Young Adult Lit Has Grown Up

I define young adult literature based upon the age of the main character. With that given, it wasn’t until Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye that young adult literature came into its own as a notable genre. Prior to that, most novels written for a teen audience were the brainchild of Edward Stratemeyer who created the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys series writing as Carolyn Keene and Franklin Dixon respectively.  The other choices available were teen romances about who’s going to take me to prom, ending with a kiss on the doorstep. All of the characters were lily white with straight teeth, no pimples, and no depth. Holden Caulfield from Catcher finally introduced a deep, complex character who struggled with depression caused by scars buried from his childhood.  

A decade later, S. E. Hinton, tired of the insipid dime-store novels available to her, wrote The Outsiders as a junior in high school. It starred no prom queens or gifted quarterbacks, but rather depicted rival gangs who took things too far. Ponyboy, the main character, is a deeply insightful and sensitive young man who learns “The best things in life aren’t things.” There are no promises that the people and dreams we cherish will be around forever.

Current YA lit often delves into hard-hitting, real-life problems facing young adults including substance abuse, racial injustice, date rape, mental illness, or teen violence. The characters confront issues they’re not equipped for, but persevere and overcome, forcing them to grow up much like the genre they represent.

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