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Hardcover to Paperback Switch: Five to Consider

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Ready for another batch of hardcover books seeing a face lift in their paperback form? I swear my list of cover changes grows every time I make one of these posts, too. Alas, here are a handful to take note of. I don’t think there are any bad changes this time, but there are a couple that kind of seem like they’re going after the same thing.

Daniel Kraus’s The Monster Variations has a bit of a killer hardcover look (on the left). I love how you can only make out the shadow of a person in the background, and the way that shadow looms over the entire cover gives the right kind of haunting vibe. Then there’s the car and the headlights in the middle of the shadow guy’s chest — but it’s not just the car and headlights that are noteworthy. It’s the smoke that’s kind of billowing out of the top. I think the deep purple background, which is a little sketchy in and of itself, adds to the dark vibe of the cover. But maybe the thing that works most for me on this cover is the font for the title and the author. I love how thin and jagged it is. I think this cover has pretty great appeal and it gives off just the right tone to the reader about what to expect.

That said, the paperback iteration? It’s not too shabby, either. It takes some of the same elements of the first cover and tweaks them. But rather than one looming guy on the cover, this time we get the shadows of three boys who are walking either toward or away from a pair of headlights. It’s got a dark and gloomy color to it, as well, though the font for the title and the placement has changed quite a bit. But you know what’s neat? It STILL gives off the same tone with the font and how tightly packed together the letters are. It’s interesting, though, how much smaller Kraus’s name became in the paperback edition than it is on the hardcover. Oh, and did you note the addition of a blurb on the front of the paperback from Lauren Myracle?

I’d say both covers work pretty well and have good appeal to a wide range of readers. If I were picking one up, I’d probably go for the hardcover, but I think that’s because it looks just a little bit creepier (and I think it’s a tiny bit more memorable visually). The Monster Variations came out in paperback at the end of October.

Can this hardcover to paperback change for Katherine Longshore’s Gilt get a huge high five? I think this is an excellent change over, especially because the hardcover is so bad. I don’t need to talk too much about what makes it bad — maybe it’s the closeup shot of the girl’s nose? Or the fact she looks dead? Or the fact it makes this historical fiction novel look like a paranormal kind of story with how pale and, well, dead the girl looks? Also, do we need to see up her nose?

The paperback version though gets at the romance and I think it gets at the fact this is a historical romance quite well. I mean, there’s no doubt the girl is quite enjoying that kiss (though if you look too quickly or you are stuck on the fact the hardcover looks like a dead girl, it could look like a guy who is getting a little vampiric on her neck). I’m not usually a huge fan of tag lines, but I think this one — “The price of desire could be her life . . . and the crown” — only adds to the feel of the novel. It’s like this cover gets who the readership of this book is. It’s kind of nice to see the color in this, too; I love that it has a golden tone throughout because that only furthers the tone of a story about royalty. Bonus is that I think this cover has great adult cross-over appeal, as well. This cover is sensual without being outright sexy.

I think it’s neat they kept the title font the same on both and the positioning of the title is identical. The author’s name placement on the bottom for the paperback works a little better for me, too, but I think that might be because it’s in a new color and that color is enhanced by the colors in the image itself. Hands down, the paperback edition of Gilt (due out in May) is a winner. I would wait to buy this book for a collection until May because that cover has much more appeal, particularly for those readers who love historical romance stories, than the nose shot hardcover.

I think I’ve talked about how this book was categorized as taking place in Mississippi on that infographic about books set in the US recently, even though 95% of the book actually takes place in Iowa. It still bothers me because I think the fact it’s set in Iowa is pretty important plot point. Alas.

The hardcover of Jacqueline Woodson’s Beneath a Meth Moon is incredibly simple and poignent because of that. I love how the green is done with the same effect as Kraus’s hardcover above. In this version, I like how the edges are darker than the center, too (we can get metaphoric here if you want to, but I don’t need to lay that out there). The title placement and font are minimalist, though the second “o” in Moon certainly conveys the drug use. This cover is stark and yet it nails home the story quite well. Personally, this is a cover I’d pick up; however, I have a feeling because of how little it tells visually without an actual image, it might be a harder sell to browsers, especially teens.

It’s an interesting shift to the paperback, which now not only has an image, but it’s also a fairly minimalist one. There is a clear sense of despair and challenge with it, given not just the crumbling brick wall, but the way the girl is positioned and in the way the image itself is sketched. It’s imperfect. I dig the use of the light blue color to enhance Woodson’s name, as well as parts of the title. Included on the paperback cover, too, are a nice blurb from the Los Angeles Times, as well as a small listing of Woodson’s honors as a writer.

Now it’s been a while since I’ve read this book, but something I’m kind of wondering about the image in terms of the content — I can’t remember if there is ever a moment in the book where we learn about Laurel’s ethnicity. It’s possible there is, though I don’t remember that being the case. It’s not important to the book itself, but it makes me wonder about the girl on the cover of this book. Is she ambiguous in terms of race? I feel like an argument could be made for that case, and the reason I bring this up is because that would be awesome. It’s a story about drug use, and I love how the cover could further the notion that drug problems aren’t relegated to any type of person (which is what I think Woodson is getting at in the book).

Both covers work for me for different reasons. The paperback edition of Beneath a Meth Moon will be available in February.

Here’s an interesting — and I think positive — change for Annabel Monaghan’s recently-released A Girl Named Digit. The hardcover on the left is fun, lighthearted, and bright. But the problem I have with it is that I think the girl looks really young. I think there is a lot of aging up on YA covers, in that a lot of the models are definitely on the upper range of teenage, if they’re not 20-somethings made to look younger. But this cover, I think the model looks really young, and while that would appeal to a younger reading demographic, I think it detracts older teens from wanting to pick it up. This is hurt by the fact she’s labeled a girl in the title (which is a young term) and the fact her outfit also reads really young.

The paperback, though? I love it. I love how it’s orange and black, which will stand out on a bookshelf because it’s so different. I love that even if it is a stock image, it’s been worked enough to look more like a sketch than a picture. The girl in this image looks much more like an average teen-on-a-book-cover in terms of age, and I feel like her expression is much more teen, too. Since we can’t see what she’s wearing, that only helps. I’m also feeling the way the cover font and title work: I like how it’s all capital letters except for the “i”s. It’s just a little effect and a little different, but it makes the title pop. It’s neat how both covers incorporated digits into the design, keeping the books tied together.

A Girl Named Digit will be out in paperback in May.

Last, here’s a huge change. A huge one. And while I think from the perspective of selling the book it’s a major improvement, from a design and eye-catching perspective, I think it’s a downgrade. On the left is the hardcover for Michaela MacColl’s Prisoners in the Palace, which was subtitled “A Novel of Intrigue and Romance.” I love how it’s like newsprint mixed with a painting. It’s so different, and it’s super bright. It stands out on a shelf. But because of the styling, it looks young. I get the vibe of it being a historical novel but I don’t know if from a reader’s perspective that’s so obvious. It’s pretty gutsy not to have the book’s title on the front, too, I think. But this is the kind of cover you have to see the entire jacket to to understand the effect, so I suggest checking it out. I think what I like most about this cover is that it does not follow any trends in design. It’s unique.

The paperback of McColl’s Prisoners in the Palace will be released in April, and it is much more along the lines of other young adult books in terms of style. It makes use of a stock image of what I presume is a teen girl (it’s hard to tell, of course), and it does so with the sort of golden light that gives the book an aged/historical tone to it. Note that in the paperback edition, the bit about this being a novel of intrigue and romance is no longer part of the title, but it’s instead used more like a burb. I’m not a huge fan of the font choice for the title — it feels a little bit showtime or even a little bit big top for me, but I do think it might situate the book’s content in an era. This isn’t the kind of memorable cover that the hardback is, but it might have more teen appeal.

And is it me, or can you spot a potential nice read alike for MacColl’s book from another paperback edition in this post? I think there is a lot of potential ability to do reader’s advisory by good cover design, and this might be a good example of that.

What do you think? Any of these do it better than another? Am I way off? Have you seen any cover changes lately that have really hit or missed the mark?

(P)reviews: A Look into Spring & Summer

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I did one of these posts back last spring, and I thought it was about time to do it again. I’ve been reading a ton of books coming out in 2013 recently (even though my goal has been to catch up on 2012, I’m not exactly perfect). I thought I’d give a small review of a bunch of titles that’ll be coming soon, and when their publication dates are closer, I’ll offer up full-length reviews. For now, whet your appetite.

Amy Spalding’s February 2013 debut, The Reece Malcolm List, follows Devan as she’s flown from the home she’s always known in Missouri to Los Angeles. She’s grown up with ehr father, but now that he’s died, she’s being sent to live with her mother, Reece Malcolm. Devan knows nothing about her mother, except that she’s a well-known writer. Her mom has never been a part of her life, and frankly between that and being sent to live in a city she’s completely unfamiliar with, she’s nervous.

Amid the changes and the determination to break into the core of who Reece Malcolm is, Devan’s excited about starting at a school where performance — her passion — is the focus of education. Through musical theater, we see Devan’s confidence soar, and we see how difficult it is for her not to understand her mother. It’s not because she’s nervous or worried about her mom; it’s because the not knowing rattles that self-confidence Devan’s always had.

The Reece Malcolm List is a story with family at the center, and it’s a non-traditional family structure. This isn’t a grief book, despite Devan’s recent loss of her father. Instead, it’s a book about figuring out how to navigate family and how to understand it. Because not only is Devan figuring her mother out, she’s trying to figure out her mom’s boyfriend, too. Spalding’s book is charming, with a nice blend of humor and seriousness and it offers up some really sweet (and clean!) romance along with it. Fans of musical theater will eat this up.

While we’re on the topic of performance, Sara Zarr’s forthcoming The Lucy Variations — out in May — looks at the competitive world of piano. Kind of. Lucy was groomed to be a star performer and she’s been fortunate enough (literally) to travel the world. She’s earned a name and a reputation, all before the tender age of 15. But it all changes when she walks out on one of her biggest performances in Prague after learning that her grandmother isn’t going to live. That moment causes her grandfather, who’d groomed her to carry on the family’s name and reputation in that world, to tell her it’s over. She can no longer perform.

While Lucy is okay with this decision, now that her younger brother has been forced to take on a new piano teacher, she’s questioning it. Why did she quit? Did she do it because grandpa told her to? Did she do it because she no longer loved performing? And can Will, the new teacher, coax her back into playing?

Zarr’s book hit all the right notes for me. Lucy is an exceedingly privileged character, and her family is full of the kinds of people you love to hate. Except, Lucy acknowledges her privilege and she herself is at times easy to dislike as much as her family. She’s full and real and honest. But more than that, this is a book about what it means to have a passion. Zarr taps fully into the question of whether what we create and make is something that is wholly ours or it’s something we make to share with others. It delves into what other people are to our own creative endeavors, and whether or not they should have any part in it at all. This book is written in third person, which was sort of surprising for me, but it’s the right way to tell the story.

Lucy is longing for acceptance and for love, and the way that she projects that upon others is, at times, desperate. But it’s not so much because she’s looking for that acceptance and love from others. It’s because she’s looking to give that to herself in a way she never has before. The Lucy Variations is, I think, Zarr’s best and strongest to date. Anyone who has ever created or wondered what the purpose of creating and making is will find themselves understanding Lucy so easily.

How many times have I reviewed romance novels? I think I can count it on one hand. But Rainbow Rowell’s forthcoming Eleanor & Park — out in March 2013 — captured me from page one and kept me hooked.

Set in the 1980s, this book is not in any way a contemporary novel, so please keep it off your contemporary book lists. The 1980s are historical, friends. But that’s a rant for another day. What I want to say is this: Eleanor & Park follows two Nebraska teenagers, the new girl with the wild red hair, Eleanor, and Park, the half-Asian boy who just wants to get through each and every day without causing a scene and without being seen. So when Eleanor sits beside him on the bus, Park tenses up, worried he’s going to be  suddenly targeted as the weird boy hanging out with the even weirder girl.

But Eleanor starts breaking down his walls, whether that’s her goal or not. And whether it’s Park’s desire or not, he starts to become more and more fascinated with Eleanor. Before you know it, they’re suddenly both flooding each other’s every thought and every moment. The thing is, neither of these characters has it easy, and that’s especially true of Eleanor. Her home life is far from good. The more Park learns about it, the more he aches for her, both because he feels awful for the situation and because he’s utterly interested in being there for her in any and every possible way.

Rowell’s novel brims with desire and longing, but it’s done in such an understated, subtle way. This isn’t a guaranteed romance, and given the stakes that exist in both Eleanor and Park’s home lives, the story doesn’t read like it will be as romantic as it is. Readers experience it right along with the characters. Despite the time setting, there’s little that reads as 1980s here. These are today’s kids, just with a walkman and 80s music. Eleanor & Park is raw yet tender and heartbreakingly honest.

Nova Ren Suma’s 17 & Gone follows 17-year-old Lauren as she starts being visited by the visions of girls who have disappeared without a trace. All of these girls have two things in common: their disappearance and the fact they were 17 when they were gone. Lauren’s worried about the fate of these girls, especially since she can see them and no one else can. But more than that, she’s worried she might be the next one. Because she, too, is 17.

I can’t talk too much in detail about this book, other than to say the prose is some of the richest, most literary stuff I’ve read in a long time. And while it’s got a bit of a mysterious and magical vibe much the way Suma’s Imaginary Girls does, 17 & Gone takes an entirely different route. It’s almost much more realistic. Though of course, part of what Suma excels at is forcing the reader to question what’s real and what’s simply a vision in the character’s mind and in the reader’s mind.

This lush story is absorbing and haunting, and it tackles a complex issue without ever becoming a novel about a particular issue. I warn anyone who hasn’t read this yet to not do what I did, which was read the author’s note first. If you do, you’ll be spoiled about the twist. That did not impact my enjoyment of the book since I got to watch how Suma got to that point, but I suspect the payoff is even more powerful without knowing. The note, if you’re wondering, is the in back of the book.

These should get you started, but a couple other noteworthy reads for 2013 to have on the radar that I’ve had the chance to read — and plan on writing longer reviews for later — include Kristin Halbrook’s Nobody But Us and Emily Murdoch’s If You Find Me. Halbrook’s story follows two broken characters as they try to escape from their past and begin a new life on the road and Murdoch’s follows two girls who are saved from their remote home in the woods and reintroduced to mainstream society. It’s there that bigger secrets are revealed and both girls are seen as not simply backwater but as people who have dealt with tremendously difficult challenges. There’s also Daisy Whitney’s forthcoming When You Were Here which I will be talking a little bit more about in a guest post on another blog later this month. The male narrator, the longing and pain and grief, it all comes together in a powerful, memorable way.

Links of Note

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I want it noted that I have not talked about nor linked to a Lana del Rey video on links of note posts in a long time. And I’m not going to link to the latest video (which is so lazy) but instead I’m going to say the new album is out and I’m still trying to process how I feel about it. The song “Cola” is driving me crazy on so many levels. I can’t decide if I’m mostly shocked about it because it’s a shock value song or if I am shocked because it’s a woman singing that way or if I’m shocked because it’s LANA singing it or if it’s some combination of all of it. So I’m going to continue angsting about this privately, especially since I know no one reads these posts for my musings on such things (but if you have listened to the new album and that song — what are you thinking?).

Here’s some book and reading related fodder to chew over:

  • Macmillan is ditching printed dictionaries. You know, I don’t care for stories like this when they angle it as “a sign of the times.” I don’t know so much if it’s a sign of the times or a cost-savings measure. Yes, it’s a “sign of the times” that more and more people just hop on the internet to access information, but as someone who works with many people who do not do that (and instead rely on print material or rely on resources to even get online), that mentality is a bit of privilege speak. But honestly, I don’t see this move to ditch the print dictionary as the end of times. There will still be print dictionaries. It might just be a much smaller market. 
  • Readers of Book Riot weigh in on their favorite quarter-life crisis reads. Of the listed reads and of the ones in the comments, I’ve read four. I think de Gramont title is an interesting pick, seeing it’s a story that’s set in high school.
  • Adele Walsh was kind enough to share her list of recommended Australian YA authors on a blog post — it’s what she presented about at YALSA’s YA Lit Symposium. 
  • Megan Crewe has a really thoughtful blog post about the importance of writing and representing diversity in novels. Guess what? Characters who are of a different background, different race, or different sexuality are as dynamic and as human as anyone else. That’s something to embrace.
  • Here are ten suggested books featuring characters who could be the modern Holden Caulfield. Or something. Sometimes the writing in these things kills me. I especially love the bit at the end about how any teenager who binges on Twin Peaks will eat up the story. Guys. Twin Peaks came on in 1990. *I* was 6 years old when it came on. Today’s 16 year olds were born in 1996. In other words, maybe there are a few teens who are watching the show but, uh. Even if the line was in jest, I get a little ranty about this because there ARE people serving teens today who are clueless about their milieu. 
  • The Sidney Morning Herald wonders if literary sex is better than real sex. It’s written by a romance author who talks about the importance of emotions and other non-physical aspects of writing big scenes. It was this line that killed me in the story: My mum reads all my first drafts, but I realised pretty quickly she wasn’t the person to critique my sex scenes after she exclaimed, “Do people really do that?”
  • You know about book packagers, right? And about Paper Lantern Lit and how they aren’t really a book packager but instead a creative engine or some other non-packager sort of name? Here’s a fascinating article about Paper Lantern Lit and about how they operate. I still get really icked out about these, and I don’t know why. It’s not that I don’t think the authors might have talent, but there’s something about packaging a creative product with nothing but the intent of making money that gets me. 
  • Another great Mental Floss list: 10 adult coloring books. Can someone please get me the unicorn one for Christmas? 
This is something I want to pull out separately because I’ve been thinking about it all week. Angelina came up with a really neat idea last week and has been talking about it a bit over social media with other librarians, and I think it’s something worth becoming a part of and talking about at a little bit of a wider level. It’s a 2013 reader’s advisory challenge and the premise is super simple: every month in 2013, those participating will read a book of a different genre. I plan on taking part, and I think I’m going to follow her genres pretty closely. If I can get organized enough and don’t get lazy, I’ll try to post something once a month next year about the challenge, as well as titles that’d fit into those categories for people looking for recommendations. Obviously, this challenge is open to all readers, not just librarians. 

Which reminds me: if you’ve been wondering about #readadv, we’ll be back soon. The last couple of months have been busy for Liz, Sophie, and myself. We’re in the process of brainstorming a list of topics and questions and are so looking forward to bringing it back full force! 

Some thoughts on “new adult” and also “cross-unders”

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New Adult: a term coined by St Martin’s Press in 2009. It was used as a contest for submissions featuring stories about characters between 18 and their mid-20s. Note that the goal of seeking books like this was to have books that felt YA but were for the adult market. More information, including the discussion of new adult not being a necessary genre but rather a means of generating more marketable and varied literary fiction for the adult market featuring 20-somethings, can be found here. Since that contest, it’s been taken on as a “new” genre and has sprouted blogs, calls for submissions, some book deals, and many well thought out blog posts. 

Cross-under: a term used by Tracy van Straaten (a VP at Scholastic) in this article in The Atlantic about defining Young Adult Literature. It was then used again and again in the “YA for Grownups” series by Jen Doll as a way to talk about YA books with adult appeal. 

Now that the definitions are out of the way, I wanted to post about how neither of these things will become Things.

Though I believe wholly that “new adult” (NA) is a type of fiction that exists and that has a culture surrounding it — one that continues to grow and expand, particularly by readers who primarily read ebooks — it is not something that has sustainability as a genre or as a category outside of the internet. The bulk of NA titles at this point that have been published as NA titles have been through self-publishing means, though as noted above, there have been a few sales to traditional publishing houses. But note those sales have been through the adult market and not the YA market nor through a NA market. 

NA books are being called such because they feature stories about characters who are in that space between high school and full-time careers or full-time marriage or full-time child care. They’re often stories about characters who are in college or who are in the time just after college. They’re characters navigating that channel between being teens who are under the watchful eye of their parents or other adults and being adults who are fully and wholly independent beings. These characters are testing the limits of their youths while tiptoeing into the limits of adulthood. They’re learning what friendship and romance are, and they’re figuring out what the course of their future should look like. It’s a tumultuous time.

The thing of it, though, is that this is simply called adulthood. Sure, you’re new to being an adult and you’re working through tough stuff. But it’s adulthood. Developmentally and intellectually — not to mention legally — characters who are over 18 are adults. 

What makes NA attractive to readers, though, is that the characters are written much like young adult characters are in terms of voice, but they take on bigger, more adult problems in the way that adult novels do. They can be much more sexually explicit and detailed, and they can talk about global issues on a different level. They explore life post-high school and pre-career — this specific setting is important. The characters are still growing, like the characters in YA are, but they are doing so in a setting of the bigger world, rather than the typical constrained YA world of high school and family. 

Because of the success of a few titles — again, ones that started as ebooks and succeeded due to incredibly hard work on the part of authors and on the part of readers championing these stories — it seems like there is a real interest in this genre. The publishers are buying a small number of successful titles. It looks like there is something to be said for NA as a genre. Except there is not. 

There is not a NA market. There is an adult market, and there is a YA market. There is nothing in between them. 

I’m not entirely sure why there is such stigma attached to these books becoming part of the adult market. I think it’s a huge and welcome addition to the adult fictional landscape, especially since there are books out there currently and books that have been around for quite a while that tap into the 19-30ish world and voice. These books tackle adult challenges and do so with an adult perspective. Being an adult is such a long, varied, and challenging period of time, and it’s one that is so different for every single individual. Whereas YA novels have some unifying themes to them — growing up, discovering who you are, earning an education, dealing with adults who still exert control over you in a myriad of ways — adult novels do not. This is why there are so many genres and why there are so many appeal factors. One of those is going to be voice, and one of them is going to be age/experience/perspective of the main characters. Books featuring emerging adults? They have appeal factors for many readers who identify with this period of life. The same can be said about books that tackle middle age romances, books that explore what the end of life might be like, and so forth. But those books aren’t categorized as “middle adult” or “geriatric fiction.” 

They’re adult fiction.

There are a number of books that have been labeled as “new adult” that are out there as YA titles. They’re being lumped with NA titles because the characters are beyond their high school years or just graduated. The thing is, those books are still YA books. They have a YA voice, and they’re navigating issues in the way that YA books do. It’s not necessarily about the content of the books, either, or the life challenges going on in the books that do or do not make them YA. For instance, the final book in Jenny Han’s Summer series features a wedding, and whether or not to be married is the central force of Erin McCahan’s I Now Pronounce You Someone Else. There’s military service after high school, there’s love after graduating high school, and many more plots that aren’t traditionally “teen” as we see them socially. What makes the book YA is instead the voice and the way the story is told. 

There is not a problem with either category, and there is not a problem with adults reading either YA books or adult books. What matters is that their reading interests are being met. That both YA and adult fiction can cater to their reading interests is a great thing. Creating an additional genre or category for NA doesn’t expand the reading world. It restricts it. It creates a separate, singular division for a certain type of book. When the possibility for a wider appeal and market exists, why constrict it unnecessarily?

Furthering this, general readers — and I’m speaking about the types of people who are recreational readers who browse libraries and bookstores — don’t care what “type” of book they’re reading. They’re in it for a good story, however it is written or sold. Divvying up the market even further disenfranchises the reader, who now must decide what kind of book they need to read. Are they looking for a YA book? For an adult book? For a NA book? It makes finding a book with an appealing plot more challenging since the search requires honing further in on specific needs and most readers don’t know what the things they want in a book are until they have the book in their hands. This is why reader’s advisory exists, by the way. 

How does the fact NA isn’t a Thing tie into a discussion about cross-unders? Because “cross-unders” is the precise term for an idea that exists but it is being used as a way of being different when it’s actually a way of talking about an idea that already does exist. In other words, “cross unders” is a way to describe books that have cross over appeal to readers. Is this semantics? You bet. But there is a huge difference in what a cross over sounds like than what a cross under sounds like. The first sounds like a bridge, whereas the second necessarily places a judgment on the literature. 

Cross over appeal is a phrase used to describe books that are published for one market but will appeal to readers in another. Cross under, on the other hand, is being framed by The Atlantic (and yes, they are the only source using this term) as a way to describe books published for the teen market but that appeal to adult readers. In other words, these are books that grown ups have permission to read, even though they’re not meant for grown ups. 

The phrase is and will always be cross over, and it will and always will mean that books for grown ups that appeal to teens and books for teens that will appeal to adults. So what about that middle range? Those new and emerging adults?

Books featuring characters in their late teens and their 20s: they can have mega cross over appeal. 

I want to end this post on a couple of notes. The first is that the Pew Research Center has published a nice report on ereading and who is and isn’t reading digitally. Worth paying attention to is how readers are getting their book recommendations. I’ll go out on a limb and say that it is because of those who are reading ebooks that titles fitting the definition of NA are finding their way. But I also point out that those who are reading digitally make up a very small portion of the market. How they act in the bookstore or library is going to be different than the casual reader. And the casual reader doesn’t know what NA is nor are they interested. It’s one more thing to frustrate them in finding a book they like. 

The second thing I want to end this post on is a list of YA and adult books that have crossover appeal for readers seeking stories of characters who are at that slightly-older-than-traditionally-teen. These books take place just after high school graduation, they take place in college, and they take place somewhere else entirely. Some of these books will not be appropriate for all teen readers, but older, mature teen readers looking for more mature, older reads will absolutely want some of these titles.
As I noted above: there is a lack of male leads in these titles (beyond them being romantic interests in many cases). If you can think of any traditionally published titles that feature male characters in this age range, I’d love to know. I stick with traditionally published as an important distinction due to availability to the widest range of readers and widest range of readers’ advisors. There are, of course, strong self-published titles that fit this bill (including CK Kelly Martin’s Come See About Me, among others) but their availability is a challenge.  
The other thing I’d love to hear back on are more genre fiction titles that would fit the bill — my reading tastes are in realistic/contemporary fiction, so this list reflects that. But certainly, there is a huge swath of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and other titles that feature characters of this age set and that would have great cross over appeal. I’m especially eager to hear titles published for the adult market. 
Many of these books are part of a series, and that’s been noted. All descriptions are via WorldCat.
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld: In the late 1980s, for reasons even she has difficulty pinpointing, fourteen-year-old Lee Fiora leaves her middle-class, close-knit, ribald family in Indiana and enrolls at Ault, an elite co-ed boarding school in Massachusetts. Both intimidated and fascinated by her classmates, Lee becomes a shrewd observer of, and ultimately a participant in, their rituals and mores, although, as a scholarship student, she constantly feels like an outsider. By the time she’s a senior, Lee has found her place at Ault. But when her behavior takes a self-destructive and highly public turn, her hard-won identity within the community is shattered. Lee’s experiences, complicated relationships with teachers, intense and sometimes rancorous friendships with other girls, an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush, are both a psychologically astute portrait of one girl’s coming-of-age and an embodiment of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to us all.
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe: At Dupont University, an innocent college freshman named Charlotte Simmons learns that her intellect alone will not help her survive.
The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur (series): When Callie arrives for her freshman year at Harvard, she encounters her three vastly different roommates, new friendships, steamy romance, and scandalous secrets.

Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery: A slight error left Olympic diving-hopeful Bryce Graham in a five-year coma and now, at at twenty-two, she must adjust to a world that went on without her and to visions that may or may not be real.

Easy by Tammara Webber: When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life. Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem– their only interactions are through email. Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees– hoping for more. Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund (series): This novel takes us into the heart of the Ivy League’s ultraexclusive secret societies when a young woman is invited to join as one of their first female members. Elite Eli University junior Amy Haskel never expected to be tapped into Rose & Grave, the country’s most powerful–and notorious–secret society. She isn’t rich, politically connected, or…well, male. So when Amy receives the distinctive black-lined invitation with the Rose & Grave seal, she’s blown away–could they really mean her? Whisked off into an initiation rite that’s a blend of Harry Potter and Alfred Hitchcock, Amy awakens the next day to a new reality and a whole new set of “friends”–from the gorgeous son of a conservative governor to an Afrocentric lesbian activist whose society name is Thorndike. And that’s when Amy starts to discover the truth about getting what you wish for.

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (series): When her best friend moves away, sixteen-year-old Jessica is devastated and finds it difficult to deal with the girls at school, her obsessive parents, and her lack of a love life. While this series begins in high school, Jessica will enter college and the job market in later books. Note that this series was published for the adult market.


Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire: Travis Maddox, Eastern University’s playboy, makes a bet with good girl Abby that if he loses, he will remain abstinent for a month, but if he wins, Abby must live in his apartment for the same amount of time.

Amplified by Tara Kelly: When privileged seventeen-year-old Jasmine Kiss gets kicked out of her house by her father, she takes what is left of her meager savings and flees to Santa Cruz, California, to pursue her dream of becoming a rock musician.

Anatomy of a Single Girl (& Anatomy of a Boyfriend, the prequel) by Daria Snadowsky: Sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, in which college pre-med Dominique explores love and lust. This book comes out in January and is being marketed as a YA book. 

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller: When Travis returns home from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother has stolen his girlfriend and car, and he has nightmares of his best friend getting killed but when he runs into Harper, a girl who has despised him since middle school, life actually starts looking up.

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta: After his favorite uncle’s violent death, Tom Mackee watches his family implode, quits school, and turns his back on music and everyone who matters, and while he is in no shape to mend what is broken, he fears that no one else is, either.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: Adam, now a rising rock star, and Mia, a successful cellist, reunite in New York and reconnect after the horrific events that tore them apart when Mia almost died in a car accident three years earlier.

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo: A fifteen-year-old Australian girl gets her first job and first crush on her unattainable university-aged co-worker, as both search for meaning in their lives. While the main character is 15, the second main character — a male — is in his early 20s. 

An Off Year by Claire Zulkey: Upon arriving at her dorm room, eighteen-year-old Cecily decides to postpone her freshman year of college and return to her Chicago home, where she spends a year pondering what went wrong while forging new relationships with family and friends.

Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson: College freshman and psychology major, Leigh Nolan, finds her problem-solving skills woefully inadequate when it comes to her increasingly tangled and complicated romantic relationships.

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley: Told in alternating voices, an all-night adventure featuring Lucy, who is determined to find an elusive graffiti artist named Shadow, and Ed, the last person Lucy wants to spend time with, except for the fact that he may know how to find Shadow.

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard: Bria, an aspiring artist just graduated from high school, takes off for Central America’s La Ruta Maya, rediscovering her talents and finding love.

Bunheads by Sophie Flack: Hannah Ward, nineteen, revels in the competition, intense rehearsals, and dazzling performances that come with being a member of Manhattan Ballet Company’s corps de ballet, but after meeting handsome musician Jacob she begins to realize there could be more to her life.

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour: Colby’s post-high school plans have long been that he and his best friend Beth would tour with her band, then spend a year in Europe, but when she announces that she will start college just after the tour, Colby struggles to understand why she changed her mind and what losing her means for his future.

It’s also worth noting that every year, YALSA produces a list of books written and sold for the adult market that have high teen appeal. The Alex Awards celebrate high quality writing with solid crossover appeal. You can learn about them here. 

We are still here!

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So when I saw some rumblings about Feedburner — the service which let people subscribe to blog content via RSS — potentially disappearing, I didn’t want to do anything until I was sure it was going. I didn’t see any notification from them it would actually happen.

Then we went for almost a week with no updates in our feedreader or through Twitterfeed.
Long, boring, frustrating stories aside, we had to change our RSS feed. You might have to resubscribe with the new feed if it doesn’t show up for you automatically (people using GoogleReader have told me it’s automatically come back in some spots). You can do that from stackedbooks.org and the little “RSS” tab on the top, or you can click here. 
Thanks everyone and apologies for the hoop-jumping. Trust me that many tears have been shed this morning and also many four-letter words have been uttered. And obviously, if you’ve subscribed to STACKED through feedburner’s burn, you might not even see this and think we’ve disappeared completely.
We have not!