23
Mar

Reading From the YA Pile…

Filed in Reading Tuesdays

When I had kids at home, I used to go through backpacks after school. Mostly to make sure there wasn’t a parent-teacher conference the next day. Or to find homework assignments my son or nieces had forgotten to tell me about. I told them I was looking for drugs. Now, I’m afraid I’d afraid I’d be searching through their bags for a different type of contraband–their novels.

Yes, that’s right, I’ve fallen in love with young adult books. Books like Harry Potter and Twilight that take the reader to another world. A world where dinner doesn’t have to be on the table at six after working a nine-hour day. A world where food magically appears, and, in the Lightning Thief Series, it’s good-for-you food. Being at Half-blood Camp seems like a spa weekend, except for the sword fighting and wrestling lessons.

I’ve always loved the idea of a fantasy world–a world within our own. Probably brought on by too many readings of A Wrinkle in Time or, later, Lord of the Rings, where both Frodo and Sam were thrown headfirst into a hero’s quest. Stephen King and Peter Strauss picked up the quest for The Talisman and The Black House. Maybe it’s this hero’s quest I crave while I search through the YA stack at the library? A return to the belief that good can overcome evil?

Or maybe they’re just darn good stories? You don’t get a lot of background or scene set up (Lord of the Rings aside and Twilight‘s Debatable) but mostly just throw you into the action and the reader has to wonder…what’s in the letter Harry’s uncle won’t give him that keeps arriving?

All I know is it’s not just me. Looking at the books people at the day job are reading, I see a lot of the Twilight sereis,  PC Cast’s House of Night series, and now, The Lightning Thief. I’m reading The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson. And the addiction is spreading…

So please forgive my asking, but have you been bitten by the YA bug? If not, what were your favorite books when you were a kid? Or, better yet, what are your kids reading? I might have to add one or two books to my overflowing TBR pile. lynnsmall

Lynn Cahoon’s work has appeared in Grit, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and True Romance. She is currently polishing two romance novels, working on a cozy mystery, and waiting for a call from the slush pile. She lives in the St. Louis area with her husband, three dogs, and a cat whose secret name is Marty.

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12 Responses to “Reading From the YA Pile…”

  1. elizabeth
    March 23rd, 2010 at 7:54 am

    Thanks for guest blogging today, Lynn!

    I don’t read YA often, but when I do…I always enjoy it. SPEAK was one of the best books I’ve EVER read and it was YA.

  2. Nikki
    March 23rd, 2010 at 7:57 am

    Hi Lynn,
    Well, for YEARS I kept telling my friends “I do not want to read Harry Potter, I do NOT like fantasy…” I finally gave in and popped the audio book in the car. Needless to say I was listening to the 20 hour books when I was doing dishes, driving to work–and unfortunately when I was gardening with clippers. Goodbye headphones!
    I then moved on to Artemis Fowl–another great series. Who knew.

    I must say I just can’t get into Twilight or vampires though, but I now have the Michael Scott series waiting in the wings!

  3. Dru
    March 23rd, 2010 at 9:22 am

    I don’t read YA books and I never got into the Harry Potter or Twilight series.

  4. Lynn
    March 23rd, 2010 at 10:27 am

    Elizabeth…I haven’t read Speak. But there was a YA I loved that I just remembered, WAKE? I know the author also has FADE out there…

    LOL on the headphones Nikki! Sounds like something I would do. I love Michelle Scott’s wine cozies. I’ll have to pick up Artemus Fowl. Thanks…

    Dru, your coment reminds me of a U-tube spoof of adults reading YA (Twilight) but here, they were going off about a picture book. It was hilarious even if I did see myself in some of the comments.

    Back to work.
    Lynn

  5. Joe
    March 23rd, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Amen, sister! YA and its younger siblings rock!

    I love that every genre you find in “grown up” lit is reflected in lit for kids.

    Like your lit with a Cap L? There’s “Out of the Dust,” “Each Little Bird That Sings,” and “Esperanza Rising.”

    I found all of these courtesy of my daughter.

    And the book swap has worked both ways. I introduced her to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. Actually, we read three of the Potter books aloud as a family. A wonderful run, that was.

    She still hasn’t read the “Bartimaeus” books by Jonathan Stroud. She will. And when she does, I know she’ll wonder the same thing that’s been on my mind: “Why no movie?!?” This is Harry Potter steampunk, it’s brilliantly written, and it’s a NY Times bestseller! Hey Warner Brothers…look over heeere!

    I like history with my mystery, so my son and I tore through Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler’s stories with Judge Ooka and Seikei. Set in 18th century Japan, they’re dark, violent, and hold just enough detail to make you believe you’re there. (Warning: These may be shelved in the Independent Reader section, but there are decapitations and prostitutes. Just sayin’)

    And then there’s Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book,” which is a “The Jungle Book” redux set in a graveyard. Almost all the characters are dead, and yet, as you’d expect from Gaiman, so very alive.

    I think you nailed it, Lynn, when you chalked up YA’s appeal to the books telling “darn good stories.” Kids have no patience for posturing or pretense. They don’t judge a book by the name on the cover. It’s the story inside that matters. If you’re gonna catch ‘em, better do it quick, and make the ride twisty and interesting enough that they feel compelled to hold on to the end.

    Thanks for the awesome topic!

  6. Jeani
    March 23rd, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    so being in the medical field tell me what is YA????

  7. Shel
    March 23rd, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    Jeani, YA stands for “Young Adult”. They’re not children’s books, but not considered adult novels either, though some of them you can’t really tell the difference. I’m hooked on the genre.
    I love the Melissa Marr Tattoo Faery series, and the Justine Larbalestier Magic or Madness books. I have Percy Jackson’s series on my TBR mountain. And yes, I read all of Harry Potter and loved it. Twilight didn’t send me ga-ga, but it certainly sent a whole group of my adult women friends over the moon!

  8. Berta
    March 23rd, 2010 at 7:40 pm

    OK, I admit that I am a great fan of the Twilight series but I have always loved anything having to do with vampires. YA or not. Patterson’s ‘Maximum Ride’ series is another favorite. I am so far behind in my reading now that I could read for years without buying a thing. Have you read anything by Joe Hill? Got your e-mail with Alex’s pic. He sure looks like his Mom!!!!

  9. Lynn
    March 23rd, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    Alex looks like me because he has NONE of his dad’s DNA. LOL

  10. Tracy
    March 23rd, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Hi Lynn,
    Have not read the twilight and won’t. But I do read fantasy when I read. Troy Denning, R.A. Salvatore (hope I spelled that right). I think everyone is into the hero’s journey. It speak to the primal level of being more. In most people’s case more than we are, or more than we can be.

    I think it is good that people want that. It shows me that there is still humanity and that people want to make the world better. Otherwise we would all be on Stephen King’s dark side.

    Right now I just read tech manuals; good knowlege, but yucky.

  11. Lynn
    March 24th, 2010 at 6:42 am

    Tracy, I’ll see your tech manuals and raise a few hundred social service rules and regs. LOL As far as being on Stephen King’s dark side, I think they all play darts.

    Hey, I’ll be in your area at the end of April. Coffee?

  12. Tracy
    March 26th, 2010 at 11:10 am

    Lynn,
    Yes, Coffee. Call/Email me when.

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