I recently had a patron come up to the desk with the strangest look of sadness and anxiety on her face. "I love teen fiction, but I'm not a teenager anymore," she said (paraphrased), "So I guess it's time for me to grow up and move on to adult fiction. Can you help me find some books I might like?"
My heart hurt. I knew what she was talking about, but:
Visualize with me here a second. Here's me, getting on my soapbox. BOOKS ARE FOR READING! BOOKS ARE FOR EVERYBODY! YOU SHOULD FEEL NO SHAME FOR READING TEEN FICTION AS AN ADULT! TEEN FICTION IS AWESOME! WE SHOULD ALL READ TEEN FICTION! *ahem* (Thank you.)
Okay, now that's out of my system, let's talk about crossover books. These are a magical category of books that are classified as adult by publishers but honestly appeal to both adults and teens. There's even a literary award for this magical feat, sponsored by YALSA, the teen services group of the American Library Association: The Alex Awards, opens a new window.
"The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing." And here's the thing. If the award showcases adult books that appeal to teens, they'll probably appeal to new adults as well; winner, winner, chicken dinner!
My patron was looking for fantasy novels that have the same fast-paced and adventurous feel as the Harry Potter books, and this is the list I put together for her. , opens a new window If you want a librarian to put a book list together for you, try out KCLS's BookMatch, opens a new window service today.
So what do you think?
Do you *have* to give up teen fiction once you're an adult? Let me know in the comments!
