How great is YA fiction? My kids are so lucky to have all of these interesting YA books to explore over the coming years.
When I was a child, I don’t feel like this genre really existed, or if it did, it was nowhere near the profile that is now.
I remember going from reading my Roald Dahl’s and Enid Blyton’s, to transitioning with the likes of Paula Danziger and Judy Blume, and then I was onto adult fiction by my early teens as there wasn’t really anything else. James Herbert, Jilly Cooper, Virginia Andrews and Stephen King kept teen me busy!
Were you the same? Who were you reading?
The gap between children’s books and adult fiction seems to have been firmly bridged now with so many Young Adult books to choose from.
My daughter loved Karen McManus’ One of Us is Lying books, and I see that’ll be coming to Netflix this month. I notice that there are plenty of YA books based featured on Netflix, both TV shows and films.
She also enjoys Sophie McKenzie books, Kate Weston’s Diary of a Confused Feminist books, and so many mystery and thrillers that she’s devoured.
Then of course there are the big series that can swallow you up whole. She adored the Maze Runner series and is now all about Twilight. They suck you right into their worlds, don’t they?
The thing about YA is, it’s fun for adults to read too. I rated the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder books amongst my top reads of last year and I have read several of the books my daughter’s read, we often pass them to one another.
I currently have the Shadow and Bone books, Caraval series and Red Queen books on my shelves, ready for us to both to enjoy. I think she’s going to need something to get stuck into when she finishes the Twilight books as I know they will give her a serious book hangover. I will understand, I have been there so many times over the years!
Along with going on about how many fabulous books and series there are for our children to read these days, I’d also love to hear your thoughts on YA books.
Do you read and enjoy them? Or do your kids have favourites?
I would love to hear the books and series that have had you or your kids completely hooked. Throw those YA recommendations at me!