What is YA Literature?

Besides just being for youth ages 13- 18,  according to Mertz and England (1983), YA literature also:

• Involves a youthful protagonist
• Uses a point of view which presents an adolescent’s interpretation of the events
• Has directness of exposition and direct confrontation
• Involves a significant change in the life of the main character(s)
• Shows a highly independent protagonist
• Shows gradual and incremental change as well as incomplete growth in the main character(s)
• Mirrors concerns over contemporary issues
• Has a main character who reaps the consequences of decisions and action
• Has a brief time period, limited setting, few fully developed characters may be part of the structural convention
• Draws upon a sense of how adolescents develop

Knowing this detailed information about YA literature certainly helps in distinguishing YA literature from middle grades literature. Often times we just think that YA adult literature is simply more mature, but this gives me a framework to compare books against to understand where they fall.