%20(2).jpg)
Craft Chat Chronicles
Craft Chat Chronicles
Navigating the World of YA Novels
Ever wondered why young adult fiction captures the hearts of readers across all ages? Discover the key elements that make YA fiction so compelling on this episode of Craft Chat Chronicles. From the intense emotional rollercoasters of first love and heartbreak to the urgency found in fast-paced storytelling, we’ll break down what makes these narratives irresistible. With excerpts from Emily Hainsworth's "Through to You" and Paula Stokes’s "Liars Inc.," we illustrate the raw, engaging elements that define the genre and discuss the strategic role of teenage protagonists and their often-absent parents.
Buckle up for a discussion on the high-stakes world of teenage decision-making and the nuanced portrayal of sexuality in YA literature. We dive into an adrenaline-pumping scene involving a protagonist's daring escape from FBI agents, exploring how believability and dramatic tension keep readers hooked. Then, we tackle sensitive topics like teenage fatherhood and first romantic encounters with examples from Angie Thomas's "Concrete Rose" and Nicola Yoon's "Everything, Everything." Learn how these narratives handle complex issues responsibly without losing their entertainment value.
Stay ahead of the curve with our insights into the latest trends in YA fiction. Discover the rising popularity of strong female protagonists in fantastical settings, the enduring appeal of dystopian narratives, and the increasing demand for diversity and representation. Whether it's the suspense of YA mysteries or the thrill of YA horror, particularly from Black authors, find out what’s captivating readers today. Join us for a comprehensive dive into the vibrant and ever-evolving world of young adult fiction!
Commercial before HG release.
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast for tips on crafting best-selling fiction. Here at Craft Chat Chronicles, we bring you expert interviews, insights and tips on writing, publishing and marketing. Join the conversation and embark on a new chapter in your writing journey.
Jmarie:I'm JD Myal, and today's topic is YA. Jd, this is your area of writing, so how about you take it away?
J.D. Myall:for us. Alrighty, I'm excited to dive in.
J.D. Myall:Today we're going to be traveling beyond the page and we're going to unravel the exciting world of best-selling young adult fiction. And we're going to unravel the exciting world of bestselling young adult fiction. Ya fiction is a marketing category, it is not a genre. So if you think about, like when you walk in a bookstore, how you have the history section, you might have a business section. That's what YA is. It's basically who publishing wants to market the book to, and with YA young adult, they market it to teenagers and the stories are typically about the teenage experience, the young adult experience. Protagonists are between the ages of 15 and 18. On rare occasions they could be as young as 14 or as old as 20.
J.D. Myall:But that's if publishers are being generous Because YA is a marketing category sometimes Because YA is a marketing category sometimes also. There are some books that might be marketed as YA that aren't YA in the true definition of the term, but they just think, hmm, I have this adult novel but the protagonist is kind of young.
J.D. Myall:Maybe we could try to market it to both audiences to make more money. One of the signature aspects of young adult fiction is immediacy and emotion. Aspects of young adult fiction is immediacy and emotion. Ya fiction is categorized by a sense of emotional closeness and it's engaging. It reflects the intense emotional experiences of adolescents. If you think about your first love, your first heartbreak, your best friend breakups in high school and middle school, all those emotions are big and raw. You're young, you haven't built up all the walls that you have at a later age and so everything just feels so huge and immediate. And YA fiction focuses on vivid emotions and feelings and it mirrors the heightened emotional state of teenagers. A lot of it centers around first love Romance is common, but first love in particular, and a lot of YA novels explore themes that deal with things like this. So, for example of the immediacy and the emotion in young adult fiction, we're going to do a segment of Through to you by Emily Hainsworth. This is the very first page in chapter one.
J.D. Myall:Same dream I've been having for the past two months Viv walking away from glass and fire, her laughter echoing through the night. She's coming towards me, her lips stretched into a seductive smile, her hips sway and I wouldn't touch her so much it hurts. I want to bury my fingers in her black hair. She's a stunning contrast in bright flames behind her. I anticipate breathing in her scent. It's like spring and running my hands all over her skin, never letting go. But then she stops and looks away from me. The fire dances on her cheek. I want to scream, but I'm mute. I reach for her, but I can't move. She turns back toward the flames. I've lost her again. I close my hand into a fist and crack my eyes open. Mike Lou stands at the end of the library table, uncomfortable.
J.D. Myall:Uh hey, cam the bell rang, comfortable. Uh, hey cam the bell rang. My wife drew up on my mouth and pulled and peeled my face off the spiral notebook in front of me. I rubbed the deep ridges and bleeds on my cheek, thanks. He hesitates adjusting the backpack on his shoulder. See you at lunch. I don't look up. Yeah, so do you see the immediacy and the emotion there?
Jmarie:uh, yeah, I mean, he's deep within this grief of losing someone close to him. His girlfriend was probably his first girl, I mean, they're in high school. So you know, first real, uh, serious relationship and then reading on past that, and in addition to the grief, there's also guilt, which are huge emotions for an adult, um, let alone someone of a younger age, trying to navigate that basically by himself, because his mom is like working all the time and his father's not in the picture. People at school don't know how to deal with him and his situation, which is actually which actually angered me a little bit as an adult Cause I'm just like these schools officials need to have some better grief counseling at this school. So, while he's still in the, I'll call it the real world, I guess. Yeah, I see. See, this is definitely, um, a great example of someone of this age group trying through these emotions.
J.D. Myall:It's hard for anyone, um, yeah, it's also an example of what we talked about in our first page edits um lesson two, where she's immediately hitting you with the intrigue, with the fire dancing on the cheek and seeing the girl against the backdrop of the flames, and then the head and the heart with the emotions he feels and how grief-stricken you can feel the character is on the very first page to try to hook readers to read more, because, as a, I would want to know what happened to her. I would want to know why he's having these nightmares.
Jmarie:Yeah, and I'd say, even with this being a dream, you can still sense the hole in his life and in his spirit.
J.D. Myall:So the next thing I wanted to touch on with YA fiction is YA fiction has very fast-paced narrative. Teenagers don't typically have the attention span of 40-year-old people, so you kind of want to hook your reader early and you kind of want to get to the inciting incident, to the heart of your plot, very soon. It's also very fast paced. Often, you know, it's not the typical navel gazing literary type. You know, commercial YA we're discussing is not the typical literary navel-gazing, a lot of introspection type novels.
J.D. Myall:Usually it's usually you know, like I said, fast-paced, good plot story starts rolling quickly, and that's also true for the time. Most YA novels are over a short period of time, for example, days, weeks, a month, a year. It's not to this rule, but on average, usually the stories take place over a very quick time. Most YA novels are coming-of-age stories, while all coming-of-age stories are not YA. Most YA novels are coming-of-age stories. It's about the protagonist's journey of self-discovery. Identity struggles, sometimes sexuality struggles, peer pressure struggles, friendships and relationship dynamics and personal growth are often, are often, themes um, could I ask um?
Jmarie:so you were saying that YA novels are coming of age stories, but not all coming of age stories are YA. What's an example of a coming of age story that's not YA?
J.D. Myall:Off the top of my head I can't think of a title of one. But let's say you have a novel where the protagonist is like in her 30s and she's thinking back to her teen years. It would be a coming of age story because she's thinking of her coming of age and what she went through, but it would not be YA because it's in an adult's perspective. Looking back, ya is immediately in the teen and young adult perspective now, not the 30-year-old person looking back. Or, for example, in the book Thief, a lot of people think that's YA because the protagonist is young. But for much in the book Thief a lot of people think that's YA because the protagonist is young but for much of the book she'd be too young to be YA. And then on top of that it's in the POV character is deaf, and deaf is not a teenager, not a teenager. That we know of. Ya's is often in the very distinct, authentic teenage voice. They're frequently first person because that helps get you right into the main character's head. It helps you sympathize with them and understand them more because you're right inside their thoughts and their feelings. And I will give you an example of the narrative pace and the teenage voice that we were just speaking about in YA, from a novel called Liars Inc by Paula Stokes, and this segment is literally the first page of this book and you'll see once again, on the first page they jump right into it. You start in the action and then you leave them in the fire. So the first page of this one it's the same as the other one where they're immediately trying to hit you with the connection and the excitement. So let's listen to a little of that.
J.D. Myall:December 6th I didn't make a to-do list, but if I did, today would have gone something like this one get drunk, two get laid, three go surfing, not necessarily in that order. Noticeably absent from that list is get arrested. And yet here I am, spending my 18th birthday with my back against the water and I was hunting cabinet Two FBI agents prowling the dark with their guns drawn, both trying to get me to confess to the murder of my best friend, preston DeWitt. It's all right, max. One of them says we just want you to talk. It's the nice Agent, mcgee. How'd you find me, I ask, stalling for time. I push my long bangs out of my eyes with a hand that isn't clutching a gun To my left. I can just barely make out a razor-thin beam of gray light creeping under the back door. I debate making a run for it, but it's too far away. By the time I get there and undo the bolt, both agents will be on top of me.
J.D. Myall:Colonel Amos tipped us off and Gonzales said that's the other agent. He's kind of a dick. Your little girlfriend ain't as smart as she thinks she is. My girlfriend Parvati, the colonel's daughter. I knew hiding him was a bad idea. Where's Preston? Mcgee asked again. I don't know. Did you kill him? Gonzales sounds like he's already mad at his mom. No, of course not. The blackness ripples in front of me. One of the agents is moving. I can hear him inching his way across the floor. Okay, so that was the first page of Liars Inc by Paula Stokes. What did you think about that?
Jmarie:I love this beginning. It's right in the middle of the action, immediate res or res Forgive me, I'm pronouncing that wrong but in the middle of things, which is really what you want when you want to grab a reader's attention. And this is, even with screenwriting, what we talk about. You were talking about previously, about, you know, getting to the inciting incident right away. Even in the past few years, with screenwriting, they want you to get to it even sooner. It used to be like within the first 10 pages, now it's really within the first five and like this.
Jmarie:This is the type of action that you want, um, depending on the story that you're telling me, to really pull in your reader. Um, because I'm just listening to it and then also I'm reading it. I'm just like what is this boy, what, what has he gotten into? Surrounded by FBI agents? They're, you know, from the dialogue you're learning that one of his friends is missing, so they're asking him about that. He has a gun. So it's just a lot of like whoa, what's going on? And then also like you know, how did he get here? But also how is this going to play out? Um, and then so the way the book unfolds, you actually go back a few weeks and it starts to tell how he got, how he ends up getting to this point and it's, it's really great.
J.D. Myall:It speaks to what you're talking about, the fast-paced narrative, and just get getting to it and, like I said, you see the distinctive teenage voice, um, with commercial way, you definitely want to get into it. Um, like you were saying, by page five, you kind of want to be getting in there to your central plot because, again, teenagers don't have the attention span of adults, so you want to hook them early and keep them so you don't know if adults have an attention span of adults anymore, but that's true yeah, but I felt the same way about this one and I loved that beginning.
J.D. Myall:I found it very engaging. It hooked me too.
Jmarie:It made me want to know what's going to happen next, and the color is super cool as well and one thing to the voice, the teenage voice you were talking about, you know, he calls the one fbi asian a dick. One thing to the voice, the teenage voice you were talking about he calls the one FBI agent a dick. Or was it the policeman? Either way you know, it's definitely teenage voice.
J.D. Myall:Yeah, and the part where he was like getting arrested, absent from that list, getting arrested.
Jmarie:Yeah, yeah.
J.D. Myall:That's like some snarky, smart-ass shit. I could see myself at 16 thinking or saying Definitely.
Jmarie:That's not on the list.
J.D. Myall:I have never been in the room with a bunch of FBI agents with guns, though. Thank you Thankfully. Thank you, yes, that's the one sin I failed to commit On to the next slide.
Jmarie:Keep not doing that one yeah.
J.D. Myall:The parent role in commercial, best-selling young adult fiction is as background characters, or they're either absentee, they're dimwitted. That nature, because the parents playing minimal roles, allows for the teenage protagonist to slay zombies, kill witches and save the world without being hindered by adult supervision. If parents are present in ya, they tend to be more obstacles. For example, buffy might want to go out and kill vampires tonight, but her mom, who has no idea she's a slayer, has grounded her. I don't know if that happened on the series, I'm just using it. I'm sure it has.
Jmarie:I mean, that's this portrayal allows for greater narrative focus on the series. I'm just using it as an example. I'm sure it has. I mean that's.
J.D. Myall:I'm pretty sure this portrayal allows for greater narrative focus on the teenager's perspective as they navigate adventures and challenges with increased independence and agency. By reducing the adult presence, ya stories emphasize youth empowerment and the adolescent journey towards self-discovery. As protagonists fall in love, explore the world and kill zombies unhindered by their parents. They reflect the real-life desire of teens to explore the world and to grow independently as well.
Jmarie:That makes a lot of sense. You gotta have the parents on the side so they can do what they need to do, Otherwise you don't have a story, you know.
J.D. Myall:Exactly Commercial YA fiction features teen-friendly concepts. Plots and settings are relatable to teenagers. For example, in the clip we first read with the boy who was having a dream about his deceased girlfriend. Through to you he's in a library. You'll often see school dances or football games or you know just general settings that reflect the teen experience and that teens can relate to. But then you also have the fantastical, the strange, the things that make the story exciting and new to teens. In commercial YA, characters often grow and learn important life lessons. Characters often grow and learn important life lessons.
J.D. Myall:However effective YA wants to avoid being preachy or overly moralizing. Teens don't want to be lectured by their books. They get that from their parents, they get that from their teachers. So it's okay to be open-ended. It's okay to present both sides of an issue and to allow the teen to form their own views. It's okay to subliminally, you know, put in little lines here and there, noting that wrong is wrong in a story. I'm not saying you have to be immoral in a story or you know or forget your morality behind. I'm just saying you want to do so with a delicate, refined touch. You don't want to be pretty cheap.
J.D. Myall:The average length of a YA novel is between 50,000 and 80,000 words, though fantasy can be 70,000 to 100,000 words. However, it is not uncommon for fantasy to go up to like 120,000 words for well-established authors and for later books in a series. If you're Stephen King, you can get away with probably writing a 500 page book because they know he has the audience to read it, so they won't stop that. If you're a newer author, getting that bigger word count is a really hard sell because they don't know how many of the books they will be able to move and the longer the book is, the more it costs to produce. So that's why sometimes the first book in a series will be a little slimmer and then once they realize, oh people buying this, this is taking off. You can get thicker, you know, in the books that come after.
Jmarie:Sometimes uh say 5,000 to 80,000 words. How many pages is that about?
J.D. Myall:50,000 to 80,000 words. The pages are usually about 260 words apiece Gotta calculate.
Jmarie:Well, how many pages? Okay? Well then calculate that y'all 260 words apiece, Divide 50,000 by 260. You'll get your page, Okay.
J.D. Myall:Hopeful endings. While not always happy endings, ya fiction seems to have like hopeful endings. You might not win the contest that you wanted to win, for example, but in joining the contest, somebody was able to review your work and say, oh wow, this is cool, let's nominate her for something else. Or you might not get the boy of your dreams, but you might get the best friend, who was better anyway, exactly. Um. Some examples from actual fiction. Um, they also explore themes like personal growth and acceptance, overcoming adversity. Um, take the hate you give. Their hopeful ending, after the hate you give, is by angie thomas, by the way.
J.D. Myall:After star, the protagonist witnesses police brutality and racial injustice and violence. She finds her voice and the courage to stand up for what's right. She protests. The novel concludes with star determined to keep fighting for justice, symbolizing hope and the power of activism. The problem with police brutality doesn't vanish. So it's not a happy ending. It's not like they solved that horrible, you know thing that happens on the page and in real life, but it's a hopeful ending. Star is more empowered. Star fought. I found her voice through that experience and she wants to keep working in activism and working toward trying to bring some type of resolution.
J.D. Myall:Re-isolation and healing Into All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. The story wraps with Laura, jean and Peter reconciling after misunderstandings and choosing to be together. This ending brings a message of hope and relationships, showing that communication and honesty can lead to healing and a stronger bond. You also see New Beginnings. Take Simon Versus the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albatali. Please forgive me, becky Albatali, I think I butchered your name. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but in that book it concludes with Simon's relationship with Blue blossoming into something real and tangible. Despite the challenges Simon faced in coming out and the fear of rejection, the ending is full of hope and new beginnings, not just of romance but in Simon's journey of self-acceptance. So again, they're hopeful endings. They're not always happy. Sometimes they're happy, but they're not always happy. But they're like, hopeful and usually end with some type of growth and development for the character.
J.D. Myall:Another common theme in ya fiction is rash decisions and conflicts. Characters make impulsive decisions leading to conflict and dramatic stakes, reflecting the decision-making process of real teenagers. Um, teenagers aren't stupid, no, but they're young, they're impulsive. They haven't lived as long as the rest of us so they don't often have all of the tools and the decision-making developed. The brain is still developing. They don't have all of that to make the best decisions all of the time.
J.D. Myall:A lot of times in fiction you get stupid YA heroin syndrome, which I hate. So you want to make your characters not stupid. The rationality doesn't have to make sense to a 40 year old, but it has to make sense to that kid and it has to be something that you would reasonably think is understandable given their circumstance. Do you get what I'm saying? Because, like I said, teens are impulsive. Teens sometimes make faulty decisions. So if your teenage character is making a faulty decision, by a 40 year old perspective you could say oh yeah, that's a faulty decision. But you at least want the reader to be able to understand why. You know what I mean. Oh, they're making a poor choice, but they're doing it because they're emotional or they're doing it because they can't see another way out.
Jmarie:You know what I mean. They're just in the moment and not fully thinking.
J.D. Myall:Yes.
Jmarie:Yeah.
J.D. Myall:And I will give you an example of that. We're going back to Liars Inc. We started on page one with the main character surrounded by the FBI agents. This rash decision-making and faulty decision-making can make juicy, conflict and interesting drama and it can give your story more, more meat. That works, it gives your story more depth and more to hold on to and it can make that juicy, tension and makes people turn through the pages. So, again, another example of that is from Liar it's Inc by Paula Stokes, and this is later in the first chapter. We're back in the cabin with the protagonist who's being chased by FBI agents and Don't come any closer.
J.D. Myall:I wave the handgun back and forth in front of me. I don't want to shoot anybody. They probably don't think I'll do it. They're right. I've never shot a gun before. I'm not even sure if I know how. But if there's one thing I learned from spending a year on the street, it's that people are afraid of weapons. Everything's gonna be okay, max, assuming voice. I'm not a quiet scum in the dark.
J.D. Myall:They're closing in. I have to do something. I point the gun at the ceiling and pull the trigger. Nothing happens, apparently. I don't know how. I swear under my breath and then remember what our body told me you just slide the lever and pull the trigger. I fumble with the little lever on the side of the gun and feel the bullet into the chamber. I shoot at the ceiling again. Fire erupts from the muzzle, the light fixture explodes and glittery shards of glass rain down on my shoulders. The gun shudders violently, but I manage not to drop it. The agents mutter four-letter words as they duck and cover. It's all the distraction on me.
J.D. Myall:With my ears still ringing, I lunge for the back door. As soon as I open it, they'll be able to see me. But all I have to do is make it to the woods. I can lose them in the trees. As I throw open the door, I hear shouts hoping the fence won't shoot me in the back.
J.D. Myall:I cover the distance between the cabin and the end of the tree line in just a few strides. It's as black in the forest as it was in the gloss, but I'm not afraid of the dark or what hides in the shadows. To me, mother Nature isn't nearly as scary as human nature. I plunge through the shrubbery branches, clawing at my face and arms. I hear McGee and Gonzalez behind me crashing through the brush like angry bears, lending my stride, propelling myself forward. I know these woods. I know where I'm going the river. These guys aren't superhero TV FBI agents. They won't go over a cliff, but I will. I've done it loads of times, never while being chased, but still it's easy Run, push off, fall, sink, emerge, breathe.
J.D. Myall:The moon shuts off a veil of clouds Illuminating the winding path in front of me. I can see where the trail dead ends. At the sheer drop-off. Water roars just out of sight. My tennis shoes crunch gravel as I celebrate, blood pounds in my ears. Where's Preston DeWitt? I don't know. That's the truth, not the whole truth, but it's too late for that. Even if I told the feds everything, they wouldn't believe me. My left foot lands on the edge of the cliff. I push off with all my might, rocketing my body out towards the middle of the river, far away from the jagged rocks below.
J.D. Myall:As I plummet through the crisp night air, I think about whether things might have been different if I had just told the truth from the beginning. Now, that is an example of rash decisions. He shoots at the light in a room full of armed FBI agents Not my choice, but you get why he would choose it to. You know. Escape you know it has to make sense to the character, even if it's not something that we would rationally do. It has to make story sense. You get why somebody would do that in that situation to want to break free. You get the sprinting through the woods while being chased, jumping off the cliff not my choice.
J.D. Myall:I'm astatic. They would have had me long before I reached the ground. But it makes juicy entertaining tension. I want to know what's going to happen to this kid. I want to know if he goes over the cliff and comes back up or if he sinks and drowns. You want to know if the agents snatch him before he goes over. These are all things you know that you want in your stories, especially if you're trying to write commercial YA. These are all things you know that you want in your stories, especially if you're trying to write commercial YA. You want the tension, you want the drama, you want the faulty decision makings. These are all the reasons that people come to YA.
Jmarie:What are your thoughts on this part? That whole section was like, as an older person, I was just like giving me a heart attack because I'm just like, boy, what you doing? He's very lucky that he didn't get shot by the FBI agents as soon as that gun went off, like you know, and now he's jumping off a cliff, it's just like, oh my goodness. But again, it's just like what happened to get to this point, and so you get those little nuggets along the way, which I love.
J.D. Myall:That's another important part of storytelling as well. You don't want to weigh down your story, especially in the early pages, with too much detail because it'll bore your readers, it'll turn them off, they won't keep going. She's sprinkling in enough of the juicy details to keep you reading and you know all the backstory and that stuff, stuff they can discover along the way with sprinkles. You don't have to dump a whole brick in front of them to keep them from getting spot now you know like, yeah, when you, when you dump all the exposition and the nobody's going to keep reading, it's right not interesting, yeah yeah, sprinkle it in, give them little bits.
J.D. Myall:Just, you know the bear that they need to get them going, and then just keep dropping little jewels here and there and sprinkle it through, and then they'll get what they need to know when they need to know it. But again, that's. This is voicey, like why it's supposed to be. It's voicey as heck. You see the rash decisions. You see the juicy conflict. Make the dramatic stakes. He's going over the edge of a cliff. There's agents with guns. There's no more dramatic than that. You can see the faulty decision-making process of real teenagers.
Jmarie:Yeah, there's not a lot of internal introspection, it's just like in the moment. This is what's happening now. You know, not like, oh, I should have thought about this. No, this is what we're doing right now.
J.D. Myall:Right. And then even when he has this moment of introspection where he's like how much easier would my life have been if I told the truth from the beginning. That's one sentence.
J.D. Myall:And he's jumping off a cliff in the middle of it, getting that introspection quick and in the middle of the action. That's the difference, I think, between a lot of commercial and literary, especially YA, because YA is always faster paced and in literary it's a lot more of the musings and the internal thought and in YA, you know, it's a lot more of the plot driven and story driven and the internal thoughts and stuff are there, but they're definitely a backseat to the other things. So now on to sex in YA. The common misconception in writing ya novels is that there's not sex and there's not cursing, which is not true.
J.D. Myall:Teenagers first. Teenagers have sex and that's reflected on the page. Ya um, when you're approaching the subject, you want to use sympathy, sensitivity and understanding of the adolescent audience. Sexual content is acceptable. Explicit details typically are not.
J.D. Myall:You want to avoid placing emphasis on the physical of what's happening and put more emphasis on the emotional impacts and how this makes the person feel and exploring the psychological aspects of the experience and themes such as consent, communication, emotional readiness should be thoughtfully integrated and the real life complexities of sex and the consequences of sexual encounters for teenagers should be prevalent as well.
J.D. Myall:This approach ensures realism and responsibility in YA fiction, but it also serves an educational purpose, offering young readers a respectful, safe framework to understand and navigate this essential aspect of growing up. So they're going into it, you know, a little more informed. Ok, so some examples of sex in YA. The first is from Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, and Angie is very responsible in her sex scene in that the whole narrative of the story is basically about a kid who becomes a teenage father and at one point you know he's left literally with the baby to raise and he gets very little help from his mom in the situation because she's trying to teach him to be a father, be responsible. So now he's not hanging out with his friends anymore, the parties and things like that, you know life's not going for him like it used to be.
J.D. Myall:He's up all night changing diapers and working to get money to take care of his kid and it humanizes the black teenage father. And it humanizes this character who had been in gangs and made some poor choices in his life too, and it shows the consequences of sexuality in a way that's not preachy or judgy, but um, and is wrapped up in a really entertaining story. So, like I said, she's very responsible because she shows the consequences along with this scene and this scene is not explicit in any way, shape or form and it grows that was wild, me and Lisa lying in her bed, all sweaty and panting.
J.D. Myall:We went at it for hours, more like 15, 20, 10 minutes. Either way, I did the damn thing. This was the first time we ever had sex without protection. I see what the homies need. It do feel different. I was careful, though. Just like I said I'd be, I brushed Lisa's hair back and kissed her forehead. Your boy made her select them baby eggs out. Hell yeah, damn, I missed you. She cuddled close against me. I can't lie, I missed you too. I could tell by the way you were screaming. Lisa smacks my chest. You play too much. I smirk, but she can't deny the truth. I close my eyes, mind. The only thing Ain't no gunshots, no dead cousins. There's just us. To a car home, to the driveway. Lisa sits straight up. Oh shit, my mama Shit. We jump out of bed. Lisa put on a t-shirt and shorts and I throw on my pants. Damn, wait, my boxers. I put on my boxers. The front door opens. I'm home. Miss Montgomery called out Come help me get these groceries out the car.
Jmarie:Shit, shit, shit shit. And that was the sex scene in concrete rose.
J.D. Myall:It wasn't even really a sex scene because it's like post activities. So they're not that this in this out.
Jmarie:It's more of him saying that you know sweating baby hairs out and stuff like that yeah um, they were in the activity, it just was very quick oh see, to me it was like the way he was talking. It was like he was reflecting on the activity afterwards, like they were lying there sweaty, and he was like, yeah, it's been hours. And I was like, okay, maybe not, um, but this was.
Jmarie:I'll listen again maybe I mean that's how I took it, but maybe I'm wrong um, but it was interesting to read and listen to this because I realized I had never like read a ya from a male perspective. Um, I'm usually into um, you know the female stories, I guess, because I identify with them. But I love this because it's like he's he's gloating and like exaggerating about things. This is like okay, yes, this is very much a teenage boy and he's, he's very proud as an adult. It was just funny to me because I'm just like, but he's, he's so like in his own, like glory. It was cute in a particular way.
J.D. Myall:Um, yeah, I also um, like, how, like you were saying, like um, a couple examples from what we discussed. There's not the explicit detail. There's not the whole ins and out. There's no description of southern genitalia or anything low down. It's not the explicit detail. There's not the whole ins and outs. There's no description of Southern genitalia or anything low down.
J.D. Myall:It's not necessary, yeah, it's not necessary and we know what happened. And there's also, like you said, we're in the moment. It's not preachy, we're in his head. He's quite excited about himself and even as the story unfolds, she's not preaching at him about becoming a single father. You know what I mean. The story's not preaching that, but the character's struggles are enough of a lesson, you know what I mean. So when you do it with a death and with a delicate hand, you can teach a lesson without being preachy, without beating somebody over the head with it, and while entertaining.
J.D. Myall:Our next example goes into a little more detail, but it's still YA, so it's still not explicit. This is Everything, everything by Nicole and Yoon. This novel debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, so all the little teeny boppers and the adults who love YA were behind this. When this came out, I scramble to my knees and pull it over my head. I shiver you got freckles here too, he says, sliding his hands across the top of my breasts. I look down to confirm and we both laugh. He puts his hand on my bare waist. You're all the good things wrapped into one good thing. Um, you too. I say inarticulate. All the words in my head have been replaced with one Ollie.
J.D. Myall:He pulls his t-shirt over his head and my body takes over my brain. I run my fingers over the smooth, hard muscles of his chest, dip them into the valleys between them. My lips follow the same path, tasting, caressing. He lies back and keeps himself, still letting me explore, and I kiss my way back across the landscape of him to his toes and back up again. The urge to bite him is irresistible and I don't resist. The bite pushes him over the edge and he takes charge. My body burns where he doesn't touch and burns where he does. We gather each other up. We are limbs and arms and legs and bodies entangled. He raises himself above me and we are wordless. And then we are joined, moving silently. We are joined and I know all the secrets of the universe.
Jmarie:I love this scene. I feel like it is more graphic than the other one, but I feel like it's still sweet. It's gentle, she has no hesitation, she's all in. I can sense that electricity and excitement between them, which is what you want. And then she says we are joined, and I just thought that's such a lovely way of putting it. Um, and you know, it's not graphic, it's three words and I absolutely understand what, why it's not 50 shades of gray, but you get the point I actually love this more in terms of scenes than, uh, 50 shades of gray, um, because it's like, but I don't think I would.
Jmarie:This isn't vulgar and I don't think I would mind if I had a teenage kid reading this scene. Um, and I think it's important that it portrays the type of feeling and enthusiasm that should be there in these, in these moments.
J.D. Myall:Um, it just feels like a healthy portrayal of sex and it feels very much young adult, it feels kids exploring their buttings and you do want to have that feeling of consent. I mean, there's also unpleasant sex sex and ya and there's rape and all those other things. Those topics obviously have to be handled delicately because you don't know which readers have experienced them and could be triggered by them. But I think it's important to explore consent in the writing. It was very clear in both of these that the girls consented. You know what I mean and I think it's very important to give them some idea, though vague and non-graphic of what healthy situations look like.
Jmarie:It is great to have these examples, especially if someone doesn't feel comfortable enough talking to their parents or whatever about it, to see what a healthy interaction like this looks like.
J.D. Myall:Very true Popularity. Ya is very popular. It's been doing very well in sales. Facts are that the books may be targeted to teens, but they have definitely crossed over to adults with their themes of identity, self-discovery, romance and adventures. The crossover appeal has broadened the market significantly and in some ways some people think that the adult interest has matured YA. They think that some of the things that are explored in YA books today weren't done as much so 10 years ago and some of the topics that might have been considered YA back then are more middle grade now. But that's debatable.
J.D. Myall:Some of the popular genres inside of YA are diverse and inclusive stories. There's a strong focus on diversity and representation, including characters from different ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, religious and sexual and gender identities. So that's on the rise, still significantly underrepresented. I say that every chance I get. A lot of times people hear that there's a push for diversity and they think that you know the problem's not there. Or they might think, oh, these people of color are taking my spot, but if you look at the statistics it's like 70 percent or more publishing is white, so nobody's taking your spot.
J.D. Myall:There's, you know, we're just and that's like all minorities fall into that little bitty leftover precision, something that's also popular right now. Mental health themes um, a lot of stories offer narratives that delve into topics like depression, anxiety and trauma. Um, an example of trauma would be the story we were just looking at, um, with the boy who's grieving his dead girlfriend. Current trends trends in YA fiction, fantasy and supernatural elements are popular Themes, including witches, vampires and fairies. Books like the Twilight Saga and Vampires Never Get Old have been influential in continuing this trend. Retellings of classic fairy tales and contemporary adaptations of classic fairy tales have gained popularity, like Cinder, which is a futuristic Cinderella story, and Legendborn by Tracy Dion, which is a modern day interpretation of the King Arthur legends.
J.D. Myall:Um, there are others, like Cinderella is dead, which I can't remember the author's name.
J.D. Myall:I'm sorry, but Cinderella is dead also has like LGBTQ plus rep inside of it, and you know a lot of the retellings are at the Little Women remix that they had recently, where diverse authors are reimagining some of the classics to include characters that look like them.
J.D. Myall:Legendborn, obviously well, not obviously, if you didn't read it obviously to me, because I did the protagonist is a woman of color, a Black girl, but you know you still have the rest of King Arthur's court. There's still lots of white people in the story and lots of other people in the story as well. But, you know, just expanding the canon and reimagining some of the classics and adding some cultural touchstones to make it unique and new is happening and like even with um, like cinder, it's not a retelling that changes any race or gender swap, but gender swap retellings are a thing too. People are doing that a lot, but it's not, you know, an exchange of race lot, but it's not, you know, an exchange of race and gender. It's just taking the cinderella concept and making it futuristic and making cinderella like this, like cyborg type thing. So you know, there's lots of really cool ways that people are playing with the classics. That are trendy, my fantasy in young adults.
J.D. Myall:Um, young adult is secondary world If you think of stories where the entire world is new. The magic systems can be new, the religions can be new, the cultures can be all new. It's something outside of Earth. So Star Wars would be high fantasy, secondary world, because nothing in it is what we know here. Low fantasy is our world with a supernatural element. Take Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or Vampire Diaries that would be considered low fantasy because they're in our world but they have a magical element. Or the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix would be considered low fantasy. Another low fantasy would be Percy Jackson and the Olympics, because Percy Jackson is in our world. While it delves into Greek mythology and has some fantastical elements, it's firmly rooted in the modern world. So it's an example of this.
J.D. Myall:Another trend in commercial young adult fiction and best-selling young adult fiction is strong and best-selling young adult fiction is strong female protagonists. A lot of best-selling young adult fiction focuses on fantastical settings with these strong female protagonists. Books like Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bargadou, which is set in a magical world which would make that high fantasy, and the protagonist, Alina Starkov, discovers her power to save her country from the darkness. She's a very strong protagonist and you see a lot of strong females in young adult fiction so, just to mention, shadow and Bone has a series on Netflix.
Jmarie:It recently got canceled, but there are two seasons that you can watch and also Percy Jackson and the Olympians. There's a new series for that one too. I don't remember what platform that's on, but a lot of these, uh, young adult novels that we're talking about today and just in general, have series, um, so if you want to read them and watch the show, another thing that's very popular in Hawaii right now is the resurgence of dystopian yay.
J.D. Myall:dystopian novels feature settings marked by oppressive governments and societies in a post-apocalyptic world, often with extreme class divisions and limited resources. These settings create a backdrop for the protagonist to undergo a journey from naivety. They have themes of rebellion, resistance and self-discovery. Central to these stories are action-packed plots, moral dilemmas and often romantic subplots. Despite the grim circumstances, these narratives emphasize themes of hope, resilience and the power of change, while offering commentary on contemporary social and political and environmental issues. On contemporary social and political and environmental issues, this genre resonates with young readers as it parallels the adolescent experience of questioning authority and exploring independence and identity. Examples of this would be the book the 100. They also have a TV show on Netflix, the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. That's a movie and a book Divergent by Veronica Roth.
Jmarie:Another movie series Partially.
J.D. Myall:I think and Shatter Me by Tahira Mafi. War Girls was another one that was out recently that deals with post-apocalyptic worlds, and the Darkest Minds, which is also a movie and a book dealing with the post-apocalyptic world and diversity and representation. The recent surge in young adult literature features more protagonists of color and LGBTQ plus characters, tackling social issues and reflecting the growing demand for diversity. Despite the publishing industry's prevalent whiteness, books like the Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, which confront racial injustice, have achieved notable success. This novel, the Hate U Give, notably debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and it stayed there for 249 weeks, highlighting the significant impact and need for diverse narratives in YA fiction can impact and need for diverse narratives in YA fiction.
J.D. Myall:Other popular narratives that delve into race include Invisible Son by Cale Johnson, socioeconomic issues and racial identity, and Dear Martin by Nick Stone, which has the boy who's writing letters to Martin Luther King, reflecting on the injustice that he's facing in his world. There are books like they Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. Adam writes a lot of gay male, a lot of Puerto Ricans, because he's in South Puerto Rican boys. And the Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova, and that one's like mermaids. So there's know on the horizon and new titles bubbling up. The publishing is, like I said, significantly white. And on top of that there was a poll done years ago not too many years ago, but years ago talking about the, where you could see the low number of minority represented books. And then, even more shocking, was that some of those minority representing.
Jmarie:books were not written by the minorities they're representing. Few scandals about that.
J.D. Myall:Yes, yeah, so you know, but people are at least recognizing that the problem exists and working to fix it to a degree, and the audience is responding to it. The 249 weeks 249 weeks that Hate your Give was on the New York Times bestsellers list is evidence of the fact that the demand is there. The audience is hungry for these books, and that one is also a movie. There is an increase in interest in young adult horror novels as a whole, but especially those written by Black authors that center Black characters. If you think of books like the Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson, which is a Carrie retelling, and some other cool titles that are out now, you can see that reflect mystery.
J.D. Myall:In YA mysteries the plot typically centers around a secret or a crime that has already occurred, such as a theft, a kidnapping or murder. The main focus is on who is responsible for the event. The narrative is driven by the protagonist, often a detective or some amateur sleuth who works to gather evidence and uncover clues and determine suspects so they can solve the puzzle. Sometimes they become a target of the killer, sometimes they become a target of the investigation, and it's that juicy, tension and drama and the questions of who did it and why that keep the story going, and drama and the questions of who did it and why that keep the story going. There's often a lot of red herrings, a very suspenseful plot, a lot of character development. In modern best-selling mysteries there's more diversity in past, there are themes and messages, things you'll explore like trust, friendships, betrayal, a lot of voice and perspective, unpredictable plot twists and compelling protagonists. An example of the YA mystery that did really well was we Were Liars by E.
Jmarie:Lockhart. I remember waiting for your shoes so we could go into the clam shack. I tell Maren she stopped talking now and looks at me expectantly Pinwheels. I say Gat giving me a book. So your memories are coming back. Maren says that's great. The aunties fought about the estate. She shrugs A bit and Granddad and I we had this argument about his ivory statues. Yeah, we talked about it at the time. Tell me something, what? Why did Gat disappear after my accident? Mirren twist a strand of her hair. I don't know. Did he go back with Raquel? I don't know. Did we fight? Did I do something wrong? I don't know. Caddy, he got upset at me a few nights back about not knowing the names of the staff, about not having seen his apartment in New York. There's silence. He has good reasons to be mad, says Maren. Finally, what did I do? Maren sighs.
J.D. Myall:You can't fix it. Okay, so we Were Liars is a mystery and in this mystery, the protagonist is an unreliable protagonist. She's dealing with trauma, which is an example of what we talked about with the mental illness and exploration of that. She's doing dealing with trauma, and she's not reliable or very stable, and the mystery is uh, what happened?
J.D. Myall:and her struggling to remember what went on because she has had this traumatic incident, this accident, this traumatic incident that's wiped her brain and her memories are coming back, but because of the fact that she's got this mental health stuff going on and this physical health stuff she's recovering from, she's not a reliable protagonist. So we're trying to figure out what happened along with her, but you can't always trust her perspective, which is interesting and juicy to read. What were your thoughts on it?
Jmarie:interesting and juicy to read. What were your thoughts on it? Yeah, you learn early on that she's an unreliable narrator, but because I remember reading that part, can I go into mordita? Should I? Or should I like hold off and let people read it? Go ahead. Um, this. She's telling this story about her father like leaving their family and she's like and then he shoots me and like it's description of like the she, how she falls over and all this blood, and she's like and then he shoots me and like it's description of like the she, how she falls over and all this blood, and I'm like, oh my god. And then the story is just kind of like her mom's like get up and like everything's fine, and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait. What I had to go back and it was just clear like okay, she really wasn't shot. So it's just like unreliable narrator from the start. But I'm just. But for me then it was just like why is she just exaggerate things? Like what's going on with this person?
Jmarie:as you go on to learn the final twist, and it's just like whoa like this story was not what I was expecting it to be at all.
Jmarie:Um, because, like when I was just kind of flipping through it, I was just like, is this a mystery? It seems kind of mundane, but like, as you go through and things start, she starts to get her memories back and it starts adding up and it's just like whoa, yeah, it's not what you would think of as a normal mystery, it's more like a character driven mystery. So you really do have to like read the whole thing to get the whole perspective of what's going on. Yeah, what happened?
J.D. Myall:and there are spoilers, as we previously mentioned, so if you don't want to know the end, you might want to fast forward. Um, but part of it is she has this trauma from this traumatic brain injury, so her family doesn't want to upset her, so they're not telling her what happened. So she's trying to piece together the mystery of what happened last summer and what's going on with Kat and why hasn't she seen you know, I'm sorry and what's going on in general and why hasn't she seen her crush and all this other stuff. And the title we were liars gives away a lot of that. Yeah, you don't realize it.
J.D. Myall:Yep, you don't realize it till you get to the end, and then you're like, oh shit, okay, I see what you did here good job but um yeah, so it's a mystery to the reader, but a lot of it is a mystery to the protagonist as well, with a juicy plot twist that you'll enjoy reflecting the rich and dynamic landscape of adolescence.
J.D. Myall:Young adult fiction continues to evolve with exciting trends, capturing the essence of youth and serving as a beacon of understanding, growth and inspiration, while constantly pushing the boundaries of storytelling for readers across generations, for exploring beyond the pages and unraveling the world of best-selling and adult fiction with us, and for diving deep into the rich, ever-changing and imaginative diverse world of storytelling. Hopefully you learned a lot about exactly what ya is, commercial best-selling, you know YA and gotten a better handle on how to write it.
Speaker 4:That wraps up today's Craft Chat Chronicles with JD Meyer. Thanks for joining us. If you liked the episode, please comment, subscribe and share. For show notes, writing workshops and tips, head to JDMeyercom. That's JDMeyercom. While you're there, join JD's mailing list for updates, giveaways and more.