I’ve given you all a lot over the years. Wine, heart to hears on my couch, reality checks filled with love. But today’s post might be one of the greatest things I’ve ever given you.

No really.
Hear me out.

I know one of the many things that brings us all together is our look of books. But I don’t think I’ve ever fully communicated why you need to stop on Young Adult (YA) Fiction.

As an English teacher for 7 years and a lover of books for a lifetime, I always wanted my kids to love reading. Starting in my first year of teaching, I made it my personal mission to have amazing books on hand for kids to read.

But I quickly realized that my kids believed me over the back of a book and if they saw me reading them, they’d be more likely to give them a try themselves. And while I started reading YA as an adult to get my kids to love them, I’ve kept reading because they’re just some bomb ahh books.

So today we are going to talk about why you should do yourself a favor and hop on this YA, train.

They’re faster reads with the same hard, beautiful, hilarious subject matter.

I find myself gravitating toward YA when I’m in need of a faster read. But don’t misread my words, faster and lighter aren’t the same in this case. YA fiction explores everything from time travel and grief to revenge and addiction to sexuality and race.

The difference is the amount of time it often takes to get to the good stuff. Normally, I tell people they have to give an adult the first 100 pages before you can decide you don’t like it. In most books, you’ve got to let an author lay some groundwork before you can expect them to get to the good stuff.

But in YA reads, it takes about half that time. The action picks up quicker and we spend more time helping the character get through whatever conflict they’re trying to navigate.

Side note: If you don’t spend time rotting for, yelling at, or willing a character through his/her mess…you ain’t real.

We all remember those times.

YA authors can write some bomb love stories. Some far more exciting than the sometimes awkward, sometimes painful things that we encountered in high school and college.

But sometimes they use those really awkward really painful moments and you can’t help but chuckle in remembering when you went through something similar. Whether it be a decade ago…or last week on the weird blind date.

If cheesy Netflix movies make you smile, then you’ll love a good YA RomCom.

You’re more likely to see yourself and who you love.

Now, I don’t have empirical evidence to support this next statement, but it’s my truth. Believe me.

I have seen people of color show up in more authentic and truly diverse ways in YA Fiction than I have in adult books. YA characters often feel more real. Except for the whole time travel thing. They are black and queer and a sneakerhead. They’re more complexed and nuanced. They’re more honest and are just trying to make sense of the world.

My heart is so happy that young people today will grow up around all sorts of books where they can seem themselves and not just cheesy caricatures. And the additional dopeness is that we can too.

Try these out.

Okay, so you want to take my advice, but don’t know where to start.
You know I know got you.
Try a few of these titles on for size.

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph tells the stories of Dove ‘Birdie’ as she works to live life on her own terms instead of her well meaning but constricting parents. Along the way, Birdies learns more about her family’s complicated past when her aunt comes back into their lives.

Frankly in Love introduces us to Frank Li. You read that right. A quirky Korean American high school senior who is caught between who he should love and who he does. Dealing with issues of race and class, Frankly in Love explores who is it okay to love and why is it so hard to express that sometimes?

Field Notes on Love is the stuff sweet…but not sickeningly sweet romance novels are made of. Before Hugo and his girlfriend go off to separate to go travel the U.S. by train. Except, Hugo gets dumped by his girlfriend in the fall, they plan a trip that involves them leaving their home London to go travel the U.S. by train. This sends Hugo on the hunt for a girl with the same name as his ex so he can still enjoy his trip. But he finds her and what happens next is really sweet and sometimes frustrating.

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America is for anyone’s whose blackness has ever been questioned. (Ya’ll know that’s a whole post by itself.) It is filled with thought provoking stories from black authors about black folks doing life in all of their infinitely cool blackness. Sometimes race sits at the forefront of the story and sometimes it doesn’t, because isn’t that life?

I can literally do this all day friends. If you pick up one of these gems, tell me how you like it! If you’re looking for more YA inspo, hit me up! I have tons more for you.

There’s magic in our musings and our stories,
Nicole