This week, let’s hear what blogger and author Colleen Mondor has to say are her must read YA picks for “So You Want to Read YA?” Get ready: she’s got non-fiction picks, too.
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Colleen Mondor has been the YA columnist for Bookslut for seven years. She also reviews adult titles for Booklist, writes about aviation for Alaska Dispatch and is the author of the flying memoir The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska. She tweets @chasingray.
Whenever Iʼm asked about adults reading YA, I always feel like I donʼt have enough information. I need to know a readerʼs specific interests in order to best recommend a YA title they might enjoy. If you like Stephen King, then I suggest Libba Brayʼs The Diviners (with the caveat that she writes endings much better), for a straight up thriller with historical overtones (not Dan Brown, not Dan Brown!), Robin Wassermanʼs The Book of Blood and Shadows should keep you riveted. Mystery fans need to take a look at Soho Pressʼs new YA mystery line; they know what theyʼre doing with mysteries better than just about anyone and are bringing that expertise to teen titles. (So far Iʼve found the upcoming Deviant by Helen FitzGerald to be especially compelling.)
And as for paranormal, and you canʼt discuss YA without bringing up paranormal, Nova Ren Sumaʼs Imaginary Girls continues to haunt me. There is a relatively conventional ghost in the plot but more disturbingly, there is a sibling relationship that is utterly and completely devastating. Itʼs not quite “Baby Jane” levels of terrifying but Suma does a masterful job of ratcheting up the tension in this one that will impress any reader.
Having shared all of those novels, the easiest go-to list for me when it comes to any adult seeking YA is nonfiction. I have made it a practice of several years now to gift such titles to adult family members and they have never been disappointed. Because my great grandmother worked in the garment industry in NYC in the early 1900s, I gave my mother a copy of Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin a few years ago. For my aunt, a huge John Lennon fan, this year Iʼll be buying Yoko Ono: Collector of the Skies by Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky.
Other recent titles I have gifted are Tracking Trash by Loree Griffin Burns, and The Bronte Sisters and Jane Austen: A Life Revealed, both by Catherine Reef. All of these books are notable for their attention to deal, factual accuracy and outstanding illustrations (mostly photographs). They do not talk down to their intended audiences, but rather inform in an entertaining manner, something that is appealing regardless of the age of the reader. For adults who want to learn a bit about a subject (such as the Triangle Fire), but not plow through hundreds of pages, these type of books are ideal and I think an excellent place for curious adults to take a look at YA.
Ultimately, I think readers should look in YA for the same sort of books they enjoy in adult. My only precaution would be against romance, a genre I have personally found to be very difficult for me navigate in this age range. But really you just have to look for what you like here, as you do elsewhere and when all else fails, head to nonfiction where I promise you wonʼt be disappointed!
Yay, Colleen!