http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/young adult fiction http://io9.com/tag/young adult fiction

Locked away because of her strange waking visions and her nightmares, Faye is seeing a disturbing vision of the world's impending destruction — even as the real world beyond her walls is actually falling apart, thanks to an oil crisis which has caused chaos and mass rioting. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881750&view=rss&microfeed=true

A couple of days ago, the esteemed Charlie Jane Anders looked at the dearth of new, sustaining pop culture heroes and villains. That, with the exception of Harry Potter, we haven't seen a new character with the perceived permanence of a James Bond or a Captain Kirk or Spider-Man — and she blamed it on a lack of a pulp media. Ah, but she was looking in the wrong place. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5879653&view=rss&microfeed=true Science fiction and fantasy are officially ruling young-adult books — so it's no surprise that lots of science fiction publishers have been expanding into the YA niche, with often terrific results. The latest addition: Angry Robot Books is launching a YA imprint, Strange Chemistry, headed up by Amanda Rutter. They'll launch next September, with five books by the end of 2012, and one book a month thereafter. Can't wait! [Tor.com] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5861010&view=rss&microfeed=true Canadian SF/fantasy authors, you have a new chance to get recognized for your children's and young-adult novels. The Monica Hughes Award, named after the late author of 40 young-adult novels, will give $5,000 each year to the author of the best science fiction or fantasy novel for children. The prize is funded by HarperCollins Canada, but administered by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. [Quill and Quire] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5847797&view=rss&microfeed=true

With the Hunger Games premiere date just around the corner, Lionsgate is already searching for the next big teen blockbuster. And they've chosen Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking trilogy. But will this dystopian society rival the blood splattered world of Katniss and friends? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5846475&view=rss&microfeed=true

After the apocalypse, the scariest thing could be one gay teenager. At least, that's what one prominent agent who represents successful young-adult novelists seems to believe. This unnamed agent asked authors Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith to remove a gay character from their post-apocalyptic YA novel — or just make him straight. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5839493&view=rss&microfeed=true

The current boom in dystopian fiction for young-adult readers owes a lot to William Sleator, who passed away in Thailand a couple of days ago. His books were creepy, scary, and also filled with a relatable sort of dread. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5827911&view=rss&microfeed=true

When the continental United States becomes uninhabitable, the last survivors of America have to move to an island, in Anna North's bleak, beautiful America Pacifica. Here's an exclusive excerpt, in which some street performers reenact the end of our world. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5802566&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you loved the post-apocalyptic prison saga of Incarceron, then you'll be excited to know Catherine Fisher has a new series, publishing monthly. We've got an exclusive excerpt for you: the first six chapters of Fisher's Relic Master Book One. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5802565&view=rss&microfeed=true

I Am Number Four didn't exactly light the box office on fire, but that hasn't stopped Hollywood believing in the power of young adult science fiction adaptations. Now in development: Through To You, a parallel-universe love story. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5784299&view=rss&microfeed=true

Our teens are living in horrible oppressive conditions — in their imaginations, at least. Dystopian fiction, which has never been more than a minor sub-genre in the past, has become a runaway success in young-adult publishing. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5753537&view=rss&microfeed=true We're just guessing that the bioengineered paradise where a teenage girl and her clone fight over the same guy will turn out to be less than perfect once the truth is revealed, in the new young adult novel Beta by Rachel Cohn. Beta, coming Fall 2012 from Disney-Hyperion, will be the first of four books in a new series from Cohn, who's moving into YA fiction after having written several successful children's books, including the Cyd Charisse books. Here's how the press release describes the new series that starts with Beta: More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5753694&view=rss&microfeed=true

Prose books could become a lot more like comic books, if a new experiment from the author of Incarceron achieves success. Catherine Fisher's next series, Relic Master, is coming out monthly starting in May. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5737960&view=rss&microfeed=true

Marti Noxon was a producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and now she's coming back to superpowered teenagers with the movie I Am Number Four, coming next month. She talked to us about aliens, super-violence, and dealing with internet haters. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5735235&view=rss&microfeed=true

Think the dystopian young-adult novel craze has died down? Guess again. A post-apocalyptic dystopian trilogy just scored over half a million dollars from a major publisher, plus a movie deal. We talked to author Julianna Baggott about her PURE trilogy. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5694604&view=rss&microfeed=true

In John Dickinson's WE, everybody's connected to the World Ear, a tiny communications device that connects your brain to the internet — except Paul Munro, cut off from humanity at the fringes of the solar system. It's a thrilling premise. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5617136&view=rss&microfeed=true

I don't know what's more exciting: The fact that the third Hunger Games book comes out in a month, or the fact that a science-fictional young adult series is generating Twilight-style excitement. In either case, here's a new book trailer! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5596773&view=rss&microfeed=true

There's an absolutely fantastic profile of Patrick Ness, author of The Knife Of Never Letting Go, over at Publishers Weekly. Find out how he sold Knife based on just a 40-page excerpt, and how he's finishing another author's book. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5590946&view=rss&microfeed=true

Can posting your unpublished novels online for free still lead to a nice book deal, now that the web is saturated with free fiction? It worked for author Marta Acosta, whose young-adult vampire novel will come out from Tor Books. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5585539&view=rss&microfeed=true

Now that Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan has won a Locus Award, we're even more excited to read the next chapter in the alternate-universe World War I saga. Here's your exclusive first look at the cover of book two, Behemoth. Spoilers below. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5576714&view=rss&microfeed=true

The latest young-adult reading sensation, Incarceron, feels like a mash-up of a few of the genre's best-known books. Luckily, the book does have a supremely clever central conceit, which grows on you as you read it. Spoilers ahead... More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5502261&view=rss&microfeed=true

What comes after vampire teen lit? Dystopia. A pair of authors have just made deals with mainstream publishers for young adult novels about dark, romantic futures. Apparently, after the apocalypse, there will be no chocolate, nor women over 20. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5501617&view=rss&microfeed=true

Nowadays, "young-adult fiction" includes every type of story, including post-apocalyptic and fantasy, says Forest Of Hands And Teeth author Carrie Ryan. And then readers reach adulthood and we suddenly expect them to choose their genres. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5470706&view=rss&microfeed=true

Over at Strange Horizons, author Karen Healey has an amazing essay about body transformations in young adult fiction. She looks at adolescent physical changes in several novels, including the Twilight series. Vamp-loving hero Bella, she argues, is hardly passive. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5413038&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was one of our favorite books last year, and the sequel, Catching Fire, looks even more insane. A new book trailer promises ramped up political intrigue, and an audio excerpt provides a major downpayment. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5331148&view=rss&microfeed=true

Has the young-adult science fiction genre finally moved past future dystopias? A panel of three leading YA authors at BEA suggests the new frontier for YA fiction is alternate histories, including Darwin's genetic engineering and the Prohibition era targeting magic. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5295754&view=rss&microfeed=true

Young-adult authors have conquered science fiction with a mixture of angst, romance, and the discovery that adults are wrong. But Cory Doctorow's Hugo/Nebula-nominated Little Brother puts a geeky, subversive spin on that formula. Spoilers! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5225190&view=rss&microfeed=true

Brittany and Brianna Winner (aged 13) thought they were stupid because they had dyslexia. So their dad challenged them to prove otherwise — by writing a science fiction novel. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5102837&view=rss&microfeed=true

Whenever I hear that a favorite author of mine is working on a young adult novel, my heart sinks. "Oh, that won't be for me," I say to myself, "I am not a young adult." Sure, I know adults can read YA fiction: I read the His Dark Materials trilogy and the Harry Potter books along with the rest of the universe. But I object to the idea that young people need their own special, segregated genre of books, as if their minds are so dramatically different from adult minds that they require their own category of fantasy. Once a person has reached adolescence, relegating their reading material to its own gated subgenre seems at best condescending and at worst censorious. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5037686&view=rss&microfeed=true

The success of Harry Potter has established that the young adult market in fiction can be insanely lucrative, as have other successful scifi series like Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. Now traditionally adult scifi authors like Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi have released YA novels, and publishers promise more smart YA fiction is on the way. But this is hardly the first time that YA fiction in the scifi genre has flowered: in the 1950s, Scribner's did an entire Juveniles series, with over a dozen novels devoted to teen space adventure (including some of Lester Del Rey and Robert Heinlein's most beloved books). But these weren't the only cool kid scifi books of the pre-Potter era. We've got six more great, old-school YA books for you to rediscover or read for the first time. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5015478&view=rss&microfeed=true