What is New Adult Fiction? Thank Goodness for this Genre
We all probably have a pretty good idea of what a young adult book is. It's targeted for middle school kids all the way through high school. I have read many young adult books and I'm 40. Some of the authors are amazing and the books fantastic. Looking back at classic fiction, I would consider some of the greats in the young adult category. Titles such as:
Catcher in the Rye
A Separate Peace
Tom Sawyer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
Animal farm
The list could go on and on. These are great book but lack the edge in books I like to read. For a long time, I struggled to find the kind of books I really enjoyed. These were coming of age books, that discussed more adult issue and were more sexual in nature, mature in language and dealt with more adult issues.
Sure, I could read erotica, if I wanted something more sexual in nature, but I'm not looking for porn. I could read romance, but most of the time that is focused on adults and is outside of the coming of age genre I prefer. New adult, hits the spot. New adult touches on the struggles of individuals as they enter into adulthood. They are dealing with adult issues for the first time. I think a new adult book should be brutally honest and hold nothing back.
The struggle is the crossover readership of young adult and new adult. Some new adult books would be inappropriate for younger ages, but the genre name could not be more fitting. The genre fits well for those like myself who are adults, but enjoy reading about the struggle of those entering adulthood.
There is a broad range of how sexually explicit a new adult novel is, and what kind of topics they explore. In my novel Return to Autumn, my intended audience is targeted towards those high school and above.
This Genre is here to stay, and I'm glad it is.
