Young adult literature ( YA ) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as friendship, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. Stories that focus on the challenges of youth may be further categorized as social or coming-of-age novels .
94-516: The Scott Saunders Space Adventure series are a series of young adult science-fiction novels written by amateur astronomer Patrick Moore . As its title indicates the series depicts the adventures and trials of young astronaut Scott Saunders. The series consist of six books published from 1977 to 1980. This article about a 1970s science fiction novel is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on
188-469: A quest , and fights and defeats monsters and giants, thereby winning favor with a lady . The Matter of France, most popular early, did not lend itself to the subject of courtly love , but rather dealt with heroic adventure: in The Song of Roland , Roland, though betrothed to Oliver's sister, does not think of her during the course of events. The themes of love were, however, to soon appear, particularly in
282-417: A quest . It developed further from the epics as time went on; in particular, "the emphasis on love and courtly manners distinguishes it from the chanson de geste and other kinds of epic , in which masculine military heroism predominates." Popular literature also drew on themes of romance, but with ironic , satiric , or burlesque intent. Romances reworked legends , fairy tales , and history to suit
376-439: A 2014 study shows that using Laurie Halse Anderson 's novel Speak aided in discussions on consent and complicity. Those who read about tough situations like date rape are more emotionally prepared to handle the situation if it arises. It is important to use diverse literature in the classroom, especially in discussing taboo topics, to avoid excluding minority students. Literature written for young adults can also be used as
470-700: A 2018 conference of educators found that the most frequently taught YA texts in America from 2013 to 2018, ordered from most to least taught, were Speak , The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , The Giver , The Outsiders , The House on Mango Street , American Born Chinese , Monster , The Book Thief , Persepolis , and The Perks of Being a Wallflower . Many young adult novels feature coming-of-age stories. These feature adolescents beginning to transform into adults, working through personal problems, and learning to take responsibility for their actions. YA serves many literary purposes. It provides
564-512: A Medieval work has also been noted to contains many magical or supernatural references. Drawing from many different sources, some notable allusions include elements of Christianity (an example being the multiple references to the Holy Grail ) as well as elements of Celtic legends. The Medieval romance developed out of the medieval epic, in particular the Matter of France developing out of such tales as
658-547: A genre". In 1942, Seventeenth Summer – called by some the first young adult novel – by 17 years old Maureen Daly, was published. Its themes were especially relevant to teenagers, underaged drinking, driving, dating, and angst. Another early example is the Heinlein juveniles , which were science fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein for Scribner's young-adult line, beginning with Rocket Ship Galileo in 1947. Scribner's published eleven more between 1947 and 1958, but
752-622: A lack of books with a main character who is a person of color , LGBT , or disabled . In the UK 90% of the best-selling YA titles from 2006 to 2016 featured white, able-bodied, cis-gendered, and heterosexual main characters. The numbers of children's book authors have shown a similar lack of diversity. Between 2006 and 2016, eight percent of all young adult authors published in the UK were people of color. Some consider diversity beneficial since it encourages children of diverse backgrounds to read and it teaches children of all backgrounds an accurate view of
846-708: A late date as the " Matter of Rome " (actually centered on the life and deeds of Alexander the Great conflated with the Trojan War ), the " Matter of France " ( Charlemagne and Roland , his principal paladin ) and the " Matter of Britain " (the lives and deeds of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table , within which was incorporated the quest for the Holy Grail ); medieval authors explicitly described these as comprising all romances. The three "matters" were first described in
940-718: A magical interlude in Tasso 's Gerusalemme liberata . In the Renaissance , also, the romance genre was bitterly attacked as barbarous and silly by the humanists , who exalted Greek and Latin classics and classical forms, an attack that was not in that century very effective among the common readers. In England, romances continued; heavily rhetorical, they often had complex plots and high sentiment, such as in Robert Greene 's Pandosto (the source for William Shakespeare 's The Winter's Tale ) and Thomas Lodge 's Rosalynde (based on
1034-496: A minor thread in the episodic stream of romantic adventures. Some romances, such as Apollonius of Tyre , show classical pagan origins. Tales of the Matter of Rome in particular may be derived from such works as the Alexander Romance . Ovid was used as a source for tales of Jason and Medea, which were cast in romance in a more fairy-tale-like form, probably closer to the older forms than Ovid's rhetoric. It also drew upon
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#17328630352721128-424: A new persecutor appeared: a courtier who was rejected by the woman or whose ambition requires her removal, and who accuses her of adultery or high treason, motifs not duplicated in fairy tales. While he never eliminates the mother-in-law, many romances such as Valentine and Orson have later variants that change from the mother-in-law to the courtier, whereas a more recent version never goes back. In Italy there
1222-503: A number of definitions, including: Librarians first defined this new category of fiction, in particular librarians from the New York Public Library . The NYPL's first annual Books for Young People list was sent in 1929 to schools and libraries across the country. Then "In 1944 [...] NYPL librarian Margaret Scoggin changed the name of her library journal column from 'Books for Older Boys and Girls' to 'Books for Young Adults', and
1316-433: A phenomenon, a work has to "conform to the standards [...] set by the mass media and promoted by the culture industry in general." Zipes complains of similarities between Harry Potter and other well known heroes. Professor Chris Crowe argues that criticism of young adult fiction arises from the fear that the genre will replace classic works. He also suggests that because there is much poorly written young adult fiction, and
1410-405: A pleasurable reading experience for young people, emphasizing real-life experiences and problems in easier-to-grasp ways, and depicts societal functions. An analysis of YA novels between 1980 and 2000 found seventeen expansive literary themes. The most common of these were friendship, getting into trouble, romantic and sexual interest, and family life. Other common thematic elements revolve around
1504-495: A pre-eminent role for speculative fiction in the field, a trend further solidified by The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The end of the decade saw a number of awards appear such as the Michael L. Printz Award and Alex Awards , designed to recognize excellence in writing for young adult audiences. Philip Pullman 's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials , published between 1995 and 2000, added another controversial topic to
1598-507: A presence. Many early tales had the knight, such as Sir Launfal , meet with fairy ladies, and Huon of Bordeaux is aided by King Oberon , but these fairy characters were transformed, more and more often, into wizards and enchantresses. Morgan le Fay never loses her name, but in Le Morte d'Arthur , she studies magic rather than being inherently magical. Similarly, knights lose magical abilities. Still, fairies never completely vanished from
1692-573: A stepping stone to canonical works that are traditionally read in classrooms, and required by many school curriculums . In Building a Culture of Readers: YA Literature and the Canon by Kara Lycke, Lycke suggests pairing young adult literature and canon works to prepare young adults to understand the classic literature they will encounter. YA can provide familiar and less alienating examples of similar concepts than those in classic literature. Suggested pairings include Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series with
1786-523: A young boy's adventures on the Mississippi in the nineteenth century". The same description can be applied to its sequel, Huckleberry Finn . Huck is 12 or 13. According to journalist Erin Blakemore, "Though young adult literature had existed since at least Laura Ingalls Wilder 's Little House series , which was published in the 1930s, teachers and librarians were slow to accept books for adolescents as
1880-542: Is "excellently accommodated to the fancies of old or young". A number of works by eighteenth and nineteenth-century authors, though not written specifically for young readers, have appealed to them. Novels by Daniel Defoe , Jonathan Swift , Jane Austen , Walter Scott , Charles Dickens , Lewis Carroll , Robert Louis Stevenson , Mark Twain , Francis Hodgson Burnett , and Edith Nesbit . Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll , published in 1865 and one of
1974-399: Is a marked tendency to emphasize themes of courtly love , such as faithfulness in adversity. From c. 1760 – usually cited as 1764 at the publication of Horace Walpole 's The Castle of Otranto – the connotations of "romance" moved from fantastic and eerie, somewhat Gothic adventure narratives of novelists like Ann Radcliffe 's A Sicilian Romance (1790) or The Romance of
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#17328630352722068-447: Is a well-known example of the YA problem novel. Following its publication, problem novels became popular during the 1970s. Librarian Sheila Egoff described three reasons why problem novels resonate with adolescents: A classic example of a problem novel, and one that defined the sub-genre, is Go Ask Alice anonymously published by Beatrice Sparks in 1971. Go Ask Alice is written as
2162-417: Is considerable. Modern usage of term "romance" usually refer to the romance novel , which is a subgenre that focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people; these novels must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Despite the popularity of this popular meaning of Romance, other works are still referred to as romances because of their uses of other elements descended from
2256-547: Is described in medieval terminology. When Priam sends Paris to Greece in a 14th-century work, Priam is dressed in the mold of Charlemagne, and Paris is dressed demurely, but in Greece, he adopts the flashier style, with multicolored clothing and fashionable shoes, cut in lattice-work—signs of a seducer in the era. Historical figures reappeared, reworked, in romance. The entire Matter of France derived from known figures, and suffered somewhat because their descendants had an interest in
2350-557: Is difficult. A Wrinkle in Time , written by Madeleine L'Engle in 1960, received over twenty-six rejections before publication in 1962, because it was, in L'Engle's words, "too different," and "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil , and it was really difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adults' book, anyhow?" In 1957 the Young Adult Library Services Association – initially called
2444-438: Is inherently amorphous, for its constituent terms “young adult” and “literature” are dynamic, changing as culture and society — which provide their context — change", and "even those who study and teach it have not reached a consensus on a definition". Victor Malo-Juvera, Crag Hill, in "The Young Adult Canon : A Literary Solar System" note that in 2019 there was no consensus on a definition of young adult literature and list
2538-567: Is inside". YA has been integrated into classrooms to increase student interest in reading. Studies have shown that YA can be beneficial in classroom settings. YA fiction is written for adolescents and some believe it to be more relevant to students' social and emotional needs instead of classic literature . Use of YA in classrooms is linked to: Students who read YA are more likely to appreciate literature and have stronger reading skills than others. YA also allows teachers to talk about " taboo " or difficult topics with their students. For example,
2632-424: Is often labelled "children's literature", Garner himself rejects such a description. Critic Neil Philip, commenting on Garner's early novels, notes that "It may be that Garner's is a case" where the division between children's and adults' literature is "meaningless". Judy Blume author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (1970), has significantly contributed to children's and young adult literature. She
2726-476: Is rescued by another woman and a tournament that he wins. Other examples of Italian (Tuscan) poetry tales are Antonio Pucci's literature: Gismirante, Il Brutto di Bretagna or Brito di Bretagna ("The ugly knight of Britain") and Madonna Lionessa ("Lioness Lady"). Another work of a second anonymous Italian author that is worth mentioning is Istoria di Tre Giovani Disperati e di Tre Fate ("Story of three desperate boys and three fairies"). The Arthurian cycle as
2820-466: Is so obsessed by chivalric romances that he seeks to emulate their various heroes.) Hudibras also lampoons the faded conventions of chivalrous romance, from an ironic, consciously realistic viewpoint. Some of the magical and exotic atmosphere of Romance informed tragedies for the stage, such as John Dryden 's collaborative The Indian Queen (1664) as well as Restoration spectaculars and opera seria , such as Handel 's Rinaldo (1711), based on
2914-473: Is sometimes targeted by critics for religious reasons, including religious debates over the Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials . Criticism has also been leveled at young adult fiction authors for alleged insensitivity to marginalized communities or cultural appropriation . English language young adult fiction and children's literature in general have historically shown
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3008-406: Is the story called Il Bel Gherardino . It is the most ancient prototype of an Italian singing fairy tale by an anonymous Tuscan author. It tells the story of a young Italian knight, depleted for its "magnanimitas", who wins the love of a fairy. When he loses this love because he does not comply with her conditions, Gherardino reconquers his lady after a series of labours, including the prison where he
3102-414: Is usually seen as originating in the 19th century, though there were precursors in the 18th century, like Amelia by Henry Fielding (1751), and Caleb Williams (1794) by William Godwin . They are typically a type of realistic fiction that characteristically depict, in the YA version of this genre, issues such as poverty , drugs , and pregnancy. Published in 1967, S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders
3196-557: The Chanson de Geste , with intermediate forms where the feudal bonds of loyalty had giants, or a magical horn, added to the plot. The epics of Charlemagne , unlike such ones as Beowulf , already had feudalism rather than the tribal loyalties; this was to continue in romances. The romance form is distinguished from the earlier epics of the Middle Ages by the changes of the 12th century, which introduced courtly and chivalrous themes into
3290-968: The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan , The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins , and Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney . Examples of young adult novels and novel series include the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz and the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare . Middle grade novels are usually shorter, and are significantly less mature and complex in theme and content than YA. YA novels are for ages 12–18, and tackle more mature and adult themes and content than middle grade novels. The latter usually feature protagonists between
3384-666: The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) – including their love affairs – and where a predominantly oral tradition which survived in the Balkans and Anatolia until modern times. This genre may have intermingled with its Western counterparts during the long occupation of Byzantine territories by French and Italian knights after the 4th crusade. This is suggested by later works in the Greek language which show influences from both traditions. In later romances, particularly those of French origin, there
3478-676: The Iliad or the Odyssey , or Stephenie Meyer 's Twilight with Wuthering Heights . When discussing identity, Lycke suggests pairing Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter with Sherman Alexie 's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian . The trend to include same-sex relationships and transgender characters in young adult fiction has caused considerable controversy. Conservative activists and religious groups have also criticized young adult fiction for violence, explicit sexual content, obscene language, and suicide. Speculative young adult fiction
3572-563: The 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel , whose epic Chanson des Saisnes [ fr ] ("Song of the Saxons") contains the lines: Ne sont que III matières à nul homme atandant: De France et de Bretaigne et de Rome la grant There are only three subject matters for any discerning man: That of France, that of Britain, and that of great Rome. In reality, a number of "non-cyclical" romances were written without any such connection; these include such romances as King Horn , Robert
3666-618: The Dane (a translation of the anonymous AN Lai d'Haveloc); around the same time Gottfried von Strassburg 's version of the Tristan of Thomas of Britain (a different Thomas to the author of 'Horn') and Wolfram von Eschenbach 's Parzival translated classic French romance narrative into the German tongue. During the early 13th century, romances were increasingly written as prose, and extensively amplified through cycles of continuation. These were collated in
3760-583: The Devil , Ipomadon , Emaré , Havelok the Dane , Roswall and Lillian , Le Bone Florence of Rome , and Amadas . Indeed, some tales are found so often that scholars group them together as the " Constance cycle" or the " Crescentia cycle"—referring not to a continuity of character and setting, but to the recognizable plot. Many influences are clear in the forms of chivalric romance. The earliest medieval romances dealt heavily with themes from folklore, which diminished over time, though remaining
3854-616: The English Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory ( c. 1408 – c. 1471 ), the Valencian Tirant lo Blanch , and the Castilian or Portuguese Amadís de Gaula (1508), spawned many imitators, and the genre was popularly well-received, producing such masterpiece of Renaissance poetry as Ludovico Ariosto 's Orlando furioso and Torquato Tasso 's Gerusalemme Liberata and other 16th-century literary works in
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3948-469: The Forest (1791) with erotic content to novels centered on the episodic development of a courtship that ends in marriage. With a female protagonist, during the rise of Romanticism the depiction of the course of such a courtship within contemporary conventions of realism , the female equivalent of the " novel of education ", informs much Romantic fiction . In gothic novels such as Bram Stoker 's Dracula ,
4042-551: The Matter of Britain, leading to even the French regarding King Arthur's court as the exemplar of true and noble love, so much so that even the earliest writers about courtly love would claim it had reached its true excellence there, and love was not what it was in King Arthur's day. A perennial theme was the rescue of a lady from the imperiling monster , a theme that would remain throughout
4136-487: The Philosopher's Stone , was published in 1997. Originally marketed in the UK under the broad category of children's literature, the books received attention and praise for their increasingly mature and sophisticated nature, eventually garnering a significant audience of adult readers. This phenomenon led many to see Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling as responsible for a resurgence of young adult literature. It also established
4230-460: The Rings (1954-5) by J. R. R. Tolkien are highly successful fantasy novels, which are read to young children and read by both children and adults They are found in the teen or young adult section of American public and school libraries. However, Lord of the Rings is generally not on the curriculum of high schools. This is because the paperback version can run to almost 1200 pages and the vocabulary
4324-577: The Swedish literary work Frithjof's saga , which was based on the Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna , became successful in England and Germany . It was translated twenty-two times into English, 20 times into German, and into many other European languages, including modern Icelandic in 1866. Their influence on authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien , William Morris and Poul Anderson and on the subsequent modern fantasy genre
4418-573: The Young Adult Services Division following a reorganization of the American Library Association – had been created. YALSA evaluates and selects materials for young adults, with the most active YASLA committee being the book selection committee. Michael Cart argues that the 1960s was the decade when literature for adolescents "could be said to have come into its own". A significant early example of young adult fiction
4512-599: The ages of 10 and 13, whereas young adult novels usually feature protagonists from 14 to 18. New adult (NA) fiction is a developing genre of fiction with protagonists in the 18–29 age bracket. St. Martin's Press first coined the term in 2009, when they held a special call for "fiction similar to young adult fiction (YA) that can be published and marketed as adult—a sort of an 'older YA' or 'new adult ' ". New adult fiction tends to focus on issues such as leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education and career choices. The genre has gained popularity rapidly over
4606-399: The article's talk page . Young adult fiction The earliest known use of term young adult occurred in 1942. The designation of young adult literature was originally developed by librarians to help teenagers make the transition between children's literature and adult literature, following the recognition, around World War II , of teenagers as a distinct group of young people. While
4700-407: The basic premise of A Wizard of Earthsea , that of a talented boy going to a wizard's school and making an enemy with whom he has a close connection, is also the premise of Harry Potter . As publishers began to focus on the emerging adolescent market, more booksellers and libraries began creating young adult sections distinct from children's literature and novels written for adults. The 1970s to
4794-776: The beginning of the eighteenth century", according to M. O. Grenby: very few ... enjoyable books for children ... existed. Children read, certainly, but the books that they probably enjoyed reading (or hearing) most, were not designed especially for them. Fables were available, and fairy stories, lengthy chivalric romances , and short, affordable pamphlet tales and ballads called chapbooks , but these were published for children and adults alike. Take Nathaniel Crouch 's Winter-Evenings Entertainments (1687). It contains riddles , pictures, and 'pleasant and delightful relations of many rare and notable accidents and occurrences' which has suggested to some that it should be thought of as an early children's book. However, its title-page insists that it
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#17328630352724888-623: The behavior of Lancelot conforms to the courtly love ideal; it also, though still full of adventure, devotes an unprecedented amount of time to dealing with the psychological aspects of the love. By the end of the 14th century, counter to the earliest formulations, many French and English romances combined courtly love, with love sickness and devotion on the man's part, with the couple's subsequent marriage; this featured in Sir Degrevant , Sir Torrent of Portyngale , Sir Eglamour , and William of Palerne . Ipomadon even explicitly describes
4982-453: The best-known works of Victorian literature , has had widespread influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. It is credited as helping end an era of didacticism in children's literature , inaugurating an era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain". The tale has had a lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. A shortened version for young children, The Nursery "Alice"
5076-444: The coming-of-age nature of the texts. This includes narratives about self-identity, life and death, and individuality. Some of the most common YA genres are contemporary fiction, fantasy , science fiction , historical fiction , and romance . Hybrid genres are also common in YA. The social problem novel or problem novel is a sub-genre of literature focusing and commenting on overarching social problems. This type of novel
5170-569: The diary of a young girl, who, to cope with her many problems, experiments with drugs. More recent examples include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson , Crank by Ellen Hopkins , and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky . The boundary between books for children and adult literature is flexible and loosely defined and in particular "the young have always been efficient [plunderers] of stories from all sources, and have carried off such literary booty as pleased them". This boundary has been policed by adults and has "alternated between
5264-423: The elements of romantic seduction and desire were mingled with fear and dread. Nathaniel Hawthorne used the term to distinguish his works as romances rather than novels, and literary criticism of the 19th century often accepted the contrast between the romance and the novel, in such works as H. G. Wells 's "scientific romances" in the beginning of science fiction . In 1825, the fantasy genre developed when
5358-537: The emergence of Scandinavian verse romance in Sweden under the patronage of Queen Euphemia of Rügen , who commissioned the Eufemiavisorna . Another trend of the high Middle Ages was the allegorical romance, inspired by the wildly popular Roman de la Rose . In late medieval and Renaissance high culture, the important European literary trend was to fantastic fictions in the mode of Romance. Exemplary work, such as
5452-455: The expression of romance narrative in the later Middle Ages, at least until the resurgence of verse during the high Renaissance in the oeuvres of Ludovico Ariosto , Torquato Tasso , and Edmund Spenser . In Old Norse, they are the prose riddarasögur or chivalric sagas. The genre began in thirteenth-century Norway with translations of French chansons de geste ; it soon expanded to similar indigenous creations. The early fourteenth century saw
5546-709: The field by attacking established religion, especially Roman Catholicism . Northern Lights , the first volume in the trilogy, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal as the year's outstanding English-language children's book. Pullman has written other YA fiction, including the Sally Lockhart series (1985–94), as well as books for younger children. The category of young adult fiction continues to expand into other media and genres: graphic novels / manga , light novels , fantasy , mystery fiction , romance novels , and even subcategories such as cyberpunk , techno-thrillers , and contemporary Christian fiction . A survey of attendees at
5640-509: The genre is targeted at adolescents, a 2012 study found that 55% of young adult literature purchases were made by adults. Author and academic Michael Cart states that the term young adult literature "first found common usage in the late 1960's, in reference to realistic fiction that was set in the real (as opposed to imagined), contemporary world and addressed problems, issues, and life circumstances of interest to young readers aged approximately 12–18". However, "The term 'young adult literature'
5734-484: The genre was christened with a name that has lasted to this day". Initially the YA genre "tended to feature the same" boy and girl love story. But in the 1960s the novels developed to more fully examining the lives of adolescents. Particularly noteworthy was S. E. Hinton 's " The Outsiders ". French historian Philippe Ariès argues, in his 1962 book Centuries of Childhood , that the modern concept of childhood only emerged in recent times. He argues that children were in
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#17328630352725828-480: The genre's recent development, it has difficulty in establishing its value in relation to the classics of literature. Chivalric romances As a literary genre , the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe . They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures , often of a chivalric knight-errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on
5922-449: The importance of British fantasy writer Alan Garner . According to Pullman Garner "is indisputably the great originator, the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkien , and in many respects better than Tolkien". Similarly Ursula le Guin in a review praising Garner's novel Red Shift , argues that "Some of the most interesting English novels of recent years have been published as children's books". Although Garner's early work
6016-500: The judgement of many learned readers in the shifting intellectual atmosphere of the 17th century, the romance was trite and childish literature, inspiring only broken-down ageing and provincial persons such as Don Quixote , knight of the culturally isolated province of La Mancha . ( Don Quixote [1605, 1615], by Miguel de Cervantes [1547–1616], is a satirical story of an elderly country gentleman, living in La Mancha province, who
6110-542: The last few years, particularly through books by self-published bestselling authors such as Jennifer L. Armentrout , Cora Carmack, Colleen Hoover , Anna Todd , and Jamie McGuire . The genre originally faced criticism, as some viewed it as a marketing scheme, while others claimed the readership was not there to publish the material. In contrast, others claimed the term was necessary; a publicist for HarperCollins described it as "a convenient label because it allows parents and bookstores and interested readers to know what
6204-553: The late 1960s and early 1970s, five other very popular books were published: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), an autobiography of the early years of American poet Maya Angelou ; The Friends (1973) by Rosa Guy ; the semi-autobiographical The Bell Jar (US 1963, under a pseudonym; UK 1967) by poet Sylvia Plath ; Bless the Beasts and Children (1970) by Glendon Swarthout ; and Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White , which
6298-434: The later form of the novel and like the chansons de geste , the genre of romance dealt with traditional themes. These were distinguished from earlier epics by heavy use of marvelous events, the elements of love, and the frequent use of a web of interwoven stories, rather than a simple plot unfolding about a main character. The earliest forms were invariably in verse, but the 15th century saw many in prose, often retelling
6392-451: The manuscript more than two years later. A number of novels by Robert Louis Stevenson were first published in serial form, in a weekly children's literary magazine Young Folks , including Treasure Island , Kidnapped , and The Black Arrow . This magazine was for boys and girls of an older age than many of its contemporaries. Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer is described by publisher Simon & Schuster as "The classic tale of
6486-442: The married couple as lovers, and the plot of Sir Otuel was altered, to allow him to marry Belyssant. Similarly, Iberian romances of the 14th century praised monogamy and marriage in such tales as Tirant lo Blanc and Amadís de Gaula . Many medieval romances recount the marvellous adventures of a chivalrous, heroic knight , often of super-human ability, who, abiding chivalry's strict codes of honor and demeanor, goes on
6580-409: The medieval romance Gamelyn and the source for As You Like It ), Robert Duke of Normandy (based on Robert the Devil ) and A Margarite of America . The Acritic songs (dealing with Digenis Acritas and his fellow frontiersmen) resemble much the chanson de geste , though they developed simultaneously but separately. These songs dealt with the hardships and adventures of the border guards of
6674-554: The medieval romance, or from the Romantic movement: larger-than-life heroes and heroines, drama and adventure, marvels that may become fantastic, themes of honor and loyalty, or fairy-tale-like stories and story settings. Shakespeare's later comedies, such as The Tempest or The Winter's Tale are sometimes called his romances . Modern works may differentiate from love-story as romance into different genres, such as planetary romance or Ruritanian romance . Science fiction was, for
6768-527: The mid-1980s have been described as the golden age of young-adult fiction, when challenging novels began speaking directly to the interests of the identified adolescent market. In the 1980s, young adult literature began pushing the envelope in terms of the subject matter that was considered appropriate for their audience: Books dealing with topics such as rape , suicide , parental death, and murder which had previously been deemed taboo, saw significant critical and commercial success. A flip-side of this trend
6862-494: The novel" for young adults. All the same Sarah Trimmer in 1802 recognized young adults as a distinct age group describing "young adulthood" as lasting from ages 14 to 21. In her children's literature periodical, The Guardian of Education , Trimmer introduced the terms "Books for Children" (for those under fourteen) and "Books for Young Persons" (for those between fourteen and twenty-one), establishing terms of reference for young adult literature that still remain in use. "At
6956-428: The old, rhymed versions. The romantic form pursued the wish-fulfillment dream where the heroes and heroines were considered representations of the ideals of the age while the villains embodied the threat to their ascendancy. There is also a persistent archetype, which involved a hero's quest. This quest or journey served as the structure that held the narrative together. With regards to the structure, scholars recognize
7050-406: The past not considered as greatly different from adults and were not given significantly different treatment. Furthermore, "Teenagers weren't a designated demographic in most respects until around World War II, due in part to advances in psychology and sociological changes, like the abolishment of child labor". With this development came the marketing of "clothes, music, films, radio programs, and ...
7144-414: The readers' and hearers' tastes, but by c. 1600 they were out of fashion, and Miguel de Cervantes famously burlesqued them in his novel Don Quixote . Still, the modern image of "medieval" is more influenced by the romance than by any other medieval genre, and the word medieval evokes knights, damsels in distress , dragons , and other romantic tropes . Originally, romance literature
7238-430: The rigid and the permeable depending on the political and cultural climate". At the lower end of the age spectrum, fiction targeted to readers aged 8–12 is referred to as middle grade fiction . Some novels originally marketed to adults are of interest and value to adolescents, and vice versa, as in the case of books such as the Harry Potter series of novels. Some examples of middle grade novels and novel series include
7332-623: The romance genre. The romances were freely drawn upon for royal pageantry. Queen Elizabeth I's Accession Day tilts, for instance, drew freely on the multiplicity of incident from romances for the knights' disguises. Knights even assumed the names of romantic figures, such as the Swan Knight , or the coat-of-arms of such figures as Lancelot or Tristan. From the high Middle Ages, in works of piety, clerical critics often deemed romances to be harmful worldly distractions from more substantive or moral works, and by 1600 many secular readers would agree; in
7426-627: The romances of the medieval era. Originally, this literature was written in Old French (including Anglo-Norman ) and Old Occitan , later, in Old Spanish , Middle English and Middle High German – amongst the important Spanish texts was Book of the Knight Zifar ; notable later English works being King Horn (a translation of the Anglo-Norman (AN) Romance of Horn of Mestre Thomas), and Havelok
7520-468: The similarity of the romance to folk tales. Vladimir Propp identified a basic form for this genre and it involved an order that began with initial situation, then followed by departure, complication, first move, second move, and resolution. This structure is also applicable to romance narratives. Overwhelmingly, these were linked in some way, perhaps only in an opening frame story , with three thematic cycles of tales: these were assembled in imagination at
7614-656: The tales that were told of their ancestors, unlike the Matter of Britain. Richard Coeur de Lion reappeared in romance, endowed with a fairy mother who arrived in a ship with silk sails and departed when forced to behold the sacrament, bare-handed combat with a lion, magical rings, and prophetic dreams. Hereward the Wake 's early life appeared in chronicles as the embellished, romantic adventures of an exile, complete with rescuing princesses and wrestling with bears. Fulk Fitzwarin , an outlaw in King John's day, has his historical background
7708-539: The thirteenth, Starship Troopers , was instead published by Putnam . The intended market was teenaged boys. A fourteenth novel, Podkayne of Mars (1963), featured a teenaged girl as the protagonist. In the 1950s, The Catcher in the Rye (1951) attracted the attention of the adolescent readers although it was written for adults. The themes of adolescent angst and alienation in the novel have become synonymous with young adult literature. The Hobbit (1937) and Lord of
7802-622: The tradition. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late tale, but the Green Knight himself is an otherworldly being. Early persecuted heroines were often driven from their husbands' homes by the persecutions of their mothers-in-law, whose motives are seldom delineated, and whose accusations are of the heroines' having borne monstrous children, committed infanticide, or practiced witchcraft — all of which appear in such fairy tales as The Girl Without Hands and many others. As time progressed,
7896-500: The traditions of magic that were attributed to such figures as Virgil. The new courtly love was not one of the original elements of the genre, but quickly became very important when introduced. It was introduced to the romance by Chretien de Troyes , combining it with the Matter of Britain, new to French poets. In Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (unlike his earlier Erec and Enide ),
7990-506: The vast, polymorphous manuscript witnesses comprising what is now known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle , with the romance of La Mort le Roi Artu c. 1230 , perhaps its final installment. These texts, together with a wide range of further Arthurian material, such as that found in the anonymous English Brut Chronicle , comprised the bases of Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . Prose literature thus increasingly dominated
8084-466: The works. This occurred regardless of congruity to the source material; Alexander the Great featured as a fully feudal king. Chivalry was treated as continuous from Roman times. This extended even to such details as clothing; when in the Seven Sages of Rome , the son of an (unnamed) emperor of Rome wears the clothing of a sober Italian citizen, and when his stepmother attempts to seduce him, her clothing
8178-519: The world around them. In the mid-2010s, more attention was drawn to diversity from various quarters. In the several years following, diversity numbers seem to have increased: One survey showed that in 2017, a quarter of children's books were about minority protagonists, almost a 10% increase from 2016. Jack Zipes , a professor of German and literature, has criticized the standardized nature of young adult fiction in Western society. He writes that to become
8272-417: Was S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders (1967). The novel features a truer, darker side of adolescent life that was not often represented in works of fiction of the time. Written during high school and written when Hinton was only 16, The Outsiders also lacked the nostalgic tone common in books about adolescents written by adults. The Outsiders remains one of the best-selling young adult novels of all time. In
8366-402: Was a strong revived interest in the romance novel, including young adult romance . With an increase in number of adolescents, the genre "matured, blossomed, and came into its own, with the better written, more serious, and more varied young adult books (than those) published during the last two decades". The first novel in J.K. Rowling 's seven-book Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and
8460-490: Was awarded 1973 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery by the Mystery Writers of America . The works of Angelou and Plath were published as adult works but The Bell Jar deals with a nineteen year old's "teenage angst," and Angelou's autobiography is one of the ten books most frequently banned from high school and junior high school libraries and classrooms. Authors Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman have both argued for
8554-481: Was one of the first young adult authors to write novels focused on such controversial topics as masturbation , menstruation , teen sex , birth control , and death . Ursula le Guin 's A Wizard of Earthsea , published in 1968, had a significant influence on YA fantasy fiction. It won or contributed to several notable awards for le Guin, including the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969, and
8648-687: Was one of the last winners of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award . With regard to the Earthsea series Barbara Bucknal stated that "Le Guin was not writing for young children when she wrote these fantasies, nor yet for adults. She was writing for 'older kids'. But in fact she can be read, like Tolkien, by ten-year-olds and by adults. Margaret Atwood said that ... A Wizard of Earthsea ... since it dealt with themes such as "life and mortality and who are we as human beings", it could be read and enjoyed by anybody older than twelve. Reviewers have commented that
8742-448: Was published in 1890. It was inspired when, on 4 July 1862, Lewis Carroll and Reverend Robinson Duckworth rowed in a boat with the three young daughters of scholar Henry Liddell : Lorina (aged 13); Alice (aged 10); and Edith Mary (aged 8). During the trip Carroll told the girls a story that he described in his diary as "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" and which his journal says he "undertook to write out for Alice". She finally got
8836-521: Was written in Old French (including Anglo-Norman ), Old Occitan , and Early Franco-Provençal , and later in Old Portuguese , Old Spanish , Middle English , Old Italian (Sicilian poetry), and Middle High German . During the early 13th century, romances were increasingly written as prose. In later romances, particularly those of French origin, there is a marked tendency to emphasize themes of courtly love , such as faithfulness in adversity. Unlike
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