Alright, so some of us tried to hide the fact by reading the editions with 'adult' covers but others, myself included, were not at all embarrassed to be seen reading the editions with covers designed for the younger reader.
Anyway,
According to figures compiled by Neilsen BookScan the first five months of 2012 saw more than 2.4 million 'teen' books such as Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games being sold.
And its not just children - industry experts are (gu)estimating that more than a third of these books were actually bought by adults, stylish packaging and marketing and film rights helping to boost their popularity.
So, according to THIS ARTICLE in the Mail Online what are the top 4 teen to adult hits?
A coming of age love story about a girl who falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire. With 150 million copies of the book sold worldwide and the first four films (there is a fifth to be released this autumn) grossing in excess of £2 billion perhaps most popular is the Twilight franchise (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) by Stephanie Meyer.
With books sales totally 35 million, Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay) is set in a futuristic America, the 'Games' organised by an authoritarian government and televised to the nation - the first (and so far only) film adaptation grossing £450 million at box offices worldwide.
Comprising Blood Red Road, Rebel Heart and a third unnamed book yet to be published, the 'Dustlands' series by Moira Young (no book sale figures available at present), set in a future in which very little is left of the planet's natural resources, has seen the film rights for all three books snapped up, the first film, as yet to be cast, scheduled for release in 2014.
Yet another trilogy, the Mariah Mundy books (Mariah Mundy and The Midas Box, Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds, Mariah Mundi and the Ship of Fools) by GP Taylor are set in Victorian London. Though no book sale figures are currently available, the first book has been adapted for the big screen and is out next year.
So, are you a fan of young adult fiction and if so which authors/books do you favour?
19 comments:
I like Young Adult and I'd say around half of the books I read fall into the age group/genre. I have too many favorite books and authors to list--though Kristin Cashore and John Green are two YA writers that immediately come to mind. :)
I'ma Potterhead myself and those more mature covers are great!
I've just recently been hooked into The Hunger Games too.
I took a course in children's literature many years ago when I was in my thirties and thoroughly enjoyed everything I read - The Narnia Chronicles taking up some of the course load. Then I spent months reading a chapter of the entire series to my kids after dinner every night. They could all read themselves by then and were sort of passed the nightly bedtime story routine but I had loved when my grade school teachers had read a chapter at a time of larger books right through to grade 6. (Misty of Chincoteague etc). I couldn't help but fall asleep watching the Harry Potter movies but my son downloaded the books to my e reader and I rather enjoyed them. I haven't read the Twilight series although it is also on my reader thanks to my other son's girlfriend. I am waiting for my daughter to pass along the third of the Hunger Games series. I didn't realize they were even meant for youth. To me, a good story is a good story - I don't really care who it was written for. However, I have a hard time choosing favourites in books as much as choosing favourites among my children.
I love young adult books. Granted, i'm probably still considered a young adult and I grew up with the HP books so it wasn't an "embarrasment" to read them. Regardless, I think I'll always read YA. One of my all-time fave books could be classified as YA, though I think it contains so much it's more of a crossover (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
-Lauren
Despite the fact I've yet to read a Harry Potter book (or see a movie), I do enjoy some YA fiction. I read the Twilight books long before the first movie was released as well as the Hunger Games trilogy. I also read (and loved) The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis as an adult.
The "adult" cover HP books are soooo pretty! I want a set, though I would never part with the ones I have.
I do read a lot of YA and I don't feel the need to hide it, I just like to read what's good.
I love looking at the difference in the HP covers!! I've not heard of the second two but I did read the first two series.
Terrific post, Petty! I am a fan of YA fiction, but I don't read that much of it to choose a favorite (I've only read the first Harry Potter book, which I found wonderful). YA fiction is a great way to encourage young people to read and develop a lifelong love of reading.
I enjoy reading young adult books, but would you believe I've not read any of the Harry Potter books?!
I'm a huge fan of YA but like Nikki-ann, I've never read Harry Potter.
I've never seen the "adult" Harry Potter covers but they are gorgeous.
I do read a lot of YA.
The book stores in the US are now starting to put YA books right in with the adult books now and repackaging the classics with newer (younger looking covers) and shelving them in the YA romance sections.
I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I don't like the idea of YA being specifically marketed to adults. If I want to read it I can go to the YA section. The books are for them.
I love YA lit...especially fantasy YA lit, but also realistic fiction. Of the ones you listed, I LOVED Harry Potter, hated Twilight (Bella's neediness really annoyed me), and I only finished the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy because, although it was really exciting, the kid-on-kid violence made me feel a little sick. I've not even heard of the other two you mentioned. So maybe I don't love YA after all!
Seriously, though, I prefer books that have boys as main characters because I am dead tired of cheesy love triangles and whiny girls in love. :p I really liked the Abhorsen trilogy, though, and that was about girls. :)
i do enjoy YA fiction. i am a big fan of harry potter too but i've only read the first harry potter book. ooh, those covers are so pretty!!
thanks for sharing, dear tracy.
big hugs!
xx
For me it has to be spy and adventure thrillers fir whichever age it is meant to be.
I am a selective fan of YA books, certainly series like Harry Potter and the Hunger Games and I have enjoyed a mix of others.
I hadn't seen those adult covers before, they look good!
Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
Hi Tracy,
I know that I am going to get berated by just about everyone, if I admit that I have never read a single HP book and have only ever watched the first film and that was purely out of curiosity!! It really is just not my thing!!!
Aside from that, it really is very difficult to draw a line between some YA fiction and its adult equivalent; some of the former being very eloquently written and some of the latter being very amateurishly penned!
At what age should youngsters transfer their reading habits to adult material and why should they? To my way of thinking, any book which is able to capture the attention and interest of a YA, keep them reading and leave them wanting more, is a good book, no matter who has written it and for which market!
Yvonne
Funny part about my reading is I read more YA and Children's books NOW than I did when I was a child! I use to read James Patterson and Patricia Cornwell and John Sanford when I was younger and while I still indulge in those worlds (and other non-child genres), I thoroughly enjoy the imagination, wonder, innocence and overall stories shared in the younger niches. So yes...I read YA (and younger) genre books and I'm not a YA. PROUD OF IT. ^_^
We love YA in our house, whatever my kids are reading, generally is what my husband and I are reading as well, including Harry Potter, Narnia, The Hunger Games, Twilight, ect. I think it gives us a great opportunity to share something in common with them and be able to start conversations with them. They both just read a great book called “Dr. Fuddle and the Gold Baton” by Warren L. Woodruff, you can check it out and get it right from the website http://www.drfuddle.com/. They loved it and I’m about to dive in to it myself! Thanks for the post!
Harry Potter all the way! I love MG books and read a lot of YA too. Hunger Games was a series I really enjoyed!
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