More adults prefer young adult literature

Young adult literature is the genre of choice among a growing number of adults who are enticed by the fast-placed plots, immediacy of prose, and lack of adult cynicism. Surveys by the Codex Group, a consultant to the publishing industry, found that among 18- to 24-year-olds, 47% of women and 24% of men say most of the books they buy are classified as young adult, while the percentage of female Y.A. fans between 25 and 44 has nearly doubled in the past four years. “Good Y.A. is like good television,” says historian Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. “There’s a freshness there; it’s engaging. Y.A. authors aren’t writing about middle-aged anomie or disappointed people.” Read Pamela Paul’s essay The Kids’ Books Are All Right, online in the New York Times Sunday Book Review.