Book Expo America 2012: Diversity Rules at YA Editors’ Buzz Panel – Publisher’s Weekly – Carolyn Juris

For those of you interested in the goings-on of the BEA 2012, here’s an article that tackles the big dystopia quesiton: do we really need another trilogy? Yes.

…the [young adult] genre has plenty of room for dystopias, realistic fiction, thrillers—provided they present authentic teenage voices that readers can relate to.

…It’s the authentic teenage voice, [Karre] adds, that makes a novel successful, no matter the subject. “If the story lacks the teenage voice, it lacks life,” Karre said. “Whether you set a novel in Dubuque or District 12, there’s a universal teenager at the core of every YA novel.”

I think this is very true. YA goes through trends — a few years ago, it was all about vampires and werewolves. Now it’s mostly dystopias/post-apocalyptic, which taps into the political climate across the world today. No matter what trend the YA fiction follows, it should still speak to the teenager (or adult, truly) in the midst of discovering their identity.