Monday Musings: The Old Lady Who Read YA

Monday Musings is a weekly post in which I talk about whatever I would like to talk about.  Often it's book related.  Sometimes it's not.


I'm 35 years old.  Wait... yes that's correct.  I'm seriously always losing track of exactly how old I am.  No joke.  I just had to think it through to see if I am 35 or 36.  Is it because my birthday is at the end of the year, so I'm subconsciously subtracting the 1981 from the current year, even though my birthday is still 10 months away?  Maybe.  But I digress.

We're here to discuss the Old Lady Who Read YA.  That's me.  Although I really don't consider myself old--at all.  More often than not, I'm struck by the fact that I am an a adult.  And not a just-turn-21-adult, but like a real adult.  I'm even a mom.  I'm in charge of a classroom full of children.  This is all very strange to me.  Who in their right mind would allow someone so young to be so independent?  Oh yeah... I'm 35.

Many people think that means I should be reading "adult" books.  Which I do sometimes--mostly when my husband has teased me enough and I feel the need to prove to him that I can and do read books that are written for teenagers or middle schoolers. When I'm asked what I'm reading, I can see that look that tells me they don't appreciate the greatness of MG and YA reads.  And I also find myself not always able to join in books with other adult readers because I haven't read anything they have recently.

But here's the secret folks:  Middle Grade and YA books are so much better than most adult books.  Seriously!  I mean think about the character development.  Pre-teens and Teens are naturally going through so much change and development that it's almost impossible not to have great character development happening.  I'm not saying that it's easy to write MG and YA books, but that there is so much growth potential.  And as much as I love character development, I also want my book to move along.  The plot has to go somewhere.  Good MG and YA has both strong character development and a plot that pulls you in and makes you stay up all night to see what happens next!

Then there's nostalgia.  I already mentioned above that I don't feel old (well maybe physically sometimes).  I'm not sure if that why I like YA or if it's because I read MG and YA that I feel that way.  Who knows.

Why do you read YA or MG?  Do you go back and forth?  Does it make you feel younger?  Older?

Next week's musing: Half-stars in ratings