For those of you who stream and watch TV series on Netflix, you know
how addictive it can be and how easy it is to convince yourself to watch just
one more episode.
I’ve experienced something similar with young adult novel series. I
read one book…then have to know what happens to the characters. I download the
next book from Kindle (immediately) and read non-stop. Then I’m hooked and
ready to read the next book. Then… WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE THIRD BOOK ISN’T OUT
YET?!
The whole YA series phenomena puzzled me at first. Why weren’t writers
writing one great book and moving on to new characters and new places? It took reading a few series to understand
that I cared about these well-written, dynamic characters and wanted to tag along
for more of their journeys (just as I cared about television characters enough
to watch 11 episodes of Downton Abbey one Saturday – but that’s another story).
Katniss (Hunger Games) and Tris (Divergent) and Allie (Night School)
and Lyda (Pure) and Alex (Ashes) and Evie (Paranormalcy) and Lena (Beautiful
Creatures) and other teen heroines have dominated my Kindle and bookshelf for some time
although my reading tastes are usually darker and more literary (George Saunders, Donald Ray Pollock).
The publishing industry has found a cash cow in successful YA series and the brand loyalty they generate among readers. This is not a bad thing. After all, I’ve enjoyed these series and eagerly await
the next installments in some.
But I'm left wondering where the stand-alone
YA title fits in? Will readers of young
adult fiction go for well-crafted stories like The Sky is Everywhere (Jandy
Nelson) and The Mockingbirds (Daisy Whitney) or have they (we) been trained to
expect more? Fodder for another blog.
