The No-Guilt Approach to Reading YA

Every so often, people write disparaging articles about YA and the adults who enjoy the category. One such article came out recently, in which the author claimed that adults should feel guilty for reading these books and that they don’t approach literature the way books for adults do. (Not going to link to said post here, because it’s click-bait-y and I don’t want to give them more traffic.)

This month at Ploughshares, I tackle the issue of YA as a literary genre and why readers shouldn’t feel guilty to reading wonderful books, no matter what their target age audience is.

Also I get to make references to both Faulkner and Mean Girls.

I’m sure all of my readers already know this, but no one should make you feel guilty for reading things you enjoy, whether that’s YA and children’s literature or graphic novels or sci-fi or romance or anything. Life’s too short to read books you don’t love.

3 thoughts on “The No-Guilt Approach to Reading YA

  1. literaryliason says:

    I think people spend too much time worrying about what other people do. Whether it’s YA or Romance, read on! I enjoy fantasy and classics, mainly, but the YA Star Wars series was a guilty pleasure of mine during college. They were way below my “reading level” but they were quick, enjoyable reads.

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