Just Contemporary: What I'd Like to See in YA Contemps

I'm sad to say it's the last week of Just Contemporary month hosted by Basically Amazing Books and Chick Loves Lit.  I have thoroughly enjoyed all the attention my most favorite book genre has gotten among the blogosphere.  I hope you've taken the time to check out both Ashley and Shanyn's blogs because they have done a FABULOUS job of putting this together.

This week's topic: What I'd Like to See in YA Contemp

Is everything too broad of an answer? Haha One of the reasons why I adore contemporary fiction so much is because it's not nailed down to just one topic. A book can touch on happy times, as well as sad times. The range of characters is off the charts. But for the purpose of this week's topic I've decided to pick a few things I'd personally like to see MORE of in the contemporary YA's that I read.

1. The old(er) protagonist.
I know that young adult means the teen years; however, we don't always get to read stories about those later teen years. I would love to read more from a character who is 18 or 19, post high school. I feel as though they are prime years for such incredible stories. What a "teen" decides to do with their lives after high school is endless. Whether it may be the road to college, getting a job, traveling the world, or staying in tune with their hometown. Their capacity to absorb grows a bit and with it comes more conflicts... and I for one LOVE a conflicted character in my contemporary YA's.

2. The "not so pretty" girl.
One of my favorite stories to read about involves the girl who DOESN'T turn all the boys heads in the cafeteria. I know that girl, I can identify with that girl, because I WAS that girl in high school. There is so much pressure on body image and how a young girl needs to look a certain way these days. I'm all for a story that focuses on what a girl can offer with her mind, and not so much her looks. Reading a story about the girl who isn't drop dead gorgeous is refreshing from time to time. It's real.


3. The unhappily ever after.
Yes, I just said that. Though I love the fairy tale ending as much as anyone, sometimes I'd rather read about the realistic ending. Not everything is always tied up nicely with a bow. Sometimes things are messy and ugly. It happens. It's life. I want a story that delivers finality, but not necessarily with a smile on it's face.

4. The broken boy next door.
He is my favorite male lead to read about in contemporary YA's, so I wouldn't mind reading a lot more about him. There's something about beautiful broken boys that pull me to them, and I feel the need to fix them. What makes it even better is when they're literally right next door. It's as if you can witness their car crash of a life just through an open window. Somehow coming over with a freshly baked pie won't always fix the problem. But it does open up possibilities for more deliciousness to come in later chapters.

5. Music.
If you know me, then you know I love a contemporary YA that incorporates music in to the story. Whether it be one of the characters who plays an instrument, has a passion for bands, or the author writes the story with music in mind. I love it all. 9 times out of 10 if I know a book involves music, I am likely to pick it up and want to read it. So of course I want more, more, more of it!!

What about you, what would YOU like to see in contemporary YA?

Just Contemporary: Tough Stuff

November is Just Contemporary month, hosted by Basically Amazing Books and Chick Loves Lit.  If you follow my blog, then you know my true love for YA falls with the contemps.  So when I found out about this month long feature I knew I had to participate.

Each week different topics will be discussed among the blogs in regards to contemporary YA.  The beauty of this genre is it reaches many different outlets.  While one book might leave you breathless from laughing so hard, another may have you clutching it in tears.  My reasons for reading YA contemps are based on that reaction alone.

This week's topic: Tough Stuff

Some people read to escape the hard edges of reality, so they may steer clear of the grittier and more challenging topics in books.  For me though, I welcome it with open arms.  I'm more apt to pick up a book that deals with the "tough stuff" than I am to read a light & fluffy book.  When it comes to contemps, I think some of the most well written books in YA are the ones who dig deep and portray the not so pretty side of life.  The most rewarding feeling you can get from a book is when a character has walked in your shoes, and you're able to identify with them.  It's almost as though that author took bits of your story, and put them on paper.

Death is always a hard pill to swallow in any story.  It's so final.  I know a few readers stay away from books that involve such a heavy topic and I completely understand why.  Death and dying is never an easy thing to read about.  The first 22 years of my life, I was one of those people.  Why would I want to read about someone else's pain?  But then something happened, and my views on death drastically changed.  It was no longer this part of the world that I had heard of; it was now something sitting in my home, obvious in everything I looked at, spoke about, and thought of.  Due to my experience with losing my mother at a fairly young age (I was 22), I have a different approach to death in stories.  When a character explains the ugly process of what one feels like after losing someone, I get it.  I'm right there, in that moment with them.  It's an even more beautiful thing when a character goes through the motions of grieving, breaks down a few hundred times, but eventually knows how to pick themselves back up.  I get that, too.

A few YA contemps I've read dealing with death that stick out in my mind are: Moonglass by Jessi Kirby, The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle, Saving June by Hannah Harrington, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, and The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.

Each of these stories approach death from a different angle, yet I found something common with them all: the capacity to accept, deal, and move forward.  Its a hard lesson to learn in life.  A lesson I wish I never knew.  But that's the irony of life, we never know what cards we'll be dealt.  You just have to play them, good or bad.  If you're on the fence about reading a YA contemp that deals with death, I encourage you to read any of these that I mentioned.  Sometimes the "tough stuff" are the most rewarding stuff ;-)

Why I Love Contemporary YA

November is Just Contemporary month, hosted by Basically Amazing Books and Chick Loves Lit.  If you follow my blog, then you know my true love for YA falls with the contemps.  So when I found out about this month long feature I knew I had to participate. 

One may ask, what classifies a book as contemporary fiction? Well in the young adult spectrum it simply means the setting is in the present, or close to it.  The lovely thing about YA contemps is that the subject matter can lead to anything!  There are no boundaries -- from first loves, to first loses, and everything in between.  Some of the most well written novels in YA, in my opinion, are among the contemps.  There's nothing better than reading a book that is so relate-able, you almost feel as though it was written for you.

This week's topic: Why I Love Contemporary YA

There isn't a simple answer for this topic, unfortunately.  I love reading contemps for so many different reasons.  Ever since I can remember I've had a vivid imagination.  Constantly coming up with stories inside my head and projecting them out in to the world, in different ways.  My sisters like to remind me about how I'd take my hair brush and comb and create characters for them, giving them a story, and act it out at the kitchen table as my mother braided my hair.  As I got older, I could spend hours daydreaming in my room while listening to music.  If I heard a certain song that I liked the lyrics to, I would visualize the story in my head.  My imagination was always running wild.  As an adult, I feel as though reading contemporary YA allows my thoughts to get lost in someone else's story.  I have the ability to take my mind elsewhere.  It doesn't have to be a magical place among the fairy tales.  Just a simple small town, inside a simple house, filled to the brim with family drama and so much teenage angst.  It's THAT story which grabs me and keeps me coming back for more.

Contemporary YA has made me wish I read books more as a teenager.  I know the choices I made would have turned out so differently if I'd had the guidance that some of these books offer.  Since I can't turn back the hands of time, I can use my love for contemporary YA towards my future... and that is a huge reason why I have chosen to become a middle school Reading teacher. 

We all come from different walks of life that stretch out across the globe; nobody's story is the same to tell.  But I do believe, underneath it all we have one common factor: humanity.  Contemporary YA if full of humanity.  I've read everything from the kindest acts of humanity, to the ugliest acts of humanity among some pages.  I can laugh right along side one character, and offer a shoulder to cry on for another.  The emotions are endless.  The best reward I can get from reading a book is FEELING something for that book.  There have been only a handful that have truly touched me this way.  I read contemporary YA because of books like these: