Is a 'new adult' genre the step between YA and adult books?

Some in the book world say the 'new adult' umbrella signals an intermediate step for readers, while others call the category absurd.

The novel 'Beautiful Disaster' by Jamie McGuire – the story of a college girl who meets a rebellious boy even as she is trying to flee her own past – is considered an example of the 'new adult' category.

It’s not news anymore that young adult books are appealing to readers well beyond their teens. But is there a new genre that fits in between young adult titles and traditional adult fare?

Some publishers say yes and point to a term called “new adult.” While it seems to mean different things to different publishers, many agree that it’s a group title for books that are more mature than young adult titles – a literary category that may serve as a stepping-stone for readers moving beyond the young adult fold.

“We had this huge boom in the YA market, and now we don’t want to lose those readers,” Writers House agent Merrilee Heifetz told Publishers Weekly. “For a teen who was a voracious YA reader [the new adult tag] offers a way to say, here, these books are for you.”

Often, protagonists in new adult books are in their late teens and early 20s (though this is not always the case), and content in the novels tends to be more mature than in young adult books – which often means that there is more explicit sex in romance scenes. The blockbuster "Twilight" series, for instance, was a romance that captivated teens and adults. But the books stayed teen-friendly. Books in the new adult category, suggests The New York Times, might better be described as as "Harry Potter meets '50 Shades of Grey.'”

Some booksellers, however, are doubting that this intermediate genre is necessary.

“If there was a great category name that I thought would attract customer interest and generate sales, I would take it on,” Kenny Brechner, owner of Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, Me., told Publishers Weekly. “I’m not going to try and market something I’m reasonably sure will be perceived as lame.”

Others, however, say they think the books will be well-received by readers ready to move beyond Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen.

“As much as I dislike the term 'New Adult' (I find it confusing and, frankly, boring), there is a strong need for books about characters ages 18-24,” wrote Karen Van Sleet Grove, who identified herself on the Publishers Weekly website as editorial director and senior editor at Entangled Publishing. “They're no longer dealing with the minefield of high school but are now testing the waters of being 'adult' ... A story told from this perspective of 'newness' and experimentation will speak to those embarking on a new life in the adult world.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Is a 'new adult' genre the step between YA and adult books?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0103/Is-a-new-adult-genre-the-step-between-YA-and-adult-books
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe