We are drawn to stories about first experiences, and YA literature is rich with it. First experiences draw us in because they are the crucible for change. Yet, there is often little personality to the prose in many YA books, and one gets the sense that writers are writing for the broadest demographic possible.
Though adults make up more than half of this readership, there are elements that can or cannot exist in YA for the sake of its young demographic. Yet, books intended for mature readers frequently get miscategorised as YA.
Stacey Lee gives us another diverse historical twist in her newest novel, 'Luck of the Titanic,' which imagines the story through the eyes of a Chinese girl.
Natalie Lund: On Grief and Unanswered Questions in YA Fiction
YA author Natalie Lund shares how she handles the subject of death for a YA audience in her latest novel The Sky Above Us.
Author:
The Sky Above Us (April 13, 2021; Penguin Random House/Philomel Books) and
We Speak In Storms (September 2019; Penguin Random House/Philomel Books),
a 2020 ITW Thriller Award nominee and an Illinois Reads 2020 selection. A graduate of Purdue University s MFA program, where she served as the fiction editor of
The Sycamore Review, she is also a former middle and high school teacher. She lives in Chicago with her husband. You can visit her online at natalielund.com.