Wee Free Men is the first Tiffany Aching, go ahead and jump in. Discworld Children's Book 1 might be The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents? Or a mistake.
Yeah, I could do that, but I'm paralyzed with not caring very much.
Spike ,'Showtime'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
-t - Jul 29, 2011 12:44:23 pm PDT #15794 of 28293
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Connie Neil - Jul 29, 2011 12:45:27 pm PDT #15795 of 28293
brillig
I'm reading Wee Free Men at the moment, and so far the only thing that seems "aimed towards children" is the fact that Tiffany's a kid. But I've never been clear on what makes something YA.
Polter-Cow - Jul 29, 2011 1:03:39 pm PDT #15796 of 28293
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
The age of the protagonist.
Seriously, I cannot think of any other reason for something like The Book Thief to be considered YA. (I think it was marketed as adult in Australia, at least.)
Amy - Jul 29, 2011 1:20:18 pm PDT #15797 of 28293
Because books.
The age of the protagonist.
Not always, though. Bastard Out of Carolina, for instance, is largely about a child, but it's not a YA book. It doesn't mean teens can't or shouldn't read it, but it's not marketed to them because the subject matter is really weighty, and it's an adult's perspective on the issue.
Winter's Bone is another example, while True Grit, if written today, probably would be marketed as YA.
Atropa - Jul 29, 2011 2:28:59 pm PDT #15798 of 28293
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
A comment from Teppy that I'm replying to in this thread:
Also, and I realize this is the wrong thread for it, I just finished Heartless, and it actually made me say "Holy SHIT!" out loud, at about 4 different places in the book.
I KNOW, RIGHT?! I love the last image of the book. LOVE.
I finally caved and subscribed to Yen Press's digital manga magazine so I could read the monthly installments of the Soulless manga. I agree with Pete, that is NOT what Lord Maccon looks like. Not at all. But the manga version of Lord Akeldama is fantastic.
Strix - Jul 29, 2011 2:30:16 pm PDT #15799 of 28293
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
ITA; BOoC is NOT YA.
I taught it to seniors, and I have extremely liberal standards (and if a teen wanted to read it, I would never censor, but would be blunt about its graphic nature) but it's definitely adult fiction, told through the POV of a violently abused girl.
Neither is Winter's Bone. Although both were very good.
I haven't read The Book Thief yet, though.
Kat - Jul 29, 2011 5:24:40 pm PDT #15800 of 28293
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Kat - Jul 29, 2011 5:26:28 pm PDT #15801 of 28293
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Mark Zusak's other book I Am the Messenger is definitely YA. So maybe Book Thief is in that category because his other work is too?
Also Megan McCafferty's books straddle a YA/Adult fiction split. And I love her books. I've seen them shelved in both YA and in adult fic.
-t - Jul 29, 2011 5:50:04 pm PDT #15802 of 28293
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I'm pretty sure Pratchett said he didn't write Maurice or the Tiffany Aching books to be any different from his adult novels, just when the publishers suggested marketing them as YA or Children's Lit or whatever he didn't see any reason not to.
Connie Neil - Jul 29, 2011 6:17:09 pm PDT #15803 of 28293
brillig
The publishers probably said, "Oh, the main character's a kid, market the book to kids", that makes sense.