Column: Books and Writing
Adults: Young and New
There is a new readership amongst us: they’re no longer young adult, but not quite adult – they are ‘new adult’ – a term coined by St. Martin’s Press back in 2009, for books featuring characters in their ‘college years’ and originally targeted at readers just out … Read more
Column: Books and Writing
Dear Jennifer Byrne…
Dear Ms Byrne, Did you know that if the manuscripts of To Kill A Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye were pitched today, they would most likely be marketed to the young adult readership? Now, imagine if that were the case and you didn’t review either book … Read more
Column: Books and Writing
Waiting for Jellicoe
Here’s the latest news straight from the teenage underground, concerning a movie adaptation of a rather sacred young adult novel from one of Australia’s most beloved authors: Melina Marchetta. The novel is On The Jellicoe Road, and if you’re not already aware of it (and pining for … Read more
Column: Books and Writing
The dark divide of YA fiction
Last month an English teacher took to the The Age opinion page to shake his fist at the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) for including Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera on the Year 12 reading list. Christopher Bantick’s biggest beef was … Read more
Young Adult literature
You are not alone: Why we need more Indigenous writers and characters in Australian YA
This year I read two wonderful Australian young adult (YA) books, written by Indigenous authors and featuring Aboriginal protagonists. Grace Beside Me (Magabala Books, 2012) by Sue McPherson is set in 2008, the year of Kevin Rudd’s ‘Sorry’; it’s a coming-of-age story about Fuzzy Mac, her Nan … Read more
