YA for A's

Young adult fiction isn't just for young adults anymore. Sure, maybe in my YA days it was. The lone and depressingly skinny YA bookshelf in the big-box chains barely held enough books to keep my voracious appetite occupied for a single summer. These days, young adult fiction is everywhere. Airports. Grocery stores. Everywhere that before you could only find formulaic mysteries and generic romance mass-markets. Today, the YA section in most bookstores rivals the general fiction section in both size and scope. And not all YA books are juvenile, in these increasingly-liberal days.

If you're past the age of 21 and haven't jumped on the Twilight or Hunger Games or insert any other YA phenomenon here bandwagon yet, maybe you just haven't found the right gateway book. Try this list for starters: 11 YA Novels Every Adult Should Read. It's got a good mix of modern and classic YA fiction, all of which will be worth your time and deal with issues far beyond the standard girl-meets-vampire. Inside these pages you'll read about real issues that used to be the sole terrain of jaded, overstressed adults, but now has trickled down to the younger generations. Good or bad societal sign? You be the judge. Either way, you're in for some entertaining reading.

Are there any other books you'd add to this list?

TJ