YA Trends in 2016

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As an English teacher, I am often tempted to rely on the ease of old classics—the canonised books that generations have grown to know and love. New YA fiction is always abundant, but with demands on time, I sometimes find myself using the excuse that I am too busy to select, read and create units of study every year for the next big novel.

That said, I know that teaching new and popular YA novels can often instil a love of reading better than dated books that often feel irrelevant to students. YA literature, which almost always features a teenage protagonist, demonstrates the “importance of student voices in constructing meaning and provides space for students to become active learners,” as they relate more closely with the context of the novel (Rybakova & Roccanti, 2016). In an effort to create English units which infuse pop young adult literature throughout, I began looking for the trending genres I might begin using to bring back relevance into my literature classes.

In 2015 The Huffington Post’s Lisa Parkin brought us her predictions for the best-selling YA genres of 2016. She predicted some major trends and provided some examples to support her forecast saying, “I’ve scoured the Internet for forthcoming releases and found next year’s latest and greatest YA book trends.” The list included time travelling heroes, fairytale retellings, strong and capable princesses, and heart-tugging bestie books (Parkin, 2015). But do these predictions stand true?

Comparing these predictions with what actually took place in 2016 is important, as I want to create units which use genres that have a wide variety of new YA literature to choose from. Diane Roback (2016) from Publisher’s Weekly interviewed dozens of literary agents from top publishing houses across the United States. Her findings were a resounding…

FANTASY.

In 2016 YA novelists have written fantasy that doesn’t seem like fantasy. Because so many fantasy books have already been written, readers want something refreshing, something that feels futuristic, yet definitely not the dystopian trend we faced several years back. Sarah Davies from Greenhouse Literary Agency writes, “I’m seeing a ton of fantasy, but the bar is set high…real world meets magic/fantasy—the two combing in some way.” Kerry Sparks from Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency seconded that, writing that he is continuing to see “a fair amount of accessible fantasy that is very grounded in a familiar world.” Many agents write that there are retellings of classic stories that dip their hand into science fiction; books not marketed at fantasy readers that are actually fantasFy, and writing that speculates about how the world may look in the future (Roback, 2016). These trends are confirmed by the blogger behind Paper Fury (2016) who is agented by Greenhouse Literary Agency. After analysing nine literature blogs, eight of them cited fantasy as the most prolific genre of 2016. One only has to visit the list entitled "YA Novels of 2016" on Goodreads (2016), and view Barnes and Nobel's most anticipated YA fantasy novels of the year to see the importance of the genre (Albert, 2015).

While it is important to know what YA trend has grown throughout the year, I now must decide how to use this information. I have several units which would lend themselves to fantasy YA literature: Romeo and Juliet, the media and the role of propaganda, crime fiction and classic literature. Now I have to begin reading.

References

Albert, M. (2015). 26 of Our Most Anticipated Fantasy Novels of 2016. Retreived from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/teen/26-of-our-most-anticipated-fantasy-novels-of-2016/

Goodreads (2016). YA Novels of 2016. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/72299.YA_Novels_of_2016

Paper Fury (2016). 2016 YA Genre Trend Predictions [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://paperfury.com/2016-ya-genre-trend-predictions/

Parkin, L. (2015). 5 Exciting YA Book Trends to Look for in 2016 [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-parkin/5-exciting-ya-book-trends-to-look-for-in-2016_b_8328078.html

Rybakova, K., PhD., & Roccanti, R. (2016). Connecting the canon to current young adult literature. American Secondary Education, 44(2), 31-45. Retrieved from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/1788570449?accountid=13380

Roback, D. (2016). Bologna 2016: Agents Talk Children's and YA Trends. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/trade-shows/article/69644-bologna-2016-agents-talk-children-s-and-ya-trends.html