Why I read YA

I don't always read books with ridiculously handsome men, and their abs, on the covers. I go through cycles as a reader. One of my *other* favorite genres is Young Adult. And yes, I'm 46 years old.

I read YA for a number of reasons. One of the most important, for the last decade, has been my daughter. She is 15 years old now, and we've been reading together since she was a baby, but it really took off when she was around 5 years old.

We've read through Little House on the Prairie, Tamora Pierce, and Harry Potter, through Twilight, and Percy Jackson, and any number of books about the fae and werewolves and vampires. Most recently, she read The Hunger Games trilogy, and then, along with another friends, pestered me incessantly until I picked it up and read it myself.

So, one of the reasons that I read YA is because it gives me something to talk about with my kid. Something important. I raised a reader, and I am prouder of that fact that, maybe, I have any right to be. Because dammit, I am so proud of my brilliant, insightful daughter.

But that's only part of the reason that I read YA. The other part is because I love it. And because a lot of the writers who are currently choosing to write YA can really write. They respect the teenager -- and teenagers get far too little respect in our society, actually. The best teenagers are awesome, amazing, hilarious, ambitious, idealistic kids. And the writers, like John Green, and Rick Riordan, and, yes, JK Rowling, who are writing for those kids have to be at the top of their game. Do not insult the intelligence of a smart teenager.

Sure, there are some tropes in YA that I am sick of, starting with the YA love triangle, It's trite, and it's been overdone to the point of ridiculousness. But tropes exist in all genres, and they are no more prevalent in YA than in romance or mystery. They may actually be less prevalent.

No one rights clever as well as Rick Riordan. No one plot better than Rowling. No one writes teen angst better than John Green. And they are just barely scratching the surface of awesome YA writers, like Julie Kagawa, and Patricia Wrede, and Shannon Hale.

So, the main reason I read YA is because a lot of it is really, really good. As in, exceeds the quality standards of a lot of adult fiction.