Non-Human Protagonists in YA?

Nogetsune said:

In particular I have ideas for both Kitsune and Dragon MCs, but am not sure if this kind of thing can fly.

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Well, of COURSE dragons can fly. They're excellent at it, in fact.

Okay, a proper answer....

Kitsune has a human form and human behavior, so it should work fine. And dragon can work too -- gorgeous YA novel Seraphina has a half-dragon protagonist and races of draconian creatures with humanoid features.

You need to think about whether your character will be relatable to the "majority audience", female teen readers. That's not hard to do, really, just develop them as an interesting character with flaws and desires. A trickster character, a love-struck Yokai, or a dragon fascinated by human culture and society.... as long as your make it relatable, it'll work. You can even add in some nice metaphorical layers if they have a fear of being "outed" or being prejudiced against.

Your audience is still teen readers though, so don't have them behave like all-knowing ancient spirits. That'll cause unnecessary distance. Your monsters will work better in YA if they're "young" by that creatures standards -- flawed, impulsive and vulnerable.

Though for the love of god, don't use metaphorical racism, sexism or homophobia and then not include actual minority characters in your story.

Also, if your character adopts a human form, it would be wise to have them match that creature's nationality (Japanese for the Kitsune, and Chinese, Japanese, or Welsh for a dragon). Definitely don't make your foreign monster character appear a white American, that's always kind of weird when it happens.

The issue is exactly how nonhuman are they. If they still have human teenager thoughts and desires, then it'll work. But then I think, where's the fun in that?

I don't know. Right now I'm planning something somewhat similar -- an AI shoved into humanoid bioware for its own protection. The verbage surrounding this isn't relatable to real-world prejudices but rather how we tend to refer to anything on computers as "not real" instead. However this character I don't think would act like a teenager and would therefore be a hard sell.

The protagonist of Seraphina by Rachel Hartman is half dragon!

I love the idea of a kitsune!! Every time I see Japanese mythology melded into modern day lit, it makes my heart sing. There is no reason why this can't work. If it is a relatable human story, then it should be fine. Plus Kitsune as a magical creature does have the option of a human form. This would be a great idea for a little romance story!! Anyway, should be interesting. What would make it more interesting is if the MC was a Tanuki, which also has the power to take on a human form, just probably not as pretty as the Kitsune, haha. Anyway, have fun!!

I would like to share a fantastic essay I read once. It is called the Value of Ideas, and it is by the creator of Dilbert.

LINK!

The pertinent part!

I've long been fascinated by the common human illusion that ideas can be sorted into good and bad, when all experience shows this not to be the case. We could play the game all day long where I describe a simply terrible idea and then tell you about the people who got rich implementing it just right. Let's try a few...

How about a comic strip that is literally a bunch of stick figures? It will be called XKCD and have no discernable characters. Done! It's the most viewed comic on the Internet.

How about a movie about two gay cowboys? Done! Academy Award!

How about a comedic TV show about a Nazi concentration camp? Done! It was called Hogan's Heroes and was a hit in its time.

How about a Broadway musical about a bunch of frickin' cats? Done!

You'd be hard pressed to come up with an idea so bad that it couldn't succeed with the right execution. And it would be even harder to imagine a great idea that couldn't fail if the execution were left to morons.

Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything.

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So, the question "Can I [blank] in [blank]?" can be answered with a "yes, now write it" every single time.

I wish I were writing a book about a kitsune. That sounds awesome (as long as, yeah, they're Japanese). Nogetsune, just write your edgy unusual book already, you'll make millions.

Sage said:

(Hap's point may be good; if it's too alien a POV, is it too hard for a teen to identify with?)

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Yeah. I mean from what I've heard, the big requirement for YA is that teens have to be able to identify with the story. If your viewpoint is really alien and experimental, you're going to fail that, even if the character is an adolescent by standards of the species. However the standard for "needs to be relatable and not completely alien" is not so strict in normal SFF, so even if it can't be marketed as YA, it's not the end of the world.

Then again I do think that a completely alien POV is difficult to carry a whole novel on, so such unusual POVs are a lot more common in short fiction than long. Shrug. It's something that's got to be done well and you can't do something well unless you do it first.

I've seen enough anime to know that having a nonhuman protagonist can be one hundred and ten percent done. (*cough* Dragon Ball *cough*)

Really, your story should just be comprehensible to a human audience. If your nonhuman hero thinks mostly like a human, you'll have no problems. If he/she doesn't think like a human, but still thinks in a way that makes sense to a human, I expect you'll be fine as well. Basically, go for it.

Just have them act like young adults in their own nature. Not all non humans should act too human, unless they used to been human or was raised by humans. Just make them caring and interesting for your audience.