What would you like to see more/less of in YA?

ReflectedGray · May 6, 2014

Hey All,

I thought it might be fun / interesting to talk about what themes you'd like to see more of in YA and what is really getting on your nerves. I'm not looking to trash on any particular authors because they are successful and we should learn from them, but I'd love to hear what you guys think while i'm mulling over future WIPs.

I'll start: I'd like to see more male MCs in YA and books written with more gender neutrality in mind.

I'd like to see fewer glorified unhealthy teen relationships that are see as "final". Most people don't marry their first crush.

Hapax Legomenon · May 6, 2014

I would like to see less romance in general. Much less.

breaking_burgundy · May 6, 2014

I'd like to see more YA books set outside of the US. (And I don't just mean second world fantasy, dystopia, or white-girl-goes-abroad books.)

storiesinmyhead · May 6, 2014

ReflectedGray said:
I'd like to see fewer glorified unhealthy teen relationships that are see as "final". Most people don't marry their first crush.

Yes! I'd love to see some books where a teenage relationship fails, or even starts and falls passionately in love and then fails and in the end it's okay. The people move on and their world isn't over.

rwm4768 · May 6, 2014

I'd like to see more dystopian and secondary world fantasy with well-constructed worlds. A lot of what I've read in those genres is good, but I feel like many of the worlds are missing that something that makes them come alive and pass the logic test.

I'd like to see more third-person, multi-POV books. Nothing destroys a book faster than a first-person narrator I can't stand.

I'd like to see fewer love triangles, especially love triangles where it's obvious who she'll pick right from the beginning. Not to mention, most people I knew in high school, male and female, showed interest in more than two people of the opposite gender.

On a similar note, I'd like to see fewer "teenage twu wuv" stories. Most people don't end up with their high school sweetheart for the rest of their lives.

I'd like to see science fiction. Not dystopian. Science fiction. Whether it's harder science fiction or something more along the lines of Star Wars. I think a YA space opera would be a blast.

KarmaPolice · May 6, 2014

More YA books where they actually y'know, talk about stuff. Ethics. Politics. Religion - show a bleeding interest outside of their 'own little bubble'. I know such teens do exist in RL.

Justin K · May 6, 2014

I'm glad everything mentioned above is what I'm working on..

Samsonet · May 7, 2014

More fun stuff. I don't know if there are more depressing books out there or if I'm just unlucky enough to stumble across them, but yeah. More adventures with an optimistic view.

Becca C. · May 7, 2014

Books set outside the U.S., for sure. Admittedly, I like the "white girl goes abroad" books a lot because that's pure, unadulterated, delicious wish fulfillment for me, but I'm craving anything else. A contemp about teens in Finland. A family drama taking place in Egypt. Teens escaping North Korea. Anything international. How about something taking place in all those weird countries most people don't know exist? Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro? That would be amazing. I'm surprised YA writers don't make use of more foreign exchange students in YA contemporary. Let's get a wonderfully diverse group of misfits together, please!

Quirky/original family dynamics, too. Rich, complicated sibling relationships. That would be awesome.

I agree with the "less romance" thing. I am getting burned out with reading romance after unoriginal romance. If it's going to be a kissing book, make it different.

kuwisdelu · May 7, 2014

In addition to the "books set outside the US", can I add books set in subcultures within the US?

Where are all the books about "ethnic" Americans who actually live their culture in a contemporary (or future!) setting?

But really, what I'd love to see there is diversity of authors writing about their own cultures.

Too often other cultures are relegated to the past. But what about the future? What does it mean to be a Native American or an African American or an Indian American or a Mexican American in the future?

Is Afrofuturism a thing in YA? What about other cultures?

I want to see science fiction in diverse settings.

Jo Zebedee · May 7, 2014

Justin K said:
I'm glad everything mentioned above is what I'm working on..

Me too. My YA is ticking a lot of these boxes. Keep going...

Animad345 · May 7, 2014

LESS LOVE TRIANGLES.

PLEASE!

(Or at least less love triangles with two boys pining after one girl.)

KateSmash · May 7, 2014

kuwisdelu said:
In addition to the "books set outside the US", can I add books set in subcultures within the US?

Where are all the books about "ethnic" Americans who actually live their culture in a contemporary (or future!) setting?

But really, what I'd love to see there is diversity of authors writing about their own cultures.

Too often other cultures are relegated to the past. But what about the future? What does it mean to be a Native American or an African American or an Indian American or a Mexican American in the future?

Is Afrofuturism a thing in YA? What about other cultures?

I want to see science fiction in diverse settings.

I have not read it yet, but you might want to look into Killer of Enemies by James Bruchac. Though, a caveat - the author is multi-racial and his Native ancestry is Abenaki (and not Apache like the main character).

But, oh man, I would love for Afrofuturism to come to YA.

Christabelle · May 7, 2014

Animad345 said:
LESS LOVE TRIANGLES.

PLEASE!

(Or at least less love triangles with two boys pining after one girl.)

Yes!

And less high school romance being the ONE forever and ever. That's definitely not the norm in real life.

Interesting, complicated sibling relationships is one that I enjoy working on.

I like seeing characters reach outside of their own bubbles. It's fun to see them exploring the world - even if they don't leave their own town during the course of the book.

Putputt · May 7, 2014

I would love to see a YA book without any romance whatsoever. Where the lack of romance is not the central issue. Failing that, I would like to see one where the romance ends up not working out but is not replaced by another, more perfecter one. I want to see the MC end up alone, where s/he's sad but it's not the end of his/her world.

I'd like to have more PoC MCs where their PoC-ness isn't a central issue.

Aaaand I would love to see a YA where the MC has a healthy relationship with his/her parents. I was really ehh about The Fault in Our Stars, but I loved that the MC is close to her parents. I'm getting really tired of dead/negligent/cruel parents in both YA and MG.

Morgenna · May 7, 2014

More YA fantasy with non-white MCs. Honestly more fantasy in general with non white MCs. It is a fantasy world why is everyone white??

Morgenna · May 7, 2014

Samsonet said:
More fun stuff. I don't know if there are more depressing books out there or if I'm just unlucky enough to stumble across them, but yeah. More adventures with an optimistic view.

Same here, very rarely do I want something that by the end of the book I feel like my spirit has been crushed and I need to go cuddle a teddy bear. Some depressing scenes are necessary but you need happiness to counteract it or you get burned out!

QueenofLALALand · May 7, 2014

death to love triangles! well, maybe not death, but a little goes a long way, and right now YA's got more of a lot.

Becca C. · May 7, 2014

Putputt said:
I would love to see a YA book without any romance whatsoever. Where the lack of romance is not the central issue. Failing that, I would like to see one where the romance ends up not working out but is not replaced by another, more perfecter one. I want to see the MC end up alone, where s/he's sad but it's not the end of his/her world.

*dances* Yay, this is my book! It's a fun, flirty relationship that lasts a few days in Paris, but it has to end -- the MC has to go home to Seattle with her family, and the boy in question (who is black. Ooooooh.) has to go home to Scotland. They're sad, but c'est la vie. I'm sure one of them will visit the other someday, as they both have incurable wanderlust.

Putputt · May 7, 2014

Becca C. said:
*dances* Yay, this is my book! It's a fun, flirty relationship that lasts a few days in Paris, but it has to end -- the MC has to go home to Seattle with her family, and the boy in question (who is black. Ooooooh.) has to go home to Scotland. They're sad, but c'est la vie. I'm sure one of them will visit the other someday, as they both have incurable wanderlust.

Yaaay! Um, keep in mind though I know next to nothing about YA, so what I want may not be what everyone else wants.

rwm4768 · May 7, 2014

Morgenna said:
More YA fantasy with non-white MCs. Honestly more fantasy in general with non white MCs. It is a fantasy world why is everyone white??

I actually have a reason for it in one of my epic fantasies, Lightweaver. It's set on a world with a dying sun, so the people have evolved to be rather pale (though they do have magical means of tanning).

In the other, it's actually set in our future. The group that came to this new world was mostly white, but there were some people of other races. Over time, though, most people have intermarried. I'll probably have darker-skinned people when I get down toward the planet's equator. It's been long enough for evolution to have an effect.

It would be nice to have some more POC fantasy, especially if it's set in cultures that don't resemble medieval Europe. If you're interested in non-YA, you might check out N.K. Jemisin.

There's another thing I can add. I'd like to see more diverse settings in YA fantasy. Medieval Europe isn't the only setting you have available to you. You can choose a culture from anywhere in the world or invent your own. You can set it in any period technologically, even the future.

After all, Star Wars is just fantasy in space.

Morgenna · May 7, 2014

rwm4768 said:
I actually have a reason for it in one of my epic fantasies, Lightweaver. It's set on a world with a dying sun, so the people have evolved to be rather pale (though they do have magical means of tanning).

In the other, it's actually set in our future. The group that came to this new world was mostly white, but there were some people of other races. Over time, though, most people have intermarried. I'll probably have darker-skinned people when I get down toward the planet's equator. It's been long enough for evolution to have an effect.

It would be nice to have some more POC fantasy, especially if it's set in cultures that don't resemble medieval Europe. If you're interested in non-YA, you might check out N.K. Jemisin.

There's another thing I can add. I'd like to see more diverse settings in YA fantasy. Medieval Europe isn't the only setting you have available to you. You can choose a culture from anywhere in the world or invent your own. You can set it in any period technologically, even the future.

After all, Star Wars is just fantasy in space.

I'm doing my best in my world, the dwarves are both black (arabian ish) and white (nordic ish) and the setting is an island in the middle of a trade route so there are a lot of people of every color. The MC is mixed race. There are humans of every color, fae of every color too lol

kuwisdelu · May 7, 2014

KateSmash said:
I have not read it yet, but you might want to look into Killer of Enemies by James Bruchac. Though, a caveat - the author is multi-racial and his Native ancestry is Abenaki (and not Apache like the main character).

Nothing to caveat about it, I haven't read him, but he's recommended by people I trust.

stephen andrew · May 7, 2014

Putputt said:
Aaaand I would love to see a YA where the MC has a healthy relationship with his/her parents. I was really ehh about The Fault in Our Stars, but I loved that the MC is close to her parents. I'm getting really tired of dead/negligent/cruel parents in both YA and MG.

Divergent was another good example of solid relationships with parents, even if it was just book one.... I agree tho for more solid relationships with parents, tho still complicated and not everything going alright...

I don't see it working to totally remove romance from YA (or most genres in general honestly), but I would love for it to be more secondary to a larger story... and as others have said for the high school flame to not work out and things be okay eventually

I would love to see more large cast novels with strong secondary characters that we actually care about. Sadly I rarely care about them in most YA I've read recently.

I would love more third person, and multi pov. So basically larger, more complex story and characterization. Especially in sci-fi and fantasy.

CQuinlan · May 7, 2014

I would like to see more things outside of romance. Teens have shit-tons going on with them, and not all of it boils down to cuteness and hormones.

People have already mentioned more diversity in characters, and YES to that.

I also love retellings of fairy tales but would love some of the more uncommon ones.

What would you like to see more/less of in YA?

ReflectedGray

Hapax Legomenon

breaking_burgundy

storiesinmyhead

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW

KarmaPolice

Justin K

Samsonet

Just visiting

Becca C.

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Jo Zebedee

space opera-popcorn lover!

Animad345

KateSmash

this was a triumph

Christabelle

Putputt

permanently suctioned to Buz's leg

Morgenna

Morgenna

QueenofLALALand

ignoring the odds

Becca C.

Putputt

permanently suctioned to Buz's leg

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW

Morgenna

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

stephen andrew

Write, write, and keep reading

CQuinlan