read this when i was very young but have very little memory of it, just remember being absolutely entranced.
now that i'm older i think its Mary Sue shit
The first book was kind of interesting in that it had a YA protagonist villain. I still am not familiar with any other books that have done that. From then on, yeah, it was just standard YA shit with occasionally amusing scenes.
Oh, also, to answer OP's question, none. There is great children's literature and there is great adult literature. There is no great "Young Adult" literature, it's a category that literally exists for people who should be reading at an adult level but can't or won't.
All children's fiction. Adults can (and should) enjoy them but they were deliberately written for younger children and to be enjoyed by younger children.
I guess it depends on what you define as children/adults. For example, 15 to me is not a child. They may be a minor, but to call them a kid feels weird. I wouldn't call them adults either, and while I think the descriptor young-adults isn't perfect, I think I understand it. I believe these books are written for the people in the 13-17 range. Not kids. Not adults.
1 month ago
Anonymous
To my understanding, Huckleberry Finn and Treasure Island were both written for kids in the 12-13 range. They’re read by older students now, but that’s more due to plummeting literacy standards than anything else.
1 month ago
Anonymous
*11-13, I mean. And, of course, precocious younger kids could probably manage it too.
1 month ago
Anonymous
Aren't literacy rates significantly higher than when those were published? I also think the difficulty nowadays for kids that age to read those books comes from a transition of common language and ideas that don't live in the public like they used to. In the 19th century, kids would probably know more about rafting than they would today, as they'd probably spent more time near rafts
1 month ago
Anonymous
Literacy rates are definitely higher, but educational literacy standards, in the sense of "What level should a 14 year old kid be reading at?" have dropped as far as I can tell. In other words, a smaller percentage of the population was able to read in Twain's time, but those who *could* read were reading better than people today.
1 month ago
Anonymous
I still think we're talking about skewed data here. The smaller percentage that COULD read back then were probably higher class, both socially and educationally, so it makes sense that they'd be reading at a higher level from a young age. I'm sure the elite class' children are very literate today as well.
1 month ago
Anonymous
Funny, I read those when I was about 11 or 12. I guess, education has gone downhill.
1 month ago
Anonymous
>Tries to show off intelligence for reading kids literature >Blatant comma splice
1 month ago
Anonymous
There used to be (or still is) this term "Teen Fiction" not sure if it was changed by publishers to broaden the appeal since "Teen Fiction" was mainly popular amongst Teenage Girls, YA ended up being popular mainly among Teenage Girls and childish Adult Women regardless.
1 month ago
Anonymous
Oh right, I remember hearing that they changed it because adults were feeling guilty for reading teen books lmao. I personally don't give a shit. I've earned my stripes, done my effort reading, and last year I took a break to plow through both harry Potter and a series of unfortunate events.
I always admired John Green. Between the cringeworthy youth-humor (which is somewhat charming in its own right) are some pretty profound themes that he covers well. It flies over the heads of teenagers (I never understood them back in high school) but now I look back and surprised at what he could get across.
Paper Towns is framed as a YA romance novel, but it ends with the assertion that the protagonist was wasting his time chasing a girl who did not really exist, but instead was just a projection of what he wanted her to be. He emphasizes this by never describing her in detail or having a scene where the protagonist can see her unobscured, all except the one night they spend together wherein she is really and truly herself. He definitely didn't have to write what he did for a teenage audience.
read this when i was very young but have very little memory of it, just remember being absolutely entranced.
now that i'm older i think its Mary Sue shit
The first book was kind of interesting in that it had a YA protagonist villain. I still am not familiar with any other books that have done that. From then on, yeah, it was just standard YA shit with occasionally amusing scenes.
Little Prince is definitely up there
Oh, also, to answer OP's question, none. There is great children's literature and there is great adult literature. There is no great "Young Adult" literature, it's a category that literally exists for people who should be reading at an adult level but can't or won't.
>Huckleberry Finn, Treasure Island, and The Red Pony right now
All children's fiction. Adults can (and should) enjoy them but they were deliberately written for younger children and to be enjoyed by younger children.
I guess it depends on what you define as children/adults. For example, 15 to me is not a child. They may be a minor, but to call them a kid feels weird. I wouldn't call them adults either, and while I think the descriptor young-adults isn't perfect, I think I understand it. I believe these books are written for the people in the 13-17 range. Not kids. Not adults.
To my understanding, Huckleberry Finn and Treasure Island were both written for kids in the 12-13 range. They’re read by older students now, but that’s more due to plummeting literacy standards than anything else.
*11-13, I mean. And, of course, precocious younger kids could probably manage it too.
Aren't literacy rates significantly higher than when those were published? I also think the difficulty nowadays for kids that age to read those books comes from a transition of common language and ideas that don't live in the public like they used to. In the 19th century, kids would probably know more about rafting than they would today, as they'd probably spent more time near rafts
Literacy rates are definitely higher, but educational literacy standards, in the sense of "What level should a 14 year old kid be reading at?" have dropped as far as I can tell. In other words, a smaller percentage of the population was able to read in Twain's time, but those who *could* read were reading better than people today.
I still think we're talking about skewed data here. The smaller percentage that COULD read back then were probably higher class, both socially and educationally, so it makes sense that they'd be reading at a higher level from a young age. I'm sure the elite class' children are very literate today as well.
Funny, I read those when I was about 11 or 12. I guess, education has gone downhill.
>Tries to show off intelligence for reading kids literature
>Blatant comma splice
There used to be (or still is) this term "Teen Fiction" not sure if it was changed by publishers to broaden the appeal since "Teen Fiction" was mainly popular amongst Teenage Girls, YA ended up being popular mainly among Teenage Girls and childish Adult Women regardless.
Oh right, I remember hearing that they changed it because adults were feeling guilty for reading teen books lmao. I personally don't give a shit. I've earned my stripes, done my effort reading, and last year I took a break to plow through both harry Potter and a series of unfortunate events.
all YA fiction is cringe. Young people pretending to be grown up is ultimate cringe.
I always admired John Green. Between the cringeworthy youth-humor (which is somewhat charming in its own right) are some pretty profound themes that he covers well. It flies over the heads of teenagers (I never understood them back in high school) but now I look back and surprised at what he could get across.
Paper Towns is framed as a YA romance novel, but it ends with the assertion that the protagonist was wasting his time chasing a girl who did not really exist, but instead was just a projection of what he wanted her to be. He emphasizes this by never describing her in detail or having a scene where the protagonist can see her unobscured, all except the one night they spend together wherein she is really and truly herself. He definitely didn't have to write what he did for a teenage audience.