Thursday, June 13 Week 7 Assignment 2
I read the Christian Science Monitor article, "Who is Buying Teen Books?" which explores the reasons why adults buy and read books meant for young adults. The article echoes what librarians see every day in branches, especially with the Twilight series. Some Moms even commented that they wanted to read along with their daughter so they could discuss the books as the story unfolded. Busy adults with harried lives see these teen titles as "easy escapism," something to gratefully turn to after a heavy day.
The LJ article, "Not Just for Teens" also shares this view, allowing the expectant reader emotional immediacy, since the story begins instantly and not 50 pages in, like some adult novels do. It affirms what our parents tell us, that these books are a good way for teens and their parents to communicate through reading and discussing these books. Both articles mentioned the top three crossover series, predictably Twilight, The Hunger Games, and the Harry Potter series.
I liked a lot of points in "Not Just for Teens" and at one point the article asks "Has adult readership changed the writing and marketing of teen books?" I have been thinking about this a lot and like you said adults too, like the "emotional immediacy of teen fiction so I'm wondering if this will change adult fiction rather than changing teen fiction. If authors can pinpoint what it is that readers are looking for then they can cater to that and I believe that is what some cross over adult to teen authors are doing.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for your great post. I think you are right, I can see some change in recent SF written for adults which would be very accessible to teens. Right now I am reading The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty and it's an absolute hoot of a coterie story from the point of view of a young midwestern writer coming to the big city to do a travel guide for the undead. What a honker! I am not sure that I'd give it to a Twilight fan, but it really is funny.
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