Too old for YA novels?

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redbetta

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I’m a recent high school graduate and have only recently started to read for fun because I was always too busy with schoolwork. I know, ironic, but, it doesn’t just happen to me. Anyway, I don’t read young adult novels too often as I prefer the classics and frequently cannot connect with the protagonist in a YA novel. But, I’ve been thinking lately that it would be cool to write a YA novel one day with characters that appeal to young readers like me who often cannot connect with other people in the same age group. So, I selected a boom to begin my “research” and to finish the trilogy I never finished (my life is a series of half-finished trilogies).

While I’m enjoying this one so far, I cannot help but wonder if I’ve “out-grown” YA. I know it stands for Young Adult, but, the characters are usually high school age. I’m going to university next year and am wondering if it would be weird for me to read that stuff. But, even though I cannot connect with the characters, I like the adventure since a lot of YA is sci-fi or fantasy. I mean, I had a crummy time in high school and it’s nice to read books about adventures and friendships I wished I had. The strong sense of friendship in these novels are what appeal to me the most because it seems to me that friendships die in adulthood. I read a lot of threads on here dealing with people who lose their friends once they marry and I wished that I have taken advantage of the simpler time I lived in in high school. In these novels, I re-live those simpler times the way I wished they were. The problem is, am I too old? I guess it is like asking if I am too old for anime as a lot of good anime series are targeted towards this age group too.

Sorry if I was rambling, I have just been thinking about a lot.
 
redbetta said:
I’m a recent high school graduate and have only recently started to read for fun because I was always too busy with schoolwork. I know, ironic, but, it doesn’t just happen to me. Anyway, I don’t read young adult novels too often as I prefer the classics and frequently cannot connect with the protagonist in a YA novel. But, I’ve been thinking lately that it would be cool to write a YA novel one day with characters that appeal to young readers like me who often cannot connect with other people in the same age group. So, I selected a boom to begin my “research” and to finish the trilogy I never finished (my life is a series of half-finished trilogies).

While I’m enjoying this one so far, I cannot help but wonder if I’ve “out-grown” YA. I know it stands for Young Adult, but, the characters are usually high school age. I’m going to university next year and am wondering if it would be weird for me to read that stuff. But, even though I cannot connect with the characters, I like the adventure since a lot of YA is sci-fi or fantasy. I mean, I had a crummy time in high school and it’s nice to read books about adventures and friendships I wished I had. The strong sense of friendship in these novels are what appeal to me the most because it seems to me that friendships die in adulthood. I read a lot of threads on here dealing with people who lose their friends once they marry and I wished that I have taken advantage of the simpler time I lived in in high school. In these novels, I re-live those simpler times the way I wished they were. The problem is, am I too old? I guess it is like asking if I am too old for anime as a lot of good anime series are targeted towards this age group too.

Sorry if I was rambling, I have just been thinking about a lot.
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Sure, you can read whatever you like for pleasure. YA novels are easy to read and enjoyable. I’m a heck of a lot older than you by many decades, and I still pick up the occasional YA novel or even children’s book just to read for pleasure, because those kind of novels weren’t around in my day, and I like to see what everyone’s reading. Hunger Games was a YA series and was made into a movie. I never could quite get with the Twilight books, though.
 
NEVER too old 👍

I’m a elementary school teacher and a middle-aged woman.

I LOVE novels for young people. When I choose to read fiction, I often reach for Newberry Award winners. Some of the series I’ve enjoyed in recent years include the Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson novels. Very entertaining as well as representative of the classic theme of good versus evil.

When I was in college and in the years following, I tried reading novels that were supposed to be more adult fiction, and I just found them irritating – too much angst, coming-of-age, so-called enlightenment. Something about it all just seemed pretentious, and the deeper they tried to be, the more phony it all sounded to me.

When I want something “heavier,” there’s always The Lord of the Rings trilogy which I have yet to finish 😊

And if you are serious about writing your own works, you may indeed want to check out recent popular novels and series, and the classics, and the award winners, and more adult-focused works, and… In short, read a lot, and write a lot 👍

God bless you!

Gertie
 
To quote C.S. Lewis: “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

There is no “too old” for anything. Sure, those classifications help you find genres you are more comfortable with, but they are not one-size-fits-all.

Young adult focuses on conflicts and challenges that the youth usually face - even Harry Potter, wands and owls aside. His problems with his family, friends and authority figures, plus school and grades, are things that anyone can relate with. Even if we were not born wizards and such.

We can never out-grow these challenges. We may graduate, but we will always relate to those experiences and relive them in our new life situations.

Now, as to what bothers you. Most YA story-settings (plot, characters, universe) can be suited for different age groups. As I said, those challenges rarely disappear: ‘Was it difficult to make friends during school? Was it even worse during high school? It might be easier during college or university, or maybe just as bad. Same when you start a new job - good luck making friends with people competing to be promoted.’ 🤷

Maybe the character had to worry with school grades, isolation and pimples in high school. Throw him 10 more years, and now he has to worry with paying rent, isolation and pimples in adulthood. Harry would have problems trusting Snape when he was 14, and he would still have troubles at 27.

Children, teenagers, young adults and adults have all the same sort of challenges. The obstacles are the same, what changes is the person. A smart kid may be just as resourceful as an average adult - both still need growing, both are still learning how-to-Life, and both still have troubles with friends, family and school/work.

Now, just a tip as someone-older-but-still-(kinda)-young: don’t delve too much in the past. Maybe you missed opportunities to make friends, maybe you lost some in transition to adulthood, but take all those instances as a lesson. Learn what went wrong, why you didn’t make more friends or why you lost the ones you had, and apply that to your present. Make friends now. We’ve all made some bad decisions in our young lives, but if we don’t learn anything from them, it is our loss. Don’t let your crammy high-school time become wasted time. 👍

So, grow old, and learn to read fairy tales again. If I can connect with Peter Pan, you can connect with Katniss or Harry Potter, or Percy Jackson or… yeah 😛

PS: and no, it is not weird to read that. At my University (finished last year!) girls were raving about The Little Prince. I had two friends who would play Pokémon on their Nintendo DS during class. We are never too old for something; just stop saying “this is for kids” as if that was something bad and you’ll see there is nothing wrong with things made for kids, or teenagers, or YA. They are just focused on other things (and, if we must compare, kid’s stuff are focused on BETTER things: between Harry Potter and 50 Shades of Grey, I can guarantee Harry Potter sends better messages to adults than 50 shades ever will. And that considering Harry Potter has witchcraft as a setting:p)
 
Well, if you’re looking for Newbery Award winners, take a look at Clare Vanderpool’s “Moon Over Manifest.” I also liked her second book, “Navigating Early.”
 
NovusFidem said:
To quote C.S. Lewis: “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
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His quote is also a reference to parenthood, meaning someday you’ll be old enough to be a parent reading the fairytale to your son or daughter.

👍
 
Books are age-classified to help adults determine whether kids are old enough to handle the content. So, a 10-year old may have a high reading level, but perhaps she doesn’t have the maturity to handle the content in a YA book. So, while a person can be too young for a particular book, one can never be too old. I still enjoy reading picture books, and I’m not ashamed to read one if a child isn’t on my lap.
 
Some of my favorite books are YA. I like them because they don’t get bogged down in sex or ultra-violence, and the writing is straightforward.
One of my favorite trilogies is The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles, by Rosemary Sutcliff, written in the 1950s. Historical novels, splendid reading.
I also recommend my books, see below, which are YA dystopian thrillers with a Catholic worldview. The third one is coming out soon.
 
If you’d like to see recommendations for Catholic YA novels, check out these links. The first is to the Catholic Fiction website with reviews for books across many genres. The second is for lists of winners of the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval dating back to 2009 and divided by genre.

catholicfiction.net/book-reviews-by-genre.php?page=1&category=2&genre=2

catholicwritersguild.org/index.php/awards-contents/soa-recipients

You’re never too old to read anything! I’m 48 and if I want a good laugh, I’ll still pick up my son’s old copies of “Hank the Cowdog” or “Me and My Little Brain” or, as a mystery writer, I’ll peruse MY old copies of “The Three Investigators” and “Nancy Drew” (of course I still have them!)
 
I’m 28, and one of my favorite authors is Dr. Seuss. I don’t even have kids! The Butter Battle Book?! CLASSIC!!! Only you can decide what you’re too old for. I love to write, and I’ve written stories aimed for adults, preschoolers, and everyone in between. My aunt told me something when I was a lil’ kid, and it has stuck with me all of my life. “You gotta grow old, but you don’t gotta grow up.” Terrible English aside, Aunt Penny is right! Do your thing. If God gave you the gift of being able to write, I’m pretty sure He won’t be picky about your target audience. Glorify Him with your stories, and folks of all ages can enjoy.
 
bluerose said:
If you’d like to see recommendations for Catholic YA novels, check out these links. The first is to the Catholic Fiction website with reviews for books across many genres. The second is for lists of winners of the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval dating back to 2009 and divided by genre.

catholicfiction.net/book-reviews-by-genre.php?page=1&category=2&genre=2

catholicwritersguild.org/index.php/awards-contents/soa-recipients
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I had no idea that these things existed!!! Thank you for the links, you’re my hero!!
 
Read what you enjoy! In the past few years, I’ve even found some middle-grade fiction that I’ve really loved. Some of it has layers – things I wouldn’t have seen when I was a kid, I can see in them now.

(If you enjoy fantasy, check out the books of Anne Ursu.)
 
Everyone’s said the same thing already, but I’m going to add my voice too!

I’m 30 today and some of my favorite books are YA!

Read ‘The Hobbit’, tell me it’s not one of the best books ever written, and then tell me it’s not a children’s book 😛
 
Regina7 said:
So, while a person can be too young for a particular book, one can never be too old. I still enjoy reading picture books, and I’m not ashamed to read one if a child isn’t on my lap.
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Yes! I’m 62 and still enjoy YA novels & books meant for even younger children. I bought one of my favorite children’s books when I was in my mid 20s - long before I was married or had children.

I just finished reading an adaption of the Canterbury Tales for young people. I knew I’d never get around to reading the original and this version was quite satisfactory.
 
I never read the “Anne of Green Gables” series until I was in my 20s or “Betsy-Tacy” until I was in my 30s. And now I love them.
 
redbetta said:
I’m a recent high school graduate and have only recently started to read for fun because I was always too busy with schoolwork. I know, ironic, but, it doesn’t just happen to me. Anyway, I don’t read young adult novels too often as I prefer the classics and frequently cannot connect with the protagonist in a YA novel. But, I’ve been thinking lately that it would be cool to write a YA novel one day with characters that appeal to young readers like me who often cannot connect with other people in the same age group. So, I selected a boom to begin my “research” and to finish the trilogy I never finished (my life is a series of half-finished trilogies).

While I’m enjoying this one so far, I cannot help but wonder if I’ve “out-grown” YA. I know it stands for Young Adult, but, the characters are usually high school age. I’m going to university next year and am wondering if it would be weird for me to read that stuff. But, even though I cannot connect with the characters, I like the adventure since a lot of YA is sci-fi or fantasy. I mean, I had a crummy time in high school and it’s nice to read books about adventures and friendships I wished I had. The strong sense of friendship in these novels are what appeal to me the most because it seems to me that friendships die in adulthood. I read a lot of threads on here dealing with people who lose their friends once they marry and I wished that I have taken advantage of the simpler time I lived in in high school. In these novels, I re-live those simpler times the way I wished they were. The problem is, am I too old? I guess it is like asking if I am too old for anime as a lot of good anime series are targeted towards this age group too.

Sorry if I was rambling, I have just been thinking about a lot.
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Read what you want and enjoy! 👍
 
As a reader, I agree with those who are encouraging you to read what you enjoy reading.

As a writer who has published adult and middle grade novels, I encourage you to write what you want to write.

(It’s not unusual to have an adult tell me how much he or she enjoyed “My Great-grandfather Turns 12 Today.”)
 
colliric said:
His quote is also a reference to parenthood, meaning someday you’ll be old enough to be a parent reading the fairytale to your son or daughter.

👍
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I tend to take Tolkien’s view of fairy stories being more suitable for adults than children. You can read his essay “On Fairy Stories” online.

As for me, I appreciate fairy stories more as an adult than as a child, but I’m weird that way.
 
Gertabelle said:
When I want something “heavier,” there’s always The Lord of the Rings trilogy which I have yet to finish 😊

Gertie
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I started that one 45 years ago and I still haven’t finished the first book. Went so far as to buy the boxed set because everyone said how good it was. Still no go. 🤷

I’m 61 and still occasionally pick up a YA novel. Read what interests you. Could be Dr. Seuss one day and Tolstoy the next, it doesn’t matter.
 
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