delicate eternity logo
A haven for lovers of the written word
separate post

thoughts

Books for Thought is where I post a discussion topic related to books, reading, writing, or something pertaining to one of the three. I hope you’ll join in, and discuss today’s topic of

storylines/plots/things i want to see in ya

This post is pretty much going to be one long list of things I want to see in YA. These are things that I don’t see enough of in YA, or don’t see at all in YA. I want these things, so I thought I’d share them with you all. So here we go.

Things I Want To See In YA:

– Amazing mother/daughter relationships where they are best friends (honestly this is me and I’ve never read it and WHY? Mums can be awesome friends)

– Single parent families where the single parent is not a deadbeat piece of shit (so sick of this stereotype in YA. Why are all the books I read about single parents – especially mums – about shitty single parents who don’t take care of/care about their kid? *glare*)

– Best friendships that are out of this world (where the best friend is like a sister, where the best friend is the most important person to the MC)

– See above but when that breaks down and it hurts just as much (if not more) than a romantic break-up

– High school contemporaries without romantic relationships

– An MC that studies really fucking hard to get good grades (why does YA either have, like, one scene where the MC is studying and apparently they’re a nerd or the person is just so ~gifted~ that they’re smart AF without trying. I barely had a life in high school because I studied my ass off to get those As)

(source)

– Never having moved, but not necessarily ‘been in a small town my whole life’, either

– Discovering sexuality and/or gender identity as a teen/young adult

– A polysexual character since there is not o n e in YA right now

– Blogging. Especially book blogging (I’ve only read a handful of books with Tumblr in them but what about blogging? There are A LOT of us out there)

– FANFICTION

– Anime and manga love

– Actual book love and not that “I’m not like other girls cause I read” bullshit

– Pets. Especially cats (my cat is my world and yet I’ve never read a book where the MC really freaking loves their cat. TRAVESTY)

(source)

What about you? What are some things you’d love to see in YA?sig-chiara

Tagged with:
separate post
Posted on: March 15, 2017 • By: Chiara

12 Responses to Things YA Needs

  1. Dina says:

    Oh, I LOVE these ideas. As an amateur writer, I am trying to write about friendships more than romance, because that’s really been my experience as an aro ace person. YES to parents and single-parent homes needing better representation. I also want to see more multicultural homes. Like, I spent the first 12 years of my life in the middle east, and then we moved to America. And, I definitely feel like a product of so many cultures. It’s not just the parents’ cultures that affects the kids. It’s also not universal for everyone in that home. Like, my siblings and I are very different people.

    • Chiara says:

      <3 I think it's great that you're focussing more on friendships in your writing! We definitely need that focus in YA so much more than what we've got right now. I would love to read more about multicultural families, as well. I think YA is getting better in terms of diverse rep but then you start thinking about how the diverse books with this kind of rep can be counted on one hand (or finger) and I realise we still have such a long way to go.

  2. Yes! Yes! Yes! Especially your point on out of this world best friendships – my best friend has often been my only home when my physical house was unsafe, and I know there are so very many other teens whose best friends have held them through horrible times and light-filled ones alike. I think friendships are deeply important especially in this time where heterosexual monogamous romance is idolised as The One True Meaningful Type Of Relationship – we need examples in literature of all of the times that stereotype can be proven wrong. Thank you so much for sharing this list with us, dear Chiara, and let us hope a great many of these come true in forthcoming YA books <3

    • Chiara says:

      I’m so glad you know what I mean <3 Too often these kinds of relationships are pushed to the side in favour of the romance in YA and while I understand romantic relationships can be important... they don't happen to everyone in high school? And friendships can often be more important? I guess in some part it's because romance sells but I for one would love to see more books about life and friendships rather than life and romance. I hope some of these things come true, as well <3

  3. I NEED THESE THINGS IN YA! And other than that, I’d also love to see some more diversity and more representation for brown people because I feel I barely see myself in books and I want to be able to see myself in books! Great discussion Chiara! <3

    • Chiara says:

      WE DO! And we also need a lot of racial diversity in YA because when there’s only one book with rep in it then we know there’s a lot of work to do. I hope we both get what we want and need one day, Anisha! Thank you <3

  4. YAS TO THESE!! And I’m like 99% sure Emily already recommended Radio Silence to you but I think you’re going to adore it. It has such a good mother/daughter (single mother!!) relationship and it’s so beautiful. And I just finished reading Lucky Few by Katherine Ormsbee and it was SO GOOD but like one thing that impressed me was that the friendship between the two BFF girls was really featured and powerful and amazing. <3 And it made me realise how rarely I see that?!? Which is sad. I want more epic female friendships where it's not poisonous. And I definitely want more non-romantic YA. I've actually started reading more adult fantasy because it has less romance…and that's so weird?!? I always thought it'd be the other way around. ?

    • Chiara says:

      Emily did recommend Radio Silence to me and I DID end up adoring it! Definitely one of my favourites of 2017, for sure. The mother/daughter relationship in that book was something that was incredibly to read about, and we need more of it!

      YAY for reading a book with great girl friendships. I don’t know why that relationship is so often pushed to the side in favour of romance in YA *sigh*

      Oh, interesting! I would have thought that adult fantasy had a lot of romance but it’s nice that it’s not as focussed!

  5. So much YES!! My mom is seriously one of my best friends – as is my sister – and you never really see those good, close relationships. You would think after Gilmore Girls, it would show up more, but I can’t really think of anything. And single parents not being deadbeats would be GREAT!

    -Lauren

    • Chiara says:

      So you know what I mean! I have only really read one book that I can remember where the MC and their mum had a great relationship AND the mum was a single parent. We need so much more of both of these things in YA because it’s severely lacking!

  6. Deeja says:

    your CAT GIF IS THE CUTEST ARGHHH!!! yes i agree with a lot of what you said, i think parents in general are so undermined in YA, even though, in reality, they–and your whole household/family–are the MAIN CENTER of our lives. friends, best friends, boyfriends/girlfriends (if you ever have them) always come way, way later.
    i also would like to see books where the teens aren’t allowed to date at all, because AHEM, that would be interesting and relateable. In that same context, i want to see someone who has a romantic relationship JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT, like, they’re aware that they don’t love their bf/gf, but they still have that for whatever reason. and then them breaking up, both people actually DISCUSSING what’s up between them, all that.
    also, just a highschool aged character not finding someone? like, they just have never found someone they’re romantically interested in? I’d also love to see more asexual and aromantic characters, and their aro/ace-ness not being a big deal.
    I also want to see romantic relationships mess up; someone incredibly in love but they fall OUT of love instead of IN love. and then moving forward from that.

    • Chiara says:

      Cat GIFs are the best GIfs, right? :D

      Yes to everything you said! I certainly never had a romantic partner in high school, so it would be refreshing to read about a character that doesn’t get a partner when they’re still a teen.

      Romance is hardly ever the be all and end all of high school – so much of it is just for fun? Like, when I look back at crushes I had I am pretty sure II never actually wanted to date any of them, haha.

      I would also absolutely love to see more aro/ace characters in YA! Actually, any aro characters because we don’t have any at the moment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *