the problem here in the US is that publishers have a hard time with upper YA because teen readers are notorious for dropping out of sight. as a tactical business decision they would rather hope to catch the younger YA readers with an older book and take the intended audience as gravy.

ms. lanagan was disarmingly charming. she spoke to a group of children’s writers at vermont college (i was in attendance at the time) and she had an audience – some of whom were hostile because they felt TM was inappropriate for children – eating out of her hand by the end. she spoke mostly about the process of writing TM and her thinking while writing it. i can’t say that when i had the chance that i was particularly articulate when speaking with her, but she did make a prediction about my final semester in school which proved accurate.

I am Australian, and that’s pretty common. For us, The Book Thief was markets as adult with the understanding that upper YA readers might appreciate it too; I think (though I’m not certain) the later YA promotion came after the US categorization. It was certainly true when I was a kid, too–I read up a lot, with books from the adult section of the library and bookstore, though a lot of the novels were upper YA appropriate.

What was the talk like?

the interesting thing about “tender morsels” also brings up the problem with an international title. i had the opportunity to hear her speak about this issue last summer and she pointed out that in both england and her native australia it is considered more “new adult” with a target market of 19 and up. random house’s decision to call it YA in the US meant it would be presented as being 14 and up, which is not really appropriate.

US publishers and chain booksellers don’t necessarily want to break YA up into these “young” and “new” distinctions because it fractures their marketing efforts and would beg the admission that much of what they push on a younger audience might be inappropriate. if there’s one thing stubborn teens share with publishers is the mutual hatred of being told what is or isn’t appropriate for their age.

to that end, i don’t think NA will take off *unless* the large chains and online retailers agree to take it on as a category.

Defining YA as 14+ may be a misnomer, especially in the US, where the voting age is 18, the drinking age 21. Historically, though, kids were forced to grow up faster, and I think that’s stuck. And honestly, what else would you call a 14 year old without infantilising or offending them? They really are stuck between “childhood” and “adulthood”. “Young adult” seems appropriate. Perhaps the issue isn’t so much that we’re putting 14 year olds in YA as that we’re including 17+ up, the age most kids are graduating/about to graduate.