Okay, first impression of Lawrence Public Library's flowchart on what to read next? They've really got a bead on my to-read list. I just started Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, apparently I have been "living under a rock." Zing for LPL!
The LPL's flowchart also highlights the incredible boom in YA paranormal and dystopian fiction, which was also mentioned in the article "The Next Big Thing" on the YALSA Hub as part of YA's crossover appeal. Personally, I think this is a major (if not the major) reason why adults are reading so much YA. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, cyborgs: all sorts of monsters are being given the romanticized, YA makeover. And if you're interested in the paranormal but not gratuitous gore? YA titles will fill the bill.
Crossover appeal from television shows like Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, another big lure mentioned in the YALSA Hub article, seems like it's also still pulling in audiences. With TV shows, fans can follow long, slow-building series, experiencing in detail the world of a favorite cast of characters - why not read a book series and get the same effect? That's definitely something which YA has going for it: a seething multitude of series and trilogies with imaginative world-building aplenty. Seriously, it seems like every book on my to-read list (and LPL's flowchart) spawns a sequel or two before I can even get the first one read. It's definitely a series-lover's market.
"New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?" on the Publishers Weekly site focuses on the New Adult genre, and the overlap between YA and Adult markets. It discusses, in part, the difficulty that bookstores face when finding the right location in their stores for New Adult and other crossover YA titles. Which makes me wonder, where can/should we put them in the library?
You're absolutely right--where to put New Adult fiction can be nebulous. So far, they are mixed between Teen and Adult Fiction here at BCPL, but it is a question that we are addressing each time we buy one. I think the most important thing is that libraries are buying them at all and not letting issues like age level and the fact that they are often self-published cause us not to get what customers want. (Back to the classic BCPL motto "Give them what they want.")
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