Could/Should the YA genre be banned?

[AmataLenna]

So we all agree then

[themerrytroll]

I read Twilight as well but I did not enjoy it. I remember Meyer was criticized for writing like a 5th grader or something. But who knew it would become a global sensation?

[themerrytroll]

And before I forget...

Best-selling writers can afford to pay an editor so we just don't know if we're reading the writer's words or the editor's.

[rajillustration]

Exactly this. Books are a group effort, and we shouldn't always be bullying writers all the time.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

So we all agree then

Honestly, though. ^^;

LOLMAO if you ban YA you basically remove the bridge between middle grade books and adult novels--removing literacy from an entire generation. That's like a "when hell freezes over" type of dystopian situation.

Consider the following: a YA novel about the banning of YA novels~

I could never write it, but I bet it'd make for an interesting read...

[themerrytroll]

I read Kafka's Metamorphosis earlier this year. It was a hard read! It took me a month to finish reading it.

[Kann]

There are good and bad YA books and I don't think any book deserves to be banned because of a label, which a lot of people consider to be bad. As long as a YA book does no harm and doesn't show abusive behavior as something good, let it be. It's just a book.

I've read a lot of YA books and they might not be top quality, but they were entertaining and that's pretty much all I want from a book. To have fun while reading.

[Aims]

Nah, that would just be useless, and if people want to read comercial trash let them.

And besides if we went by that logic we should ban romance too, I mean the majority of it is just the same formula of a blank slate protagonist that any lonely girl can project themselves on + a shady hot guy who constantly has emo bedroom eyes and is attracted to her because of her "inside beauty". And 90% of times there's a romantic triangle with the girl just swinging from one guy to another while they macho it out.

And by the end of the line we would just be banning every genre because all of them have comercial trash mixed with the good quality works.

[rajillustration]

Damn, congratulations! I only read the Trial back in school and like...I was too young to appreciate it, I probably should read it again, but Kafka can be kind of a lot to chew on.

[themerrytroll]

It was a LOT. It's a classic but I can't say it's the best book I've ever read. Critics would say it's good writing but WTH? It's not. The whole thing is a discourse. Well, maybe I did appreciate it at the least.

I believe reading should always be a pleasure, and with that being said it also means it's subjective.

[xabelmind]

I mean the majority of it is just the same formula of a blank slate protagonist that any lonely girl can project themselves on + a shady hot guy who constantly has emo bedroom eyes and is attracted to her because of her "inside beauty". And 90% of times there's a romantic triangle with the girl just swinging from one guy to another while they macho it out.

As someone that has published a probably YA novel and feels kinda ashamed because, what's confidence, thank you. At least I know I made something different because in mine the emo guy is the one choosing... and he chooses to get on a gay poly while he ends humanity

Now seriously, I think YA works are a necessary step for anyone. I doubt whoever was going on about banning it was thinking it through.

[DiegoPalacios]

Banning a genre limits the freedom of storytelling. Even if all the stories of said genre suck, it can be a goldmine for parody, and banning the genre, limits that posibility.

Also, banning a genre just because is "easy money without putting good quality" is envious and petty.

[Croik]

The amount of dunking on YA in this thread as being bad is just as cringey as the suggestion to ban it, at least to me.

The ratio of good to bad YA books is almost exactly the same ratio as good to bad adult fiction novels. The unnamed source opinion "Harry Potter is good, therefore it's not really YA" is the same snobbery that leads to things like "Nolan's Batman movies aren't comic book movies anymore because they're really good."

It's extremely silly when there's just soooo much terrible literary fiction written by adults

[Pan]

Whoever said those things about YA likely doesn’t read any YA. There’s garbage in every age range, but YA gets crapped on by lots of people because the main audience is girls age 12-18, and heaven forbid we like things that teen girls like.

I like Harry Potter as much as the next person, but it’s not “good YA” in my opinion. There are YA series with incredible depth, such as The Raven Cycle. It’s so completely unfair to lump a massively successful age range under the category of garbage.

So no, I don’t think you can ban YA XD I write and read YA and some of the stories that have impacted me the most have been from this age range.

I really feel like this hatred of YA is honestly just another way to disparage and shame teen girls for the things they like, which is a pretty poor reason to dislike something.

Sorry, I know that was rambly, but I had to jump in and defend YA fiction! anyway have a good day y’all and read lots ️

[SleepingPoppy]

It's really important to have stories that are accessible to young readers! Having a section for that enables weaker and learning readers to find things they can enjoy. If they had to search amongst "adult" novels, it'd be significantly more difficult for them to find what they need. YA isn't just about love triangles, it's a different lexile from adult fiction so the difficulty of the writting is more approachable to teenagers and preteens.

Personally speaking, I also think YA has it's own kind of charm that differentiates it from adult novels. Not better or worse, just an ephemeral quality that I personally like. I still read some of the series that sparked my love for reading as a kid.

I also don't think removing YA would stop crappy books from existing. That's not the fault of the existence of a YA section, it's about both what attracts an audience (young teenage girls in this case), and how editors and publishers choose stories. Getting ride of YA section is kind of a dumb way to "solve" that problem. Young girls will still like and want love triangles, and crappy writing will still exist if someone things they can profit from it.

[xabelmind]

I really feel like this hatred of YA is honestly just another way to disparage and shame teen girls for the things they like, which is a pretty poor reason to dislike something.

Gosh, how much truth there's in there. You'll be shamed for not reading, but also for looking for enjoyment in your reads.

[thel3tterm]

Pretty much everyone here is already on the same page, but my take is:

No. Every genre has its tropes and attracts 'poor writing' of different varieties.
Sift through any bookstore/library/online website or service and you'll start seeing a patterns of cardboard characters and overused plots for every flavor of fiction you can imagine.

NONE of these genres should be banned. These types of stories resonate with different people, and become popular for a reason.

Picking on teenage girls for liking love triangles and supernatural boyfriends is just as bad for picking on someone for liking 'cookie cutter murder mystery #387' or 'rich guy cheats on his wife and feels bad about it #4972'. Or 'Its like lord of the rings but... isn't... #924'

[Kura]

No.

And not all YA is bad or even has a romance sub plot???

Also why is 'YA has poor writing' such a re-occurring statement in this thread even when it's in support of YA??? It doesn't all have bad writing? There are so many genres, and the quality of writing isn't universal or what marks a book as YA? YA is just marketing age range??

YA also isn't the throw away market. There are experienced authors that are good at writing that enjoy writing YA stories, it's not the 'author wasn't good enough to write a REAL book' label that a lot of people seem to think it is??

Actually, why are so many of these 'opinions to ban' or hot takes usually against a targeted market and not a genre? Or a target market that's confused for a genre??? Actually, I KNOW why, Don't answer that.

[HGohwell]

As with pretty much everyone else, just because something is "bad" and repetitive and tropey doesn't mean it should be banned. I mean, by that logic we're also banning a lot of romance/romcom, sitcoms, detective mysterious/crime procedurals and big budget action blockbusters.

Also, I'm probably going to word this wrong so please try to take the spirit of what I'm saying the right way. just because something is toxic as adults, doesn't mean it always is. For example, a young child throws a screaming fit because they've not got their own, this is usually pretty normal child behavior, not seen as worrying. Annoying and should be dealt with accordingly for the age but not worrying. A thirty-something adult starts screaming because they didn't get their way, lil more concerning and potential signs of abusive behavior. Teenagers having drama over jealousy and crushes ect, pretty normal as they're growing up and learning and have different priorities, so YA reflects that. In an adult, it's a lot more concerning. It's why there are certain behavioral issues/mental illnesses/conditions that can be difficult to spot before a certain point of maturity. You can't expect YA works to be like adult works, because they're not for adults, anymore than you'd expect a preschool work protagonist to act like an adult work protagonist or face the same issues. We also don't talk about banning romcoms/sitcoms for their consistent toxic tropes (looking at you nice guy who won't take no for an answer).

[NickRowler]

Um, I don't get why you would want to ban it, I feel like if you did it would probably turn off a lot of people from reading.

I am someone who has always suffered from dyslexia and liked to read YA even as an adult because of the easier reading level and them having less awkward sex scenes. I do get annoyed by some of the settings and tropes tho, but they are put in to target teens so I try not to get too upset about them. Sometimes you just want some easy reading.

My sister also mentioned that she didn't really care about reading until she came across Twilight. She said she read it over and over which helped her read faster and she also became curious about other books which also featured vampire romance, which lead her to read more books. As an adult, she does address that the books are not the best but she is thankful that they helped her with reading. And I think this is something that a lot of people can relate to.

YA encourages and attracts bad writers

And can you really ban anything just for being subpar? I mean, YA novels as a whole may be a little tropey, but they aren't harmful (except for when they promote harmful ideas about romance, as they do often

Have you never heard of paperback romance books? It's not like these things go away with books aimed at adults. If anything, they get worse.