January 22, 2012

Cross My Palm: Contemporary YA



I've taken a good hard look at what YA literature has looked like in the past, so I thought I'd spend a few posts now discussing current trends and what might be in store for the future. This is just based on my own observations of books and what I've seen publishers/authors/other bloggers talking about.

This first post focuses on contemporary YA. Check back in a week for the next post in this series!


  • Books about sisters, especially serious, complicated sister relationships. These seem to be popular at the moment and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future. We're talking Without Tess by Marcella Pixley, Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott, The Space Between Us by Jessica Martinez, Losing Faith and Never Enough by Denise Jaden, and Irises by Francisco X. Stork. I enjoy a good complex sister story, but it would be neat to see some more brother/sister or brother/brother relationships.


  • Stories involving trips, road or otherwise. Books like Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern, The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour, Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard, Kiss the Morning Star by Elissa Janine Hoole, Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John, Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson, and Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham. This looks like it's emerging as a trend in YA, and I'm glad, because it's a lot of fun to travel vicariously!
  • War/PTSD stories. These seem to have surged in number recently. Something Like Normal by Trish Doller, While He Was Away by Karen Schreck, In Honor by Jessi Kirby, Personal Effects by E. M. Kokie, and A Brighter Fear by Kerry Drewery all fit in this category. In fact, there's even been a Goodreads list started specifically for YA and New Adult books with characters in the military!

  • Amnesia. Amnesia seems to be super popular right now in YA. I can't really figure out why, since most teens don't suffer from amnesia as far as I know (I never did!). Recent and upcoming books include: Forget You by Jennifer Echols, Forgotten by Cat Patrick (admittedly this has a paranormal element as well), Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler, Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom, One Moment by Kristina McBride, and Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf.

  • Car accidents/crashes. These tend to go hand-in-hand with the amnesia, but not always. In addition to Forget You, Where It Began, and Breaking Beautiful, there's If I Stay by Gayle Forman, The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle, The Princesses of Iowa by M. Molly Backes, and My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend. I'm kind of hoping that this trend will end soon, as it's getting overused. Surely you can introduce drama or tension into the characters' lives in another way? 


  • Books about grief/death/the afterlife. Given all the accidents and war, I guess this makes sense! Think Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Losing Faith by Denise Jaden, Saving June by Hannah Harrington, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, and The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle. And there are plenty more in store — Before You Go by James Preller, The Catastrophic History of You & Me by Jess Rothenberg, Devine Intervention by Martha Brockenbrough, and Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini — so it doesn't look like this angle will be fading anytime soon.

So, to sum up:


What you won't be seeing: books for boys and books with PoC characters.

What you will be seeing: misunderstood, grieving sisters who go on road trips, get in car crashes, and end up with amnesia and/or PTSD. You are in for a morbid ride. Enjoy! :D

So, what do you think: am I on the mark about this, or way off? What trends are you seeing in contemporary YA?

17 comments:

  1. Yeah, I can see those trends already. I wish there were more books with characters that were PoC and weren't issue books. There also needs to be more books with LGBTQ characters as well that aren't issue books. I like the idea of a complicated brother story, but I'm wondering what the conflict would be about.

    Nice follow up on the trends. I definitely see where this is going. I want more travel stories with PoC characters too.

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    1. That's a great point about issue books, Najela! So often it seems like there has to be a "message" along with the characters being PoC/LGBTQ/other minority, rather than just letting them be characters in their own right. Thanks for your thoughts!

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  2. There definitely seem to be a lot of military books coming out. A lot of them sound really interesting, but I've never seem so many of them come out at the same time in YA I don't think. And yes, a lot of grief and hard times. Contemps lately either seem to be really ultra serious or on the opposite end of the spectrum with really bouncy and light (of course that's an exaggeration, but it does seem that way sometimes).

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    1. I know! It seems like all of a sudden all these military books came out of the woodwork, LOL. I agree with your observation about contemp books seeming to be extreme — either really dark and gritty or super light and fluffy. It'd be nice to see more with a balance (the way life often is!)

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  3. Thanks for your mentions of Losing Faith and Never Enough!

    One complicated brother story I really enjoyed was Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitx.

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    1. No problem! And thanks for the rec, I haven't read that one yet :)

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  4. I'm all for the road trip books, I have such great memories of road trips I took in my twenties. Even though they often have similar themes (Coming of age, finding oneself, getting to know friends or strangers on a deeper level)they are all unique in their own way too, I think. I'd also like to read more traveling abroad books too,you know, like the whole taking a year off to backpack around Europe type thing.I think that's why I'm really looking forward to Wanderlust:)

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    1. I'd love to read more books with travels abroad! And I agree, I think road trip books have the potential to feel quite fresh and different because of the variety of settings and events that can happen (rather than, say, the typical high school setting).

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  5. Actually with Breaking Beautiful, she does remember what happen but she repressed those memories. I've already read it and enjoyed it. You'll have to read it to figure out the how and why. :)

    There are GLBT and POC books out there. You just have to unfortunately do a lot of digging to find the really good ones.

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    1. Nice to hear you recommend Breaking Beautiful! Thanks for the heads-up about the "amnesia" :)

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  6. I like the amnesia stories because they add a mystery element.

    I would love to see more sibling books, but I wish they weren't mostly about issues. Or, when they're more fantasy they're usually on the younger end of things. I want sibling relationships set in fantasy or paranormal stories where the siblings are YA or New Adult.

    I love the concept of road trip books, but I still haven't found one that I like in reality as much as I do in theory.

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    1. Good point about the siblings...it does seem like in fantasy there's more focus on them in MG than YA (where a romance usually takes precedence)!

      I know what you mean about the road trip books...I'm still looking for one that really clicks with me :)

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  7. It's funny when a whole bunch of similarly-themed books come out at once, it seems to happen all the time with YA. I'm looking forward to lots of these - great post!

    Mands

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    1. Thanks! Yes, it does seem to be a bit of a phenomenon with YA, doesn't it? :D

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  8. Danya, i TRULY loved this whole post

    You always manage to post thoughtful and different things on your blog :)

    When you read a lot of contemp YA, you noticed so many running themes/motifs :)

    x Nomes

    (i still have to write back to your email! it's coming ;))

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    1. Aw, thanks, Nomes!! I'm so glad you enjoyed the post. And good to know you got my e-mail! :)

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  9. No books for boys!! Sob. I have sons.

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