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Most YA Books Bought By Adults

Faster-paced books appeal to everyone, it turns out

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 14, 2012 2:19 PM CDT | Updated Sep 16, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – It turns out you're not the only grown-up devouring the Hunger Games. A new study from Bowker Market Research found that 55% of the people buying young adult novels are actually regular adults, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Oh sure, some say they're buying them for younger relatives, but 78% cop to buying them for themselves.

Hunger Games' popularity is skewing the curve a bit, one researcher said, but "our data shows it's a much larger phenomenon than readership of this single series." It seems that adults simply dig the simpler reading experience teen lit can provide, which is why they're gulping down stuff like Twilight or Harry Potter. "Teen books are shorter, faster-paced, and designed to appeal to discriminating readers," one librarian says. "They are a quick literary fix without the padding."

The cover of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
The cover of "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.   (PRNewsFoto/Scholastic Corporation)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 26 comments
YetAnotherCollegeKid
Sep 17, 2012 6:10 PM CDT
There seems to be some confusion about what qualifies as 'young adult.' Does just having a young main character make it YA? Would 'His Dark Materials,' 'The Chronicles of Narnia,' 'The Name of the Wind' or 'Ender's Game' qualify as young adult? I chose those as examples because 3/4 are frequently called and shelved as YA, but none of them really qualify on any level. It can't be a length definition (see: Harry Potter), or an 'age of main character' definition, or simplicity of writing/ storyline, or age-appropriate concepts (death, slavery, religious hatred, psychological manipulation/ horror, war, sex, domestic violence, etc.). Hell, the most popular 'young adult' series of the 90's was Animorphs, and that was just completely fucked up in every way. The only thing I can think of that IS off limits in YA is heavy cursing. Wow, really protecting the children, there. The simple truth is that 'young adult' is now meaningless. If it ever meant anything, that time is long gone.
StandsWithAFifth
Sep 17, 2012 1:45 PM CDT
that's because our teenagers don't read at all.
Beanburger
Sep 17, 2012 5:09 AM CDT
Its a sad soul who can't enjoy a good book aimed at kids. I read the Harry Potter books while studying for a Philosophy degree - they are perhaps the most readable books ever written and made a refreshing contrast to the (often impenetrable) works of ancient dead Greek dudes and pretentious french existentialists. Personally I like to read a wide range of books - all sorts of non-fiction, high literature such as Joyce or Tolstoy, trashy sci-fi/fantasy by Jordan or Feist, old classics from Conrad or Conan Doyle etc. etc. Not all books and films need adult themes or complexity to be enjoyable or engaging - unless you are so depraved you need sex or violence - or so pretentious you need to feel constantly reassured that you are intelligent/sophisticated/edgy. Wisest is he who has a childlike heart.
 

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