter ended others appeared to take up the slack. Series like Twilight and The Hunger Games continue to make sure that the genre remains right next to others like romance, fiction and sci-fi.
Covering a variety of topics and displaying topics of all kinds under all types of scrutiny and challenges, the young adult genre remains stronger and more present than ever. So gather up your courage, find your favorite topic and sit down with a young adult book. You'll find that not only the genre will cater to your particular tastes, but it'll provide a refreshing voice to your perspective.   

No comments:

Post a Comment