YA Isn’t Just for Teens (IMO)
The Summer I turned Pretty has created discourse on a teenage girl Belly’s decision between two wealthy Connecticut-looking brothers that own beach house. Now, teen love affairs are nothing new. I grew up gorging on Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and Beverly Hills 90210 (Remake). The Vampire Diaries taught me that the violent bad boy is full of marshmallows while the soft - spoken poet is never your true love. I learned through Twilight that a Vampire boyfriend is cooler than a broke werewolf. I dipped my toe into Hunger Games, but that felt a little too even for a 13-year-old (They had real world problems). As I have gotten older YA books and shows have not grasped me like they did in my heyday. It could be the writing, or it could be the storylines and the way they are being depicted are not fulfilling. Who knows. But even though I watch from far that chokehold that YA still has on society amazes me, especially during a time when there is no real separation between teenagers and adults in any media. YA are supposed to feel like all your decisions at 17 are supposed to be messy and stupid, but the guy you fell in love with within high school or college is the true love of your life. Now, this is a fairytale. It can happen to some but most of us are lonely wandering spirits and can barely remember our best friend from high school. YA seem to give interesting debate on what a young girl should be doing if she had our full-frontal wisdom like us, and we wish we could tell her no please don’t take a gap year to be with this boy. Please go to the college of your choice and build a life outside of high school and this boy. My god I am getting flashbacks while writing this!
Anyways. As YA keeps being produced and we keep entertaining the notion that high school was fun and that this any of this drama makes the slightest sense, I hope that it keeps staying fun and delusional. Real life is kicking us old adults in the face and an escape to a place filled with bright homes and dreams seems like the perfect escape.