I am a former English teacher. Before kids I worked with the library to teach preschool teachers how to implement literacy objectives into their story times (literally the best job ever!) I read adult books, but when I need something quick, I turn to YA and children’s books. This is why YA literature matters.
So why pick a YA book for our book clubs? Well there are many answers to this question.
One, it opens our group up to younger people as well. One part of our mission is to make books accessible to everyone, we want this with our book club as well. Not only to younger people, but to those that maybe left reading and want to dive back into it. It’s low risk, high reward to read YA books. There is some great content out there in YA like Indivisible and Aetherbound. Sometimes adult books lean into the “trauma porn” of trauma, sometimes YA books so that too, but it is less often. A good YA author knows their audience and is able to curb the amount of trauma put into a book.
Which leads to reason two, having these little bites allows for discussion to focus on the point of the book rather than be weighed down from the trauma. Now, in Indivisible, I did have a few moments of breakdown. I kept putting myself in the position of the parents and that was heartbreaking. I cannot fathom having to leave my kids, especially so quickly. But seeing the kids find a way and (eventually) lean on friends to help made me feel more hopeful. Jerry has been very excited about Aetherbound and all the themes that are held within that are so relevant in today’s climate. Both books give us discussion topics that are relevant and easier to digest before the discussion.
Finally, we are all busy. Starting a small business is very time consuming, life in general is time consuming. YA books allow for a quick read. We read and listen to a LOT of books. It’s part of our favorite part of the business! If we are busy, we KNOW those around us are also busy. We want to be aware of other’s time. Giving a little reprieve from longer, heavier books (especially in the summer) just seemed like a nice thing to do.
We realize that YA is not for everyone, but we hope you’ll give it a chance. If not, we get it. There are genres of books that I just don’t find entertaining at all, and that’s the joy of reading. We hope we offer a variety and you can find a book you’ll love!
I’m looking forward to meeting in our little garden space and discussing Indivisible next week!
Check out our most recent recs for YA fiction on bookshop. Happy reading!