Meg Wolitzer's article on how it is not just teens reading teen books certainly reminded me of a certain book that was very popular amongst all the age ranges recently.
When I was working on the bookmobile, one of the most popular books for a while among the older segments of our customers was The Book Thief. In BCPL's collection, this item is a Teen novel. However, it was turned into a movie and like most books that were turned into movies, the popularity of the book skyrocketed across all age groups.
Wolitzer mentions another popular book, The Fault in Our Stars, which is also targeted toward teens when mentioning that a great deal of the appeal of these books is how tender they treat the characters portrayed. Having your heart broken when the person you love dies of cancer while you yourself are also dying of cancer is not an experience everyone has. But through these books, we can experience all the tender and heartbreaking moments.
Wolitzer's final comments are the mantra I follow when I'm reading a book: I don't care who it is written for, but if I get engrossed in it, why should I care?
Rachel Deahl correctly notes in her article that the term "young adult," especially when applied to reading audiences, is a very fluid term. While individuals may grow older, often their tastes do not change. They like what they like. It is possible that someone may grow into new literature, but that works both ways as many older individuals happily read works that were intended for younger audiences.
Deahl is against the term "new adult," however, and feels that it is the product of marketing departments. Is it necessary to separate "young adult" and "new adult" books? Unlikely. There is no need to further divide audiences as they read almost anything they want these days.
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