SHOULD WE HAVE A NEW ADULT AGE RANGE?

A chatty discussion video on whether we should have a new adult age range, and why I think having NA books would help us be more informed readers.
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[@ebnovels]

Hey everyone! This topic can be something we feel quite passionately about. If you voice a disagreement and I respond, I by no mean want that to come across as me putting you down, but rather me wanting to continue the conversation. I know in messages, without voice inflection and facial expressions, that can be hard to see! 💕

[@ashnovelist2190]

You've talked me into publishing under NA. I know that publishers aren't behind NA as a whole, but I want my audience to have a better idea of what to expect. Thanks!

[@gorgonzolastan]

I think, for publishers, YA is more about marketing rather than being the literary version of pg-13

[@cwfcwfcwf]

You do a really good job walking that "tight rope" in an attempt to avoid hate. It's just too bad you have to do that because you really do have a valid point. :)

[@monferno71]

DISCLAIMER: I don't mean to offend anyone or say my opinion's the only valid one, I'd just like to express myself and engage in a covnersation~ I find the whole age-division so confusing to be honest. I just think that YA is too broad, I mean it's for readers for 12yo to 19. I think it would be more beneficial to have them divided by the type of school age they're for (?). In my perfect world middle grade would go to 14yo and 15-19 would be called the teenage books. And from then, we'd call them young adult because to me, young adults are people who're, well adults and young. I think the whole discussion about what is (in)appropriate in YA comes from its vastness. If publishers/bookstores just added more divisions within the YA, I believe it would make it much easier to have some loose boundaries on what's appropriate for each age group. Also, a little tangent: I do believe we need a name for an age group from YA, around modern new adult. However, I wouldn't call it new adult because those books have got some....implications about them. And I personally, as someone who's got only 1 year of uni left, feel this age range a tad underdeveloped. Why can't we have books about a college grad looking for a job while having other problems? We need young adult books that are for young adults!

[@ebnovels]

Marko Popovic I completely agree!!! To add, my perfect world would have books given both a content rating (like pg, pg13, r) and a reading comprehension level. I personally think this would allow people to know how explicit the content has the potential to be, while still allowing them to know if something is within their reading abilities. Kids love a challenge, so I could see this making them excited to read, because they’d want to pick up the stuff with higher reading comprehension levels, yet parents wouldn’t have to worry about how disturbing or explicit the content is because they’d have the other categorization to help them.

[@natasagajic1061]

" we'd call them young adult because to me, young adults are people who're, well adults and young" my thoughts exactly, until I found out that it denotes younger audience than I initially thought XD Then again, maybe the name YA is a marketing strategy, because it might sound more appealing to the younger audience than calling them teen books?

[@witchf4ce310]

Marko Popovic yes!!! I’m like YA stands for young adult though, and as a 22 year old I am in fact a young adult 😩 but YA books are clearly rarely meant for people my age. It’s frustrating as heck!

[@booksforsarah2197]

I remember as a teenager feeling so “grown up” picking up young adult novels and it helped me in my love for reading for sure. Now that I’m 23, it’s a bit harder to find books that are targeted towards me

[@jasonkonas]

Kids always challenge authority. The last thing your teen is going to stand for is getting put in a box. When I was a teen, I read nothing but adult books. Nobody was going to tell me what I was allowed to read.

[@tessamccool6613]

I totally agree!! I’m 43 and some of these YA books have made me blush lol

[@ebnovels]

Tessa Mccool hahaha, exactly 🤣

[@tessamccool6613]

Leira K Lewis no I haven’t 🙈 lol

[@sadiecattv1902]

Yes I agree I am42

[@tawnysambrano8603]

@@leiraklewis9366 I love that series! But it should not be YA. I listened to the audiobook I had to wear headphones because, well you know why.

[@hellohaley45]

I agree! I’m 24 and I love both YA and adult, but often times I struggle with YA because a lot of them feel too young for me. On the other hand, there have been many stories that I have loved because they’re a bit more complex (Six of Crows duology, the Witchlands series, the Queen’s Thief series, etc.). In my opinion, all of these books would be perfect for New Adult. New Adult would be a section that I, as a 24 year old, would feel like I could trust to find new favorites because I can relate more to the characters. There are some YA characters that are said to be 16/17, but really they feel like they’re in their twenties. I love those characters, but I wish their ages reflected their maturity. This would be appropriate in a NA section. I think the problem is that NA has a reputation for being smut, which is just very untrue. I also think publishers believe that the story would not sell, but I see a lot of discussion on booktube where others around my age would love to purchase books from that section if given the opportunity.

[@shelby8735]

I agree with everything you said. I can't imagine a 14/15 year old who just finished Twilight and loved it picking up ACOTAR next....... vast differences. New Adult is a valid genre and I do think it's marketable. I know it's all about $$$ but still..

[@ebnovels]

Shelby /bookswithshelby currently I think people are under the impression that NA is basically erotica with college students, but the concept of their being an age range between ya and adult still holds in my opinion!

[@Lilac-and-Gooseberries]

I always thought YA was for 16 +, maybe borderline 14 depending on the content. 12 is too young imo, I would still think of them as a child and not suitable for YA.

[@ebnovels]

I think 12 to 18 is a bizarre age range 😅

[@yianad.m3089]

Personally I think age doesn’t matter it’s “if they can handle it”

[@hiigghhggg9150]

@@yianad.m3089 I kind of agree, but you don’t want a 9 year old reading fifty shades of grey even if “they can handle it,” you know?

[@ASHLEY.397]

Tbh I don’t want a 13 years old reading an explicit mature scenes either sexual or violence and it feels inappropriate

[@dgs788]

I completely agree. I feel that authors are writing explicit sex scenes for teen enjoyment rather than for an informative purpose, like the awkwardness of your first time or practicing safe sex or what happens after the first time or actual issues that teens need to be educated on

[@ebnovels]

Dragon Stone I couldn’t emphasize this more. It’s obviously a personal opinion, but I find the idea that young people need sex positive books goes out the window a bit when there are little to no scenes that are actually anywhere close to what it’s like for young people who are less experienced. Which is important, imo, because currently we don’t have the best sex education, and these romanticized or overly exaggerated books aren’t going to educate anyone. In ACOMAF, for example, the female lead character rarely needs any form of being warmed up, then goes on to climax multiple times. For a young girl reading that, it could have no negative consequences whatsoever, or it can make her feel like her body is supposed to react that way. Idk, I’m probably getting too worked up, but good sex education and explicit and exaggerate sex scenes in books are two different things to me 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@dgs788]

No. I am in complete agreement. And also, so many of these relationships are problematic to begin with and there is no example of considering whether or not you SHOULD be having sex with someone. I waited for the right person because I learned from older YA that you should be thoughtful about who your first time is going to be with. Now it just seems these people hop into bed with each other. YA in some way is supposed to guide and even be instructive in some areas about complicated choices, and I think that is what has fallen away in recent years. We are going to be covering this issue on my channel--Backlist Books, if you are interested--in the middle of the month. I think this subject is of great importance because I honestly don't feel like publishing has what is best for teens in mind

[@ruchikacalton2424]

@@ebnovels as a doctor, I can tell you the sex in ACOMAF is not hygienic, or good for a girl's health and body.

[@alexandra1695]

@@ruchikacalton2424 really? Can you please explain why. I am genuinely curious and interested in why.

[@robertblume2951]

All fiction is for enjoyment, if it was for educational purposes it would be non fiction. The problem is books are written to sell and sex sells but not real sexy but the fantasy of sex. Trying to shoe horn sex ed into books is going to fail. You have to write a good story first.

[@blueberrymoon549]

In Germany, darker yabooks like six of crows or three dark thrones are in the adult fantasy section, however acotar is in the 14yo section 🤔

[@ebnovels]

Blueberry Moon haha, that’s interesting! 😆😆😆

[@SwipeSide19]

As a parent I completely agree. I want to be able to let my kids read certain books without having to go through it myself first

[@AdegaOutlaw]

Don’t feel awful about your honest opinion. You meant the best with your review and without animosity.

[@henryyhenryy]

I feel like the more that readers start using New Adult as a category, the more publishers will incorporate it into their own marketing as well. Now the only question is what books are even New Adult? Loved this video! 💕

[@ggt47]

I saw Throne of glass in the children's books section.

[@mangalover0149]

warren byrne The worst one is having A Court of Roses and Roses in the children’s section

[@mangalover0149]

warren byrne ToG should be in the YA section

[@Lilac-and-Gooseberries]

Imo with the ToG series books AB - HoF are ok as YA, QoS is borderline and from EoS onwards it’s NA (though it does have a warning on the back covers).

[@ggt47]

@@mangalover0149 There is no YA.

[@Lilac-and-Gooseberries]

@warren byrne Guessing it was quite a small book store lol?

[@gracelingaccountant]

Another issue is that no one can agree what YA should be based on - age range or content. I think we all understand its content but publishers say age range 🤷‍♀️

[@theghel1296]

I think young adult should be 16-18+ and middle grade should be up till around 13/14

[@Floar]

YA books to me has always been synonumous of teen books

[@LauraMaisano]

100% agree and have thought this same thing for a long, long time.

[@gracelingaccountant]

Our middle grade now is what ya used to be

[@gracelingaccountant]

I'm pretty sure there is a new adult age range at least according to everyone on goodreads publishers just ignore that the genre exists because YA sells better

[@cnohero]

I loved this discussion thank you for bringing it up.

[@XCatherine]

Oh my gosh I love this video sooo much! You illustrated your thoughts so well and I TOTALLY agree. I, like a lot of people wasn’t the biggest fan of the Throne of Glass books (it’s ok if people like them haha). But when I first picked up Empire of Storms I was SO taken aback at the explicit sexual content. It’s not that I don’t think it should be banned but I was mainly annoyed at the fact that it was marketed for YA. If I wanted to read that I would have searched for a book with that level of content. I think we should be more informed readers like we are with digital media we consume.

[@DjangoOvlidarLaFruita]

I feel like that would really help the reading community, great insight ☄

[@JessieMaeBooks]

Love this topic and completely agree! I think we can begin making this distinction in our own networks if the publishing industry isn’t going to or is going to take too long to do it. We can start describing books as new adult ourselves and spreading this message that way. I’ll probably start making this distinction in my own videos and explaining why and referencing this video!

[@Juhani139]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. Definitely something that needs more awareness. We need to protect our kids aaaand we need to protect ourselves. Some people are sensitive to violence, some are sensitive to cursing, etc. If there are warnings on game labels, movies and even music (explicit content) then there should be a warning on books so that the reader can know ahead of time if this is going to upset them. It's a MASSIVE time commitment on the reader's part, the least the publisher can do is warn them.

[@pamelaparks2900]

This is the first video I have seen of yours. I subscribed. I completely agree with you. There are books that are marketed as YA that I couldn't imagine my 12 year have made me uncomfortable as a 29 years old woman. Two thumbs up!!

[@danielleoliver1734]

I feel that a lot of the YA books are more targeted to older readers now days, people really only associate some romance with new adult, and even then it’s a reasonably new genre/ age category.

[@shelby8735]

YES I've been ranting about this topic for months 😂😭

[@stanleydoolittle2470]

Yes! I read a lot of YA but one of the books I picked up was marked as YA but was really new adult and I was personally ok with it but then my brother who is a little younger than me but likes YA read it and was horrified. So yes, we need a NA age range.

[@ebnovels]

Stanley Doolittle haha, aw, poor little brother! Do you mind me asking what book it was?

[@stanleydoolittle2470]

@@ebnovels Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. My brother is 15 but was used to lighter books and this one was a bit too mature for him.

[@cjanney3592]

I appreciate that you made a video about this. I totally agree! The books I read when I was a young adult are so different than the books out there now. I loved the ACOTAR series, but the thought of young girls reading that is concerning. I like your comparison with thinking of in terms of movie ratings. So true!

[@HoneyBeeApocathery7]

I completely agree!!! I just had this conversation the other day. Kids are losing their innocence so fast. Its all just a money scheme to keep up with the "new". They don't care about our children's minds, its all about whos making the most money and what will sell the best. I want my daughter to be a child as long as she can. I grew up WAY to fast and I don't want that for her. When she picks up a book I don't want to be worried about what she is reading. While I might enjoy a young adult book, there are alot of them that I wouldn't want my daughter to read. Some of these books definitely have an older age range and should be labeled as such. Im so glad you made this video. More people need to have this mind set and be aware. 💖

[@belenbravo9743]

I agree that there has to be a better way to classify some book, because they cause, as you said, a lot of confusion. In my opinion part of the problem is that there's a lot of different views of how things should go. For example, I've always read whatever I wanted (my parents only rarely told me not to read some book) so I tended to read things that where all over the place in terms of "age range" (I always moved between middle grade and new adult), so my taste has changed independent to that over the years. Because of that my view of the categories is more based on the themes, for example in my view books that have a "YA" type of story but have some mature content are still YA, not new adult. Also the thing is that teenagers are so different between each others, so something that may seem to much for one is perfectly fine for other the same age.

[@dezzdinn]

I love this conversation. I actually have the later thought (in your conversation) that I wanted to discuss. Writing down to young adults and children. The “it’s this way because” is a fast example that comes to mind. Many stories are great for our youth to learn from even if it’s above their heads a bit so to speak. Sometimes that’s part of the thrill in growing, especially “growing up”. To me more stories in all western media need to be higher on the subject line with complexities in story and content without “adult” content.

[@BedtimeBookworm]

PREACH GIRL!! I 100% agree with you in this video. What’s sold as YA these days is so different from what was considered YA when I was actually YA age.

[@TheTogaParty22]

first of all, i seriously appreciate you making videos like this, that spark a conversation! from my understanding, the main reason why authors/publishers will brand something as ya is because the audience is larger, and they're guaranteed more sales. also, (i don't know how much of this is true) apparently there was a new adult genre but the books were just completely filled with smut lol so then publishers didn't want books to be called new adult (because i guess everyone is scared of sex). i definitely think we need a new adult genre. books like nevernight, the poppy war and vicious and vengeful are branded as adult, but they're more new adult in my mind, and i need publishers to bring the genre back! i agree with everything you're saying, especially making informed decisions when buying books.

[@heabooktubes]

Definitely agree! Such a huge difference between what is appropriate for a 12 year old compared to later teens. And it should be! I don’t know when we started looking down on people saying “this isn’t appropriate”. I like a lot of smut and dark themes in my books, but I’m not recommending books with that content to teens. It’s aaaaaaalways nice to know what you’re getting into, whether it’s triggers, or mature content, or even tropes, I appreciate knowing if I’m likely to enjoy a book before I spend a few hours on it.

[@PagesandPens]

As someone writing in the NA age range and trying to query a NA novel I couldn’t agree more. However, I’ve constantly hit a wall while trying to query because there’s “no room for NA in bookstores” and no marketable appeal to it. I super disagree, though. Ugh -pretty frustrating.

[@ebnovels]

Hey there Julie! :D I completely agree. There is most definitely room for it, and it is marketable. I think a lot of people are under the impression that NA is simply young adult with sex, but that’s not what it is at all. This seems especially true to me of books with college-aged protagonist, who are simply trying to navigate life.

[@Wats06071]

Categorising is always tough, but I see your point and you certainly have one. Having a general idea (like movies) it helps the buyer. I am 40+ . I don't have children, but I LOVE buying books to my friends children, and as they are gowing through different ages, I spend lots of time trying to pick the right book for them. I have also to think about their parents and what they regard suitable. So, a general guide would be helpful.

[@booksforsarah2197]

I really love the analogy of movie ratings, I never thought about that before and I think it would be beneficial for publishers and/or book stores to adopt a similar system ☺️

[@rogersnick17]

Loving those Sanderson books on the shelf.

[@amwade21]

Yes!!! I cannot agree more!

[@maloriebriannelewis5539]

I completely agree with you. I don't mind sex, violence, or swearing in the books I read, however if I had a thirteen year old child I wouldn't be okay with them reading about some of these things is such descriptive detail. I think that thinking about book ratings like film ratings is a pretty decent idea. Values are different for everyone but for the most part we should all be able to agree that the film vs book ratings is a great place to start. Again, it's about informing people, especially the parents. Just like with shows or movies parents should have a say in what their young teen is reading. Some parents may be more on board with certain subject matter than others and that's okay. But like you said, we deserve the option to go into a book aware for our kid's sake. This was a great video for discussion and in no way did you ever sound hateful or too negative 💜

[@matamiaa]

I totally agree! I was thinking about this too because I constantly see questions on goodreads or on the library website where ppl are asking can my 13 year old daughter read it, and is it appropriate for a gift. I think those questions wouldn’t arise if there was a clearer distinction.

[@Vickynger]

yeah, i think book should have tags like fanfics do, so you can kinda guess what you're getting. for example, i don't care much for reading about torture, so id love to have some kind of disclaimer? or even whether there's a romantic relationship in the book or not. a lot of ppl care about it one way or another and are disappointed when their expectations aren't met. i understand that ppl dont want any spoilers, but just to make an informed buying decision it would be cool if there was a page in the back where you could see how graphic the content is or smth like that.

[@JanaMorgen]

My mom bought me adult romance novels in my teens but I think stuff depends on the kids and parent dynamic and my mom was informed on what it was and could make that choice. It would be like if horror was sold ambiguously, I would be upset because I do not like gore and publishers should make us aware of labels that should be around books.

[@devlin76]

Young adult is an unclear term to begin with. The publishing companies seem to treat it like the age range is 14 to 24, instead of 12 to 18.

[@ebnovels]

Hahaha, yes, it does seem that way 😅

[@HollowMoonReads]

I think in the 80s/90s the technical definition of a young adult was actually 14-21. I notice some labels classify non-adult books as "For teens AND Young Adults". So I think these books are meant to appeal to both the teen and early-twenties market. However, the twenty-something readership is dominating over teenagers and there should be a better separation.

[@robertblume2951]

@@HollowMoonReads it does appear from the outside that young adult readers are all women age 16 to 32.

[@analiciasimar]

Thanks for a good conversation, Ell! When I'm on Goodreads, I'm constantly seeing parents asking questions like, "Is this book appropriate for my 12-year-old to read?" I agree that a content level rating alongside a reading comprehension level rating would be helpful for parents who don't have time to pre-read everything for their kids. And for those of us who don't have kids, it would be helpful to know what we're getting into without having to read spoilers.

[@belleah5562]

I love this video and think this conversation is absolutely necessary. When I was in early high school that was when the lines were beginning to blur and I ended up just skipping YA for adult because it was easier for me to read adults doing the dirty and cussing because I could distance those scenes from myself, who was not ready to and didn’t want to read about that stuff. Occasionally I would find YA that I liked, but it was just harder and it basically put me off the genre. Also, now that I’m 20, I wish that the distinction existed just for the sake of knowing which type of YA I’m picking up. Movies have both a PG13 and a rated R, video games have a T for teen and M for mature, it’s time books adopted a similar system.

[@annkalidescope1297]

You are SO Right!!!! They do it for movies why not books. My daughter when she was 15 she tested at a senior level and I had to check out books in adult books for her and I wouldn't let her read anything like that. I would never have thought about having to pre read an YA book so much.

[@nikkikinz4025]

I'd love to see the New Adult genre to have it's own category. I've been thinking about it for ages and always wondered why there isn't one.

[@nikkik7848]

I agree with you. Kids vary hugely from 12 - 18 we definitely need to break down the category more. Plus it is important for kids / teens / parents to be able to choose a book with more awareness of what they are buying. They can read in whichever category they like but at least will know what to expect. The difference even between a 16 and 18 year old is huge, especially in countries like Australia where we are considered an Adult at 18.

[@BookswithBrittany]

I really enjoyed this discussion! Personally, I would love to have a young adult and new adult fantasy section in addition to adult. As you said, then I would know when something was geared towards the younger end of the spectrum. I wish we could make this happen!

[@nathanmaxwell2828]

I love your idea. I have a 12 year old girl who is an advanced reader and we have to do SO much research before setting her loose on a book. I'd love another adult section between YA and Adult!! Thanks for your thoughts.

[@ebnovels]

You’re welcome :) I don’t have kids myself, but I tutor kids for work of all ages, and I think sometimes people forget how different one child is from the next.

[@PartridgeQuill]

I also think there should be a new adult age range. I don't think there is a problem with ya tackling heavy themes like racism, and I don't think new adult books have to have explicit content in order to classify. I do agree with the (rough) PG/PG-13/R scale as a harder line, but my own book, which I indie published, is a new adult fantasy novel without any sexual content. The reason it is new adult is because of its target market and the themes that parallel what late teens and early twenties readers go through. Its humor targets things like paying taxes, finding a job, and figuring out where you fit into the world at large. True, there are teens that grapple with these same things, and many would agree that such teens are "more mature." That just goes back to what you said about it being a short time span with a huge gap in maturity. When you think of middle grade, that window is even smaller. I could go on, but TLDR: yes, I believe we need a new adult category.

[@JessicaFlores-qd7jq]

Really interesting discussion!

[@MerrilyKristin]

This is a great discussion! I couldn’t agree more. And I do find the negativity toward YA to be silly. I tend to read from all age ranges as long as I can enjoy the story! But it would be nice to be able to make a more informed decision when buying books!

[@rspillers]

I absolutely agree with u. I work in a book store. We have adult, teen, and kids. I read in all sections. But there is stuff in the teen section I would not want my kids to read until they are in there later teen years. As a parent of three I would prefer there was more of a separation between new adult and young adult. I don’t want my kids at 12 reading about sex and romancing the idea of having sex at that young of an age. Or picking up the profanity and repeating it. Very valid point. I may put in a suggestion to my work about this issue. Thank u for stating what I have already had on my heart and have mentioned to my coworkers.

[@4Finnessa]

I saw the Red Rising trilogy in the YA section at my library and that's wrong IMO. What if there was a stamp on the back of books that said what kind of content it had, like on video games? Either that or YA authors should dial it back or write adult books. I think part of the blurring lines comes from the authors who've been writing in YA for a long time and their writing has matured but publishers still think it's suited for YA even when the original readers have also grown and could easily make the switch to adult. It seems to me that the majority of booktubers and bookstagrammers are at least 20 but they still read YA because that's where their favorite authors are and they may not see how much more mature the books have become. Maybe some of these big profile authors should announce that they are moving to adult since they probably know it's where their new work now belongs.

[@jasonkonas]

Anybody else remember a time when there used to be only 2 types of books, Fiction and Non-fiction, and neither had age qualifiers? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

[@marianvega2299]

Agree!! It is never about policing who reads what, it is just about making people aware of what they are about to pick up so they can choose. So much happens in those six years between 12 and 18! There are clearly different types of audiences in that range.

[@ninathompson6232]

YYEESS!!! I read a book I not-so-randomly (the cover) picked on a bookstore in the YA section and I am pretty sure a girl my age isn't supposed to read a book with so much violence, to say that I can still perfectly remember the scenes now. Anyways, I was a little frustrated because if I had know what was comming, I probably would not have read the book.

[@Ruwen.S]

I've heard it costs a lot of money to re-brand a books genre. So this is probably why publishers haven't/won't really consider taking more serious YA novels to a whole new section. However, some publishers do have a specific NA section and actively seek out suitable new books to fill it up.

[@EclecticOrange]

I totally agree with you! My son is 12 and reads YA and I have research the books he picks if I don’t know anything about them. I don’t want him reading heavy topics at this age but I also don’t want to limit him to books he finds “too easy”.

[@jmpresco]

I completely agree with you. We need a new adult section and it is up to publishers to designate this category. Everyone knows that the majority of people buying and reading YA are actually adults and with the content becoming more and more mature, I feel a New Adult section is warranted.

[@KierTheScrivener]

I do agree. I think there needs to be more distinction because 12-18 is huge and each person at the age is very varied even. I totally remember reading a book when I was like 14 or so and being surprised by the language or sexual content. Though I was at a second hand book store looking in adult fantasy and saw ACOTAR in it and sighed a sigh of relief, like it is Nevernight 16 year old protagonist but Jay Kristoff continuously repeats that it is adult and talks about how he is frustrated bookshops put it in the YA section.

[@Joe_Maysky]

This is so important. From what I've heard from hearing both published and aspiring authors talk about it, traditional publishing is just incredibly stubborn about this-- they refuse to consider a New Adult category for speculative fiction, because it became so synonymous with indie published romance in the last 6-8 years. It needs to change, as, like you and others in these comments, I love those crossovers.

[@lisr1634]

I totally agree! When I was young, it was Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High. I would like to know before I make a decision.

[@bluesdealer]

Nancy Drew / Hardy Boys was 2nd-5th grade for me. 6th grade was LotR. After that, it was pretty much anything goes. I’m not saying that should be the case for everyone, but a lot of the comments seem very coddling, when younger minds are capable of handling much more.

[@Kieda0001]

Oh my goodness! I 💯percent agree with you!!! My Mom is a K-9 school librarian and faces this issue all the time! It's frustrating to find books that are too explicit for a 9th grader to be reading. She cannot possibly read all the books that are ordered for the library herself to filter them out. A rating system certainly needs to be in place! 😃

[@kristenumansky8855]

I agree with you. Most media has some sort of age/rating system that does break up the teenage years better than books. It’s a great idea and necessary....if only because it helps parents. I’m 37....I still read tons of young adult fiction. So literally from the age of like 14/15-37 years old I have read books from the same “rating” and I know I am not the only one. I think the fact that so many actual adults read YA is the reason the mature content in them is more common. I almost feel like the age of the characters dictates the classification more so than the age of the readers. (Obviously there are a lot of exceptions to this). I would think a new adult age range of 16/17-25/30 would be appropriate for a lot of the books I enjoy reading.

[@katyareads221]

Agree....we should have a new adult age range.....the parameters can change and slide.....it helps a reader find books that are what someone who is looking for that type of content. I found that I liked and identified more with the stories labeled as YA when I was a teen, but when 26 years old I wanted to read stories and identified with those stories mirroring my age group. I see your point about the publishers and their responsibility to set standards.

[@midnightrose6868]

This is a interesting conversation. Jay Kristoff reminds people his Nevernight Chronicle is for adults (in the past he’s had angry notes from parents who thought it was one of his YA books). He’s got another Adult book ‘Empire of the Vampire’ coming out next year. It must be frustrating for him to have to keep reminding people. If I had to guess I would say that after that companion trilogy to ACOTAR comes out SJM will probably go over to the Adult age category permanently (she’s already got her ‘first official’ Adult book coming out next year), so I could see it happening. I just think she’ll get a lot less flack and be happier over in the paranormal romance section. Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom are definitely in the ‘YA crossover/New Adult’ category. Can’t wait for Leigh’s first official Adult book Ninth House to come out next month! Thanks for the discussion Elliot. 😊

[@mastersal4644]

Agree - I was recently trying to pick up a book for my nephew who is 12 going on 13 and I had such an issue. I could pick up half the YA books as I just wasn’t sure what the actual age range was.

[@alysonserenastone2917]

I agree! I've had parents upset with our book orders about the content of some books. They just wish that it would have had a mautre warning on them. I would also like to see a NA range as well; it would certainly appeal to people in their late teens and early 20s.

[@bluesdealer]

Alyson Serena Stone Parents like that cannot be helped. See, there’s this called the Internet. It’s very easy to find reviews that inform parents exactly what type of content is the book. Those same parents you describe probably buy M rated games for their kids, too.

[@VikingSchism]

Personally speaking, as someone who moved out of the YA range pretty quickly, I do think it's worth having more divisions there to differentiate things at least a little - I think that it can be hard to even see the boundary between adult and Young Adult fiction sometimes. My first 'adult' books as such were Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, and they really didn't feel like much of a step beyond young adult in terms of actually being able to read them. At the point that someone is ready to be reading YA books, they're probably also proficient enough with reading to read adult books - though maybe not ready for the content in them, which is why a distinction is helpful

[@Mollfie]

I'm a bookseller and I've talked a lot at work about how Young Adult needs to be broken down more in both age and genre. It doesn't make sense to customers to have everything lumped into one section. A thirteen year old and an sixteen year old are very different to each other, and some will want to read contemporary stories and others want fantasy. New Adult was a thing a few years ago but it didn't take off and I think partly it's because it didn't get the support it should have. This is also why it's important to have bookshops and good booksellers who you can talk to about this sort of thing. I will tell parents about the content of books, I also make little cards for the shelves sometimes if I know that they have sexual content or situations that younger readers might find upsetting, so they can make an informed decision.

[@RayRed13]

I think the age gaps are way too big. For me YA is from 14-17. New adult from 18-22. And adult +22.

[@tachankaslmg2614]

I agree. Have you read the Rangers Apprentice series? It’s actually in the “kids” section at Barnes and noble. I read them in college and they were phenomenal and should be in the young adult section at the very least. It’s a very easy read, but there’s a lot of adult themes in the books.

[@ebnovels]

Tachanka’s LMG I haven’t read them! I’ve heard they’re good though :)

[@enescustef6154]

I don't know really, I don't remember picking up books from the YA section or the adult section. There was a kids' section which included fantasy and non-fantasy and a fantasy section which included YA and adult. So i can't really relate to the topic. I remember picking up some adult books when I was younger and being a bit shocked but I thought it was part of the process of growing up that is associated with reading books. Anyway, you made valid points, nice clip.

[@lucaleone4331]

Your clip on earnings look so pretty :P

[@ebnovels]

Haha, thank you! #nopiercingscuzimawimp

[@pariah_haven]

I think age range from 18-30 would be good for new adult. I always felt adult was 30+

[@Yora21]

I don't think 20 or 30 year olds are substantially different audiences.

[@bluesdealer]

Uhm, what? 30 is basically middle aged.

[@robertblume2951]

? What's 30 plus about Adult literature? Rarely is the protagonist older than Mid twenties. I was astounded when i first encountered a character,Rodney D'Armand, who was in his late twenties. He is the only protagonist I know who actually deals with Adult things like having a job, a wife, and kids while still going on Adventures. Harry Dresden just got to that stage after 15 books.

[@dOoObface]

100% agree, there should be something similar to MPAA rules for placing books into age ranges instead of basing it almost entirely on word count

[@user-qi8lu1lm5g]

Well said queen. ♥️

[@Salena_M8]

I have always rated books like movies and have never heard someone else think this way! I totally agree with you. I am an adult but I really like less language and sexual content in my books. Just my preference. When I pick up a YA I am expecting a little language and maybe some mild sexual content but with some YA books that are coming out now its way more adult then I expected. I just wish there was better categories so I would know what to expect.

[@yapdog]

I agree. Some writers who want to sell books AND write adult stories, do tend to target YA inappropriately.

[@angelinepieterse9217]

I agree with you. There should be a clear distinction between adult and Young adult books. Take Furyborn for example. I love that book its good, but i know that the Emperuim trilogy is marketed as young adult and lt is definitely Not That. There's some graphic stuff in there. Publishers and authors should be more carefull in choosing which crowd of readers they intend on sell they're books to. Thanks for the video.Happy reading 💞

[@balkisrincon]

I’m 35 and I read books from different age ranges and I sometimes don’t think about if the content of a specific book is appropriate for the marked age. However, when my 14-year-old niece asked me for recommendations, I feel I am not sure about recommending some YA books. I usually look up individual titles and their age recommendations. It would be easy if there were more specific sub-age-groups in the YA genre

[@ebnovels]

Balkis Rincón haha, yes, I can’t imagine some of my young students reading some of the books that are marketed toward them 😆

[@aubreyjane6659]

I think we just need more categories by age. 12-19 is WAY too broad. A 12 year old shouldn't be reading what an 18 year old is reading and an 18 year old doesn't want to read what a 12 year old is reading. Maybe we should use a different name other New Adult cause it had a kinda bad reputation I guess? I agree with a lot of the other commenters here in that we should divide books by grades instead of age genres that people who aren't familiar with the world of publishing are going to be confused by.

[@bluesdealer]

Aubrey Jane , I read 19th century classics and mostly full adult level books at age 12, so I beg to differ. My favorite fiction series was also the same at both ages.

[@briek9482]

Yes! Yes to everything .

[@jacktors11]

Red Rising. No question. Just finished 5th book. What an intelligent Author. Really can tell a story.

[@kimberlynewsom9876]

I could not agree with you more on a couple of points. One "I think we're losing the ability to purchase books in an informed way." Yes, absolutely yes! Books are being written and distributed so fast these days and unfortunately for some it's all about the money and not about the story telling or the enjoyment of reading a story. Which isn't a new thing, it's just happening on a grander scale now I think. When you talked about when you were younger and how YA books differed from how they are now. I agree with that as well. I'll never forget the day the librarian at my local library suggested some YA books for me. I felt so grown up and it also meant I didn't have to go down to the basement of the library for my books anymore LOL. (that was where the children's and young readers sections were). I was in what is now called Middle School, they knew me at this library, I was there every day, they knew what I was reading etc. And yes, I never expected to see the things in those books that we're now seeing in YA books. That, I think speaks more to our current culture. It's probably more noticeable to me since I am much older than you (I'm assuming, I'm 51 by the way), many of the things we're seeing in YA books today are things that people in that age group are talking about, it's what they're watching on their TV shows, and movies, it's what they're seeing on their video games etc. Those types of things, "in my day", were still whispered about with only your closest friends. Now it's much more of an open dialogue. Good or bad, well each person has to decide that for themselves and therein lies part of the problem. I liked your comparison to the movie rating system. And one has to wonder if that might not be a bad idea for books? But I'd venture to guess that not many publishers or editors would be willing to hold that responsibility of rating the books in that way. I still read YA books, I still read middle grade books, and I read good old fashioned "books" which I'm assuming are just adult books because that's how I categorize them. There is definitely a difference in YA books these days and I think some of that can simply be attributed to our changing world and culture. Thank you for making me think and for opening up this discussion. Edit 9/12: So I realized something today after seeing several things online referencing YA books - I haven't really read any new or current YA books. All the books and series that are getting all the hype and screen time these days - I haven't read many, if any of them. Honestly the only one I can say that I've read is Seraphina (which I did like, but I did not like Shadow Scale didn't even finish it). So my opinion is kind of skewed I guess. Once again you made me think.

[@johannahall2143]

I agree I agree I AGREEE!

[@Emily-777]

I 100% agree. I think the whole system needs to be overhauled but that's a bigger conversation. I recently read I Give You My Body by the Author of the Outlander series and yes it's a book on how to write sexual content but she brings up a very good point that I feel is applicable here. She says roughly that 'not every scene or any scene for that matter needs to be explicit, readers are human and they know how the body works. It's okay to imply what is happening and then close the door and leave the characters alone to do their business.' Every child is different and some are more prepared for more mature content than others so I think if we sort books in the teen to young adult category by where they close the door on intimacy, violence, and scenes with explicit language we could all make more informed reading choices.

[@ebnovels]

That was very eloquently put! I’m always nervous in having these conversations that people will think I’m implying children are super naive and should stay that way 😅 when really I’m only trying to articulate that being more informed-imo-is helpful for all readers, regardless of age :)

[@Emily-777]

@@ebnovels Thank you 😊 People get so offended when you talk about their kids, they can take things so personal. As a person who both is and is not a parent (I'm raising my brother, it's a grey area) I feel like you do a fantastic job articulating the issues you see and the ways to fix them without coming across as saying that kids should never be exposed to more mature themes or content. It's a hard line to walk to put your opinions out there without seeming combative but you do it so well. I'm sorry that there are people out there who make you feel nervous about expressing your thoughts. Personally, I feel like you start or contribute to conversations in such a positive and intellectual way that it inspires others to respond in kind.

[@lostinabookcase3796]

That's a good way to compare it! To movie ratings!

[@jasminehewitt6220]

I can relate to you on the innocence level, I was super surprised when i read fan girl and they swore and I was like oop-

[@jessicahoffman2021]

Couldn't agree more!! 👌👌👌👌

[@dpier6]

I think there should be some kind of rating system, like movies/video games. I worked in a bookstore for a long time and adults would come in shopping for their younger family members. They were often completely clueless about the content in some of the books and would look to employees to help them out. Now that more people are shopping online or digitally, I think a lot of people are just guessing at stuff like that and hoping for the best.

[@natasagajic1061]

As a non native English speaker, I thought in the past that YA equals, more or less to 18 to 25 years old, so I didn't think there are any problems with any kind of content. However, when I went to my library to pick up ACOTAR and I was confused. I went in knowing what kind of content I can expect, but couldn't find it in the adult section (where books like LOTR or WOT where). Finally, I managed to find it in the children's section, sitting next to the Throne of Glass series (while books like Twilight or Hunger Games were in the teen section). I was even more confused when I actually read it and saw the level of explicit content it has. I would think that, if publishers did put in YA section as a marketing strategy, at least libraries would know better...

[@stephanielindsey6901]

I completely agree with you. I have a 10-year-old daughter, and I feel I have to proofread the young adult books just to make sure they are OK for her

[@ilrayali6121]

I agree, I think we should have an additional age range in publishing so we split what is currently called YA into 2 categories--a younger one 13-17 and an older one 17-22. I would give up on calling it New Adult though. I would call the older section YA and I would call the younger section Teen.

[@trevorgarey5646]

So... What about something like a back cover label on other forms of media (movies and video games)? That labels if there is strong language, sexual content, violence, etc? That informs you of what in the book so youd know what to expect if you bought it for yourself or someone else or kids or whatever