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The following are videos explaining age categories, and later there is a debate about New Adult.

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[Bookishpixie]

[Jenna Moreci]

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Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, Adult are categories that divide books by their intended audience. This is for marketing purposes, age appropriateness, and location in bookstores/libraries. (There are other categories for kids, like picture book & early reader, that won't be covered much here since almost no one writes for them on WP.)

[Bethany Atazadeh]

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Middle Grade (MG)

Middle Grade is intended for kids 8-12, but their protagonists are usually aged 13-15. Kids usually like to read about older kids. (Intended is underlined to point to the fact that though some adults and older kids might be buying these books they are always written with children in mind and marketed for children. Example: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.") These books take into consider an 8-12 year old's literary level, cultural understandings, and the taboos surrounding socialization/society, sex, drugs, and violence. Many of these stories at their core teach a lesson.

"Middle grade fiction deals with the things kids are going through at those ages: friendships made and lost, family relationships changing, physical changes, a wide range of school experiences, and a growing awareness of the wide world outside of oneself and the injustices it often contains." (Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

“To me, the middle grade experience has always been a very singular and special experience. It’s the first time kids are wondering about the world and their place in it.” (Stacey Barney, executive editor at Putnam)

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[Social Distancing Book Fest 2020 - Family, Friendship, and Determination in Middle-Grade Fiction]

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Young Adult (YA)

1. The Age Of The Protagonist(s)

For a book to fall firmly into the 'Young Adult' category, it must have at least one teenage protagonist, usually aged in the upper teens – between 15 and 19 years old.

2. The Voice

YA fiction have an authentic voice that rings true to the young adult experience. Teenagers have different priorities, worries and thoughts than an adult, and younger child.

This goes some way towards explaining the prominence of certain tropes (e.g. love triangles) and the prevalence of certain themes (e.g. self-discovery and friendship) in YA. These are all typically young adult experiences, things teenagers tend to focus on more than adults.

A book's style, which goes hand-in-hand with its voice, in some ways affects categorisation. YA fiction, has a sense of immediacy and 'in-the-moment' storytelling, often delivered through close third person/first person point of view and/or present tense prose. It's tends to be more of an action/plot-focused style.

3. The Themes Of The Story

A final key difference between YA and Adult fiction is found in the themes of the story, and how they are explored.

This can be a tricky one. Many people have made the mistake of assuming the themes explored in Young Adult fiction are more trivial than those of Adult fiction, or that themes explored in Adult fiction are off-limits in YA. This simply isn't true.

Some themes are definitely more specific to one category or the other – coming of age in YA, for example, or existential musings in Adult fiction. But themes cross over all the time between the two categories. The differentiation comes from the way themes are explored.

While characters might have sexual experiences in YA novels, it's more likely to be explored in much less explicit detail than a sex scene in an adult novel.

Violence, and the degree of graphic detail in which it's portrayed, is another example of a theme that can draw a line between YA and Adult books. Violence is by no means off-limits in YA, but it's safe to say that a book with extremely graphic violence is probably intended for adults rather than a younger audience.

There are often instances where lines blur and the YA/Adult categories become difficult to define. But in most cases, a combination of the above three elements is enough to place a book primarily in front of one audience or the other. (Claire Bradshaw, Writer's Edit)

[Video by PBS]

[Alexa Donne]

[Reedsy]

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[Social Distancing Book Fest 2020 - Journeys That Change Us: Coming of Age in Young Adult Fiction]

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New Adult (NA)

New Adult fiction can be seen as something of a crossover category at the midpoint between YA and Adult. As the name suggests, protagonists are literally 'new' to being adults: aged 18-25, somewhere between freshly out of high school (college age, though not necessarily in college) and a 'real' adult. This category covers many firsts; first time leaving home, first apartment, entering college, beginning an internship, first job, first adult romantic/sexual relationship, sexual exploration, etc.

In many ways, this 'in-between' category combines many trappings of both young adult and adult fiction into a hybrid aimed at an audience that falls in the middle of the two. (Claire Bradshaw, Writer's Edit)

This category stylistically resembles YA in its perspectives, immediacy, slang, delves into more adult philosophical and existencial directions, deeper/darker themes, and does not hold back on sexual, political, and violent content.

"Both YA and NA stories tend to be  intense and passionate, with high stakes and strong desires. Because that’s what life is like in those years." (Anne R. Allen)

NA is heavily affected by the millennial generation, and the social and financial changes/challenges this generation has experienced, such as an extended childhood and uncertain future. This the first generation raised with the internet, portable technology, and social media.

Many adults who prefer NA over Adult fiction feel a disconnect with the language, perspectives, and style. NA in many ways feels like a cultural shift.

[Bookishpixie, 2015]

[Bookishpixie, 2017]

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Adult Fiction

Adult Fiction can have protagonists of any age and can range in style and perspective.

"But again, it’s not quite as clear cut. There are [Adult Fiction] novels whose characters are in the new adult phase of life but the novels aren’t New Adult. The difference is the level of sophistication and their emotional focus – both YA and NA are narrated from a perspective that fits with the protagonist’s age (indeed, they’re usually first person). Their general preoccupation is with learning to handle this phase of life and how new and mind-blowing it is." (Anne R. Allen)

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•●•🐺•●•

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The current YA, NA, Adult Fiction debate
as explained by Francina Simone in 6 videos
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[Francina Simone]

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[Elliot Brooks]

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[Alexa Donne]

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[Bookish Realm - Adults REVIEW YA & MG Too Harshly]

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It would benefit the community as a whole if New Adult were to become a formal category, but it won't happen unless we come together and support it.

We need folks to share and recommend, writers/agents/publishers to be brave, and for readers to financially support these books. Gatekeepers like Barnes and Noble will not make shelfspace if they do not see NA as financially viable.

If you want characters to act their age.... support NA.

If you want writers not to age up or age down their characters.... support NA.

If you don't want your little sis, niece, or whatever exposed to something they arent ready for.... support NA.

If you want YA to remain for teens.... support NA.

Put your time and money where it counts.

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