I Read YA

Big confession here people.  I read YA.  GASP!  Reading YA, middle grade fiction, and picture books are kinda what my free time is all about, and while I sometimes noticed the angst before, it never really bothered me.  I was always able to connect to my inner fourteen year old and appreciate it for what it was.  That's changed just a little bit.

I've heard that you are never really an adult until you have a baby.  I've also heard that you're never really an adult until you've lost a parent.  I think that both are true, and by both counts, I'm now an adult.  (Which is a major bummer.  It's kinda like the day I discovered that I might be a Republican.  Just typing that makes me want to vomit.)

Being an adult sometimes means being more practical and sensible - something that the main characters in most YA novels are not.  It really hit me while I was reading Daughter of Deep Silence.  Here is Frances still in love-love with Grey four years later, and Shepard is also still in love-love with Libby after four years and blows Frances' cover because of it.  I was telling this to my husband and saying that I found it totally unbelievable that these characters could still love each other that much after four years completely apart, and he actually thought it was possible.

So wait, not only am I an adult, I'm the adult in my marriage?  Not cool!

What I failed to remember, but which my young-at-heart hubby does, is that an 18 year old is still very much a teen, and will likely fall for that first love or even major crush if they come a callin' four years later.  I think he's right.  Check in with your own inner 14- and 18-year olds and find out.

Young adult literature is great for escaping, at least the type I read most often.  I'm escaping into a privileged world, or a fantastic world, or a world where Tiny Cooper exists, and that's great in and of itself.  But I'm also checking out on being an adult, because it just stinks.  As long as the angst is well-written, I'm okay with it, and I'll actually find my inner teen jumping for joy.

Happy Reading