You've probably heard me talk about this before (most notably here, in my "Dear Publishers" letter), but I'll say it again: we need more "New Adult" novels! Books with protagonists in their late teens or early twenties, post-graduation, fending for themselves in the adult world they have been pushed into. Gap trips, first jobs, college, trade school — I want to see it all!
And for the New Adult novels that *are* being written...I want to see them getting READ.
So...I'm creating a challenge for next year!
The rules:
- The book must feature a protagonist who is past the average age for graduation from high school (18 in most places). If they're sitting on the fence at precisely age 18, then you can make the judgment call on whether it is more YA or New Adult. (If the majority of it is set in high school, I'd classify it as YA.) The protag should be younger than 30, just to give a maximum limit as well (otherwise we're getting into Not-So-New Adult literature!)
- This does *not* mean the book must be of the contemporary genre. If it's a fantasy or dystopian or something and there *is* no concept of "graduation" in that world, then just go by our world's standards in deciding if it counts.
- The levels:
- Just Graduated: read a minimum of 3 New Adult books
- Moving Out: read a minimum of 6 New Adult books
- Living On Your Own: read a minimum of 9 New Adult books
- Fully Independent: read every single New Adult book you can get your hands on
- There will be a giveaway (possibly multiple giveaways?), so if you participate, you will be entered to win!
- You don't have to have a blog to participate, but you must post your reviews somewhere accessible online (eg. Goodreads).
- For ideas of books to read, check out this Goodreads list (begun by Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook): New Adult Literature. And you might find this list helpful too.
UPDATE: there is now a Goodreads group for this challenge!
And you can grab the button here!
By the way, is there any interest in having the Read Outside Your Comfort Zone Challenge again next year?
Ooh Danya this is perfect! I'll have to keep my eyes open for books like this but I will definitely be taking part :D
ReplyDeleteYay, love this idea!! Although I think I've read most of the ones I want to read in this category (of the ones I've heard of), I'm sure I can find at LEAST 3 new ones.
ReplyDeleteP.S. For those of you signing up for this you MUST read the Secret Society Girl books by Diana Peterfreund. They are so awesome!!
What a great idea!!! Hmm the books don't have to be newly released in 2012, right?
ReplyDeleteGlad to see people are excited about this challenge!!
ReplyDelete@Just a Lil Lost: Nope, they can be published whenever! (If I limited it to newly released in 2012, I don't think we'd have enough, sadly.)
Oohh, this sounds awesome. I've dying for some books about people my age.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! As a "New Adult" who can often only find books about either teenagers or middle-aged people (or kind of fluffy "young-woman-in-the-city types of books) I am thrilled to check out this list. Sweet!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever read a new adult novel, unless it was a sequel to one that started with the protagonist was in high school, or the summer after high school, before she leaves home and goes to university.
ReplyDeleteYes Yes YES! I love this idea! I'm so with you on wanting more of these reads -- as I'm in that age range myself, sometimes I get rather tired of reading about high school drama, but I'm not really ready for the adult world of marriage affairs and office romances either lol! I love this idea and will definitely be signing up for this challenge!
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to start reading more New Adult books! I'm going to bookmark this and then post about my participation later on.
ReplyDeleteI have a few suggestions. Check out the following (all New Adult and all one series):
ReplyDeleteA Work in Progress http://stacistallings.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/a-work-in-progress/
A Little Piece of Heaven
http://stacistallings.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/a-little-piece-of-heaven/
A Light in the Darkness
http://stacistallings.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/a-light-in-the-darkness/
If you're taking suggestion, a new historical fiction is out with a 19 year old female who flees the confines of Reims only to become embroiled in 17th century Paris court. Coming of age with swashbuckling adventure.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/The-Huguenot-Sword-ebook/dp/B005TVKWOE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318209534&sr=1-1
Saw this challenge on Book Labyrinth's site the other day and wanted to say that I think it's awesome! Thanks for supporting those of us who believe New Adult stories are worth telling. I hope readers like you guys can convince publishers to invest in this genre.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. With a niece, who's a junior at Tulane, and my own child (a Freshman at Alabama) I think we can come up with some interesting choices. Looking forward to what we all discover!
ReplyDeleteYay, so happy I finally found a non-YA challenge!:)
ReplyDeleteI support this 100%!
ReplyDeleteContact me at rainy @ rainyofthedark.com if there's any way I can help you support this.
For now, sharing!
I didn't know this had a name! I write predominantly in the "New Adult" genre then. ^_^ This sounds really awesome. Definitely going to be on the look out.
ReplyDeleteHow about serious adult fiction, with older characters, as in 40-45 years old?
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool challenge! I'd love to join, but I think I've already got enough on my plate this year as far as challenges go.
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely like to see New Adult books get a little more attention. Thanks for hosting this!
Definitely will be doing this, since I already was unintentionally doing this already. Thanks for entering my giveaway. I'm a new follower of yours too and I can't wait to hear about more New Adult books since I write them :) I'm in the process of getting through this list on goodreads. You might want to check it out for ideas. http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/12066.College_Romance
ReplyDeleteTwenty Something Fiction Writer
My Book Giveaway!
I am so doing this!!! This is probably the only challenge that has completely caught my eye for this year. I am so excited now!!
ReplyDelete-ShawnaLeAnn @ Dreaming In The Pages
I have already entered but have since posted about it on my page.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to check it out you can find it here.
-ShawnaLeAnn @ Dreaming In The Pages
I love this challenge! I'm going to sign up first thing in the morning when I'm a little more alert lol. I'm super excited to see my book, Blue Sky Days, on the GoodReads list. I've always thought it doesn't exactly fit into the YA genre, but it's not adult either...I love the concept of 'new adult'. :-)
ReplyDeleteOk, so it's not the next morning, but I finally got signed up! lol :-)
DeleteI am the author of The Holly Nather Trilogy. I would LOVE for my trilogy to be a part of this! It is Young Adult book and is about a girl in her first year of college, here is the synopsis:
ReplyDelete"Every guy I seem to date ends up resembling the reeking material that janitors and plumbers both deal with on a daily basis. You get my metaphor. In summary, it is safe to say that my dating life really, really sucks." -- Holly
It is Holly's first year in college and the most exciting thing in her life is her classes. She doesn't have any luck with dating and doesn't have many friends.
Her life is terribly boring until she receives a text message from a unknown person. Life as Holly knows it will forever change by responding to that one single text. She isn't too thrilled but will soon find herself falling in love with a complete stranger from another world.
Book #2, Secrets, will be out April 30th. I would love to offer my books as a giveaway on your blog!
Sorry for the way long message... :)
My contact info:
Twitter: @DaniellSara
Blog: saradaniell.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/TheHollyNatherTrilogy
Ok - i'm so crazy. I meant to put in the above post that it is YA/New adult it could really go in either category but leans more towards New adult. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great challenge, love the idea! I have a story that would be considered "new adult," that I need to finish writing. :)
ReplyDeleteAndrea
Just happened upon this. Great idea! As a new(ish) adult myself it'd be good to read more books that focus on life after high school.
ReplyDeleteSmashing, I'm game! Just put up your neat gadget on my blog, right over the buy button for the first book in my New Adult series The Phoenix Heritage (3 books published so far...) Hope that at least one gets on your list!
ReplyDelete