A harangue on the this year's Hugo nominees

[bunny_m]

Okay folks, I was going to reply in a comment to (part of) a post on inaurolillium's latest LJ post, but it got away from mebolted for the hills, barking madly and trailing it's leashes, so I'm posting it here instead.

Here's the bit that released the houndsdeluge:

Finally, can anyone explain to me what, exactly, makes Anathem a Young Adult novel? I grant

Comments

[jennygadget]

but the issue of whether or not something is YA is very different from whether or not something is sf or gen lit. not that there aren't similiarities in the knew of arguments and oh god the politics, but YA books not only have to (approximately) fit into the genre borders of what YA is, they also have to deal with subjects in a way that is appropriate for teens. I don't mean dumb it down or water down sensitive topics (although I am aware that this is what sometimes happens) just that YA authors have to be aware of the fact that their readers are less likely to have experience with some of the stories' topics, much less have made up their mind about them. (which is something that was over-evident in LB, which I found to be good but a little patronizing)

This is a very important shelving issue for stores and libraries. Making sure that the stuff in the juvenile or ya section fits within the boundaries of what people generally expect it to is an mportant service to kids and parents. this isn't to say that I approve of the impulse to shield kids from certain ideas, just that I think that defining YA books as a marketing/shelving category is a more valid and worthwhile way of doing things than, say, caring all that much about whether or not something is sf or fantasy.