Week 7 #2

I read the two PW articles, YA Comes of Age (9/2011), and New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre? (12/2012)  They were both pretty good at defining the genre and subgenre and delineating the differences between them.  YA focuses on the darker side, paranormal, violence and assorted disasters, though I did not completely agree with the author's view that this generation's teens have a worldview formed by our society's participation in war.  Though that of course is a reality, Vietnam, Korea and World War II most certainly had a greater impact on the everyday life and mindset of our population.  So, for whatever reason, generalized angst or entertainment, teen literature has followed the "darker side" trend.

Anyway, New Adult, however clumsy the appellation, seems to have a broader base of appeal, dealing with life transitions and "figuring things out."  The romance fiction is more age specific, and the genre gives the post-YA reader more substance to choose from.