Why I love YA

So, I've used this blog to write about YA for... a while now. Do you ever wonder why?

I'm going to tell you why. Now, to be honest, I'm doing this to enter Beth Revis' awesome giveaway of YA books, but I actually have been thinking about doing this for a while.

YA gets a lot of crap, especially from the hoity-toity type who like to sip tea and read Real Literature and contemplate Things. Yes, Things.

But you know what? Those people don't know what they're missing. Young adult books are just as meaningful as adult books. Don't agree with me? Allow me to direct you to the Harry Potter fandom. Or The Hunger Games fandom. Or pretty much any fandom. I'm not here to tell you why or how they're just as meaningful. That's what fandoms-- groups of people whose lives have been changed in some way by these young adult books-- are for.

I'm here to tell you why I personally love YA. I love YA because I hate tea, and I will never be that person who judges anyone based on what they read, or tells adults that they look ridiculous reading kids' books. I am 21 years old, and I am about to start reading the Percy Jackson books because my 19-year-old Tumblr friend told me I had to. What I love about YA is that that's okay, because the themes in YA are just as adult as those in Real Literature, only it trusts young people to understand them. This genre doesn't pander or talk down to anyone. I mean, I know some adults who refused to see The Hunger Games movie not because it was for kids, but because they couldn't handle the subject matter. The age range for that series? 13+. YA doesn't say, "Oh, you're 13? A baby! Here's your pacifier of ignorance and your blankie of simplicity." YA says, "Oh, you're 13? You're like totez old enough to grasp this and use it. You're young enough to be changed by the things you read. Let's put those two together!"

I love YA because it includes so many subgenres and I can read any of them. Paranormal, dystopian, contemporary, historical fiction, you name it. I will read any of those YA books. A lot of those Adult Literature Lovers are stuck in one genre (for a lot of them, it's murder mystery. What, exactly, is it about murder mysteries that makes it the end-all-be-all for adults' reading habits?), but for those of us who read YA, we know that any book has the potential to be your new favorite book. We know that you can simultaneously love Anna and the French Kiss and The Book Thief,  or The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Mortal Instruments.

Now, why do I prefer YA over Adult, specifically? Basically, in the words of John Green, "I don't give a shit about adults." I've read adult books, and really liked exactly one of them. It's a personal preference; I'm not saying there's anything inherently bad about adult books. But YA books just get me. They crawl into my heart and mind and take up residence. They're full of actual characters and plots and they keep me reading until I should have gone to bed hours ago. I can guarantee you that, back when I bought those first five books that began my obsession with reading over the past two years, if I had started with an adult book, I would not be the same person I am today. I would not have this blog. I would not be a reader. I would not be a writer.

I love YA because it has changed my life, and I know that sounds so cliche and dramatic, but it's true. YA has opened my mind and turned me into a fangirl and a thinker and a creator, and I am grateful.