Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism

by Michael Cart

  Text and image, which can be enjoyed both visually and tactilely, offer an agreeable combination. But the most agreeable combination imaginable is that of young adults and young adult literature. When I wrote the first edition of this book in the 1990s there was widespread doubt that half of this equation—young adult literature—would survive, but as I hope I have demonstrated in the preceding pages, not only has the genre survived; it has thrived! Despite some temporary problems with the economy—both here and abroad—the future of YA literature seems secure.7 Publishers continue to add new YA imprints and new means of distribution continue to develop—Borders bookstore chain, for example, added a new teen section to its many stores in 2009 to capitalize on the strength of that category, and as “the walls between marketing channels are beginning to crumble,” the new mass merchandise market is also proving especially beneficial to teen book sales (Rosen 2009a).

  As a result, juvenile and young adult sales for 2009 are expected to increase 5.1 percent, whereas virtually every other category is stagnant or in decline. Although it’s hard to break out YA-specific statistics, Publishers Weekly reports that fiction, fantasy, and science fiction for older readers remains the strongest category in children’s books (Roback 2009). This category will remain exceptionally strong until at least 2013, when sales are expected to total $861 million, a 30.6 percent increase over 2008 (Fitzgerald 2009).

  As for teen demographics, YALSA reported in a 2007 press release that there were more than 42 million teens in America. But perhaps most promising of all is that the National Center for Education Statistics (2009) forecasts record levels of total elementary and secondary enrollment through at least 2017; indeed, new records are anticipated every year until then. Overall, public school enrollment is expected to increase 9 percent between 2008 and 2017, and secondary enrollment will grow by 5 percent.

  At this rate, the golden age of young adult literature promises to become a permanent fixture of publishing, libraries, bookstores, and teen lives. It will be fascinating to watch the field continue to grow; continue to invite creative and technological innovations; continue to welcome traditional and nontraditional means of sharing stories and information in ways that will delight our imaginations, expand our minds, teach us new means of cultivating empathy and understanding; and—perhaps above all else—secure a civilization of enlightenment, comity, and compassion for future generations yet to come of teens and young adults.

  Notes

  1. See Michiko Kakutani, “The Age of Irony Isn’t Over After All,” New York Times, October 9, 2001; Brian Unger, “The Age of Irony Is Alive and Well,” Unger Report, NPR, September 11, 2006, www.npr.org/templates/archives.php? thingId=4465030&date=05-10-2010&p=106.

  2. Nancy Kaplan, executive director of the School of Information Arts and Technologies at the University of Baltimore, offered a particularly withering analysis, “Reading Responsibly.” See www.futureofthebook.org/blog /archives/2007/11/reading_responsibly_nancy_kaplan.

  3. “NCTE Guideline: A Call to Action,” National Council of Teachers of English, www.ncte.org.

  4. Audio Publishers Association, “APAFAQ,” www.audiopub.org/faq.asp.

  5. American Library Association, “YALSA Odyssey Award,” www.ala.org/yalsa/odyssey.

  6. One of the best books on this subject is Percy Muir’s Victorian Illustrated Books (Praeger, 1971).

  7. A September 16, 2009, article by Caroline Horn in Britain’s The Bookseller was headlined “Children’s Publishers Cutting Acquisitions and Advances.”

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