Friday, August 6, 2010

Adults Reading Teen Books (According to the New York Times Book Review)

The Sunday New York Times Book Review had a great article on teen books and the adults who read them (and why they are not ashamed). Did you see it?

Here's how it starts:

While au fait literary types around town await the buzzed-about new novels from Jonathan Franzen and Nicole Krauss, other former English majors have spent the summer trying to get hold of “Mockingjay,” the third book in Suzanne Collins’s dystopian trilogy, so intensely under wraps that not even reviewers have been allowed a glimpse before its airtight Aug. 24 release. What fate will befall our heroine, Katniss Everdeen? My fellow book club members and I are desperate to know. When will the Capitol fall? And how can Collins possibly top the first two installments, “The Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire”?

Oh, did I mention? “Mockingjay” is for teenagers. I am well into my 30s.

But I am not embarrassed by my, shall we say, immature taste in literature. And I wasn’t much concerned when, barreling through “The Hunger Games” at the hospital after giving birth to my third child, I hardly noticed whether he ate or slept.


To read more click here.

But we knew that - didn't we. That teen lit tackles serious themes, is immediate and raw, honest and fast paced, stays fun and engenders intense discussions. Glad to know it's a spreading obsession.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love this article. I've been saying this for years (but not as well). And amazing how many book insiders they got to talk about the growing love of teen lit. And think about it, how many books will generate the interest Mockingjay will - across so many ages. Yay for teen lit.