YA Literature Isn’t All Bad

Hannah Miller Student Contributor, Pepperdine University

Melissa Locke Student Contributor, Pepperdine University

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pepperdine chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

This past summer, I took a course on Young Adult literature (YA lit.) and through the span of the course, I read approximately 30 novels.

YA lit. gets a bad rap, but I genuinely love it. Because the books are intended for “younger audiences,” it is often assumed that they are inferior to books written with adults in mind. However, I don’t believe that could be any further from the truth. The ever-changing nature of YA books means that they are unbound by genres. They’re also written with a specific audience in mind and are a tool to help adolescents learn about themselves and understand the world. YA lit. can be incredibly formative in teens’ lives, and should get the respect that they deserve.

If you’re looking for some reading to do over winter break, give young adult literature a try.

Some books I enjoyed reading for this course include (but are not limited to):