Originally, this was going to be a post about how YA books tend to focus on trauma when they follow a LBGT+ character who is coming out. Because they used to, very much, but that has changed and I was going to outline that in this blog post. But then I started thinking more about this blog post, about all the other things that have changed in YA over the past 10+ years since I started reading it. And I think there’s quite a bit.
Obviously this blog post is very much based on 1) What I have observed in YA fiction over the past decade based on the books I have read, and 2) What has been going on the UK market (including US imports). Just thought I should get that out in the open before we set sail.
So what has changed in the past decade?
Coming out stories
It never ceases to amaze and delight me how much the YA scene has exploded with LBGT+ books in the past 10 years. Over that time, we’ve gone from seeing a couple of YA books focusing on LBGT+ stories coming out once a year, to a high percentage of the market publishing these books. And the majority of YA books that don’t have the LBGT+ story as the centre plot contain LBGT+ characters as part of the maincast.
But these stories that are now a huge part of the YA market were not at all 10 years. Or at all really. The first book I read that contained a LBGT+ character was Half-Bad by Sally Green in 2016. That story is not a coming out story – being bi was a part of the main character identity, and it also wasn’t a big deal. The first coming out story I read was Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda, which was again in 2016. Now we have a market that is flooded with coming out stories, and stories containing LGBT+ characters.
Coming out stories in YA have changed drastically. The early coming out books that were published in the YA market I felt were very focused on trauma. The Art of Being Normal and If I was Your Girl were two of the first YA books that I read that focused on LBGT+ stories, and in the case of these two stories focused on the trans experience. I will say now that If I Was Your Girl is an own voices story, so the author maybe wanted to showcase her experience of her transition (although I really hope for her sake that her coming out experience wasn’t as traumatic as her main character’s).
In comparison, the LBGT+ YA stories that are being published at the moment are a lot more focused on the lives of teenagers who just happen to be part of the LBGT+ community, or their coming out story is part of a wider story of self discovery. Two great examples I’ve recently read are You Should See Me In a Crown and The Falling in Love Montage. Both stories are about girls who know they are already lesbians falling in love with other girls. These books really celebrate being part of the LBGT+ community, but they don’t shy away from the truth – that if you are part of the community you will likely face prejudice from people inside and also outside your community. But they don’t focus on any traumatic experiences, unlike the two books I mentioned earlier, which I think is the preferred why to go when writing stories for teenagers about LBGT+ stories. It makes the stories more hopeful and joyful.
I’m going to put my hand up and say I am part of the LBGT+ community, but not in a way that means I’ve had to come out, and haven’t faced any prejudice because of my identity (apart from a few nasty words from some horrid people at school about being frigid because I didn’t fancy anyone – learning that the term demi-sexual existed was a huge relief for me). But I feel that LBGT+ YA stories should be a about celebration – a big party that celebrates a new identity discovered or a coming out. But obviously there are traumas that a lot of members of the community face when they do this – but I think a balance between the two to show the reality of the situation and also celebrate the new occasion is important. And I’m glad that the LBGT+ stories that are now published no longer have trauma at the forefront, as having a trend like that makes coming out seen too scary and not at all hopeful.
Diverse stories
In the last 2 years, there has really been an explosion in books written by authors who are from under-represented backgrounds. And it’s rather glorious. Ten years ago the only non-white author I remember having any presence in the YA market was Malorie Blackman. Now we have so many books written by authors who are from under-represented backgrounds: Angie Thomas, Sabaa Tahir, Patrice Lawrence, Marie Lu…
A lot of these books have come in from the US market. There are plenty of books that were originally published into the UK market that were written by non-white authors, but a lot are from the US. It’s a good thing for diversifying the market, but it’s not a great thing for UKYA authors as the competition in the market is already hard enough, and when UKYA authors have to compete with books imported from another country it makes things even more difficult.
Similar to what we have seen with LBGT+ stories in the past 10 years, there’s also been a shift with the sorts of stories that are being published by non-white authors. A lot of these books do focus on race, but they are not the focus of the stories. Obviously, with The Hate You Give. the story was to give voice to the injustice that Black people were feeling as a result of the 2016 Black Lives Matter movement. But moving on from that book we’ve now had books like You Should See Me In a Crown which is about the main character’s journey to get into her dream university when money is against her. Race plays a very small part, and it very much ends on a joyful note for the main character.
How is the market likely to change in the future?
How do I think YA books will change in the next 10 years?
I think we’ll see an increase in the amount of graphic novels published into the YA market. As we’ve seen by the rise of TikTok, younger gens are after visual content that is quick to consume. Manga sales have also soared in the past year – seriously, I’ve had Jujutsu Kaisen volume 9 on order for 3 months, and there’s no sign of it coming. There are plenty of graphic novels in the market at the moment, but I think we’ll see an increase in them that will be stocked in the YA section of bookshops rather than the graphic novel section.
I think we’ll also see an increase in the books written by and about neuro-diverse characters. There are a few around at the moment, but I think it is a gap in the market for representation in that area. Similarly, I think we’ll see more books written by and about disabled characters. I feel they are under-represented in the YA market. Disabled characters are mostly side characters and there are very few books with main disabled characters. I think we’ll see that change in the future.
Bookworm Scribe 