Week 13 Prompt

Response to Young Adult, New Adult and Graphic Novels

It is funny to think that in the year 2015 that any librarian would feel that these genres, Young Adult, New Adult, and Graphic novels are somehow unworthy of reading. Growing up I have been taught that as long as you are reading something it is better than nothing. I guess I am fortunate to have this instilled in me from teachers and librarians. In life we are taught equality, to be respectful of others and our differences, in my eye I guess this extends to books as well. It takes all kind of people to make the world go round and it takes all kind of books to satisfy those people.

YA books I think are a cool genre because teens can enjoy them and adults can enjoy them too. Sometimes I feel a little guilty reading YA and I laugh now because I feel like as a teen librarian, I have a good reason to read YA. My older sister loves to read YA and she is now hit 30 years old. I think their appeal to adults is remembering the time when they were the same age as the characters.
This ideal that we need to read materials of our age group is silly and I am not sure why I feel this why since I think these three genres have value.

New Adult is a relatively new category, which is ironic it has only been recognized now. Have these older teens, young twenties readers not been reading this whole time. In the article "What's New About New Adult?" it was referring to how many YA books are coming of age stories and it got me thinking are New Adult books not a coming of age story (Brookeover, 2014). College students or twenty year old's are facing a challenging time of their lives, transitioning from young adults to adults with real problem. The life of a college student is unique and the challenges they face are different than teens in high school or adults with families. It only makes sense to have books about the challenges of these young adults on the brink of adulthood.

Then finally there are Graphic novels and I really have no experience with this genre but I see how often it goes out at the library. A genre that draws in hesitant readers is great. Even though graphic novels do not have the same amount or reading as a regular book, at least the reader is doing some reading and letting their mind process the story. Reading has many benefits but one of the best benefits is hearing a story. Even if the stories are not true we learn from stories. Stories help readers to see life from a point of view that may have never considered. We learn about different cultures, places, and subjects through stories.

Conclusion
It doesn't matter what the genre is, all genres have value. In today's world of technology, as librarians we are lucky to get people to read at all. Everyone reads for different reasons and we need to respect everyone's reading tastes. These three genres, Young Adult, New Adult, and Graphic novels, are all great genres for younger readers and we need to provide this audience with sufficient variety to choose from because they are valued patrons as well.

Reference
Brookeover, S. (2014). What's New About New Adult? Horn Book Magazine, 90(1),41-45. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text Database.