Bookish Banter : Why YA?

A little Bookish Banter to get us through.  Bookish Banter is a little bit of banter about our bookish thoughts as we have a friendly discussion over a nice cup of tea. 

Here is a food for thought..... Why YA. That is a question I get asked all the time. I am 39 years old, I have two grown kids. Why do I like  YA. SO I know why I like...er love YA.... So yes I will answer this and Ash will comment. Agree...disagree.. don't care. We will see as we banter with the question ... why YA?


So here are the top three reasons I love YA.... yes there is more than three but I feel as if some would fall under these bigger categories.



1. They are INNOCENT.... well for the most part. 

• Light on the Sex but not non-existent. I can still get my passion fill but I don't feel like a peeping Tom or an old perv. I can appreciate the build up, the tension, and knowing it happened. I cannot handle the during details. It's just not me. Some people like it, I am not one of them... so No to Fifty Shades of Gray
• Bad language is a no no no for me. There is a simple reason for this. I don't like to use curse words. I feel my vocabulary and my properness (yes I know what that says about my vocabulary) is much higher and I don't need these ugly words. I don't want them in my books because I read a lot.. all the time... The more I read them, the more they are in my head, the more they will sneak out of my mouth. Lol you talk about having a high vocabulary, you realize properness is not word. It is a word... I just made it up. 
• Violence and Drugs.... well I had my fair share of these when I was young so I don't need to relive any glory days here. Now I will say that I think these do play a part in some stories and if it's present but not overwhelming I am okay with that. I just have a low tolerance for any book that glorifies these two things. I don't think there is ever a time they are okay. 

2. They are faster paced.... not as much nonsensical input overload

• So I have a bit of ADD. I get a bit lost and unfocused if there is a vomit of details. I am not a big lets imagine the entire picture kind of person. I do imagine some scenes and characters but I am okay with just the story and the feelings. I do not need three pages on they way the ceiling looked or how the tree fit perfectly into the forest. I just need enough to get the feel, the tone, and the setting. Than I need lots of feelings The more the better. I am a real feeler. She says she has a BIT of ADD. You should live with her, it's a whole "squirrel!" from UP type of thing, I swear. But it is very true that YA books are much faster paced, I have a very vivid imagination when it comes to reading, so sometimes I like a bit more detail than what a lot of YA have, but for the most part it's much easier to read. Hey Ash...SQUIRREL!!!. Really this is not me. Hmmm squirrel is a very strange word with a very strange spelling. I guess it fits for a very strange animal. 
• They are shorter (most of the time) Yes there are some over 500 pages in ya....mostly in fantasy which do need the vomit of details... but generally speaking 300-400 pages is average for a YA book. That is about 2 days of reading if I am really into the book, Or half a day if its a weekend. This means I can read more books and that is wonderful for my ADD. Ha, I'm lucky to read a book a week anymore, but yes, shorter books are good. I generally like to read more than one book at a time anyway, so shorter books make it a bit easier to read a bunch at once. See I am not the only one with ADD. I read about 4 books at once. Or more, it depends if I have the one I am currently reading where I am currently sitting. If not... I pick up another one. Lazy or ADD hmmm. 
• Things happen faster. I don't 2 hours reading a 10 chapters and just begin to find out what is going on... Who did what... Where we are.... What's the objective again. That drives me insane. I want things to happen in the first few pages... at least he first chapter. Also shorter chapters, means that whole "only one more chapter until bed" thing a lot easier. Even though most of the time, "one chapter" turns into 5, or 10, or more...

3. They are fun,. I like to feel a bit carefree and young every now and again

• I remember being a teen. Yes it was a while ago but my memory hasn't forsaken me completely. Everything was new and interesting and exciting. First kiss, first love, first drive.... Oh it was wonderful. Now given I never had a first chased by a serial killer, first discovery of a dead body, or first monster sighting.... but I could imagine how that would feel because I remember when everything was so real and so big. Now life is stable and simple and well sometimes a bit boring. Uhm, I haven't had the whole.. first discovery of a dead body thing either.. the whole first monster sighting, I don't want to talk about that one. But it is definitely very exciting reading a book and knowing exactly how they feel, because as teens they feel everything so much harder and stronger, and it is more fun to read.  I can't believe you found my monster! 
  
  
• The young adult characters are so vibrant and colorful. I like vibrant I like color. I love that they live the moment and they seem to live as full as they can for their life. No fear, no hesitation. They make stupid choices, spur of the moment decisions, and they do regrettable stuff. Stuff I would never have the courage to do. Its good though. My main characters live through it. (except in horror stories... they usually have dead characters) SO its nice to live carefree and un-judged. It's funny because horror stories are my favorite. Anyway, but yes sometimes it is nice to have a happy ending, a "this is the exact same thing that happens in every fairytale" kind of ending. Sometimes I want something unexpected and gasp worthy though. Yes happy endings are nice but I love the books I want to to throw because of the "that did not just happen" moments. Especially in the end moments
• So much passion.... oh my goodness. The emotions are everywhere and everything is so over the top its ridiculous.. but in a good way.  I mean insta love for instance. I know some of you guys out there hate insta love but truly most teens I know including me when I was one... the guy was the whole world and it didn't take long to make that revelation. So even though its not really love its true emotion and its wild and deep and just so much PASSION. They feel hard! I already commented on this up there, but again. Yes it's nice to feel everything they feel on every level. 

SO there  you have it guys... that is why I like YA and I guess ash agrees.