What do your reading choices say about you?

I’ve been reading young adult literature all my life. As a teen in the 1980s, once I’d discovered A Wrinkle in Time and Meet the Austins, I went on to read every other novel by Madeleine L’Engle that I could find. I did the same with books by Judy Blume. Then, in search of other books that might speak to me, I turned to the mass market paperbacks housed on the one YA shelf in my county library, having no idea that authors like S.E. Hinton, Robert Cormier, Richard Peck, Isabelle Holland, Norma Fox Mazer, M.E. Kerr, Paul Zindel, Katherine Paterson, Mildred Taylor, Norma Klein, and Paula Danziger would go on to become giants in the field that I now follow with a passion.

I read other things in addition to YA lit when I was a teen, including plenty of Stephen King. I read Bloom County comic book collections, autobiographies of politicians and celebrities, and trashy books like Flowers in the Attic. I also read lots of classics that I found on lists of books for the college-bound. But the books that stayed with me were the ones written about teens and for teens. When I became a high school teacher and decided to build a classroom library, the first books I thought to include were young adult novels. I had no idea how much the field had grown and changed while I was finishing high school and moving through college. Discovering books by new YA authors in the early 1990s such as Chris Crutcher, Francesca Lia Block, and John Marsden rekindled my love of reading and of teen books in particular.

It’s easier than ever for me to be a fan of young adult literature now that I teach classes on the topic, produce podcasts on new YA titles, write articles about YA authors, and serve on YA award committees. I’m surrounded by people who love these books, from teaching colleagues to former students to professional mentors. Every day when I turn on the computer, I’m likely to hear from a YA author or critic or fellow YA reader through the online world of Facebook, listservs, and blogs. My identity is deeply tied up in the books I read, as are my personal and professional relationships. For others, though, embracing YA lit may feel like more of a challenge. Defining oneself as an English major or an intellectual may seem to leave no room for books that are easy to write off as “kid stuff.” Our reading choices communicate messages about who we are. What do your reading choices say about you?

Jennifer Buehler