Melissa Bourdon-King is brimming with enthusiasm as she describes the quality of young adult fiction in recent years, a veritable feast that is attracting more than just teen readers.
As general manager of a children’s bookstore in Toronto, she and her colleagues — some of them in their 20s — often check out the offerings aimed at a younger demographic.
The Harry Potter and Twilight series were blockbusters, of course, and Bourdon-King indicated that The Hunger Games, a popular science fiction trilogy by Suzanne Collins, is a current juggernaut.
“In the wake of that there’s been a lot of sort of dystopian novels coming out. If you ask, I could probably list about a dozen or so that claim to be the next Hunger Games,” said Bourdon-King.
Bourdon-King will turn 25 next month.
“Publishers are really aware of the broad appeal that young adult fiction can have, not just to readers of 12 to 16, but to readers in their early 20s, to middle-aged moms, to retired people that just want a really great read.
“There’s been a lot of just really stellar fiction that’s been coming out, geared to young adult, but really the writing is so exceptional that it appeals to all ages.”
Geoffrey Taylor, director of the International Festival of Authors in Toronto, said there are various levels of reading ability — and books aimed at teens could potentially appeal to those aged 10 to 50.
“Take a look at the Lemony Snicket series.
“Those were books that were written for children, but parents liked reading them because there was double entendre and everything else in the book.
“So they became enjoyable for parents to read to their kids.”
But books don’t have to be labelled “young adult” to be suitable for young readers. Teens will just skip over the parts they don’t like in adult fiction, or read fast through certain sections, Taylor said.
“I can remember reading Great Expectations when I was younger, and then when Lloyd Jones’ book Mister Pip came out a (few) years ago, which referenced Great Expectations, I reread Great Expectations and I found that as an adult reading, I got more out of it than I would have as a younger reader.
“Everybody who reads is self-editing.”
The Toronto festival includes a program of books for young people.
Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, known for the TV show Bones and her crime novels featuring the character Temperance Brennan, will take part on Friday, Oct. 28.
She’s introducing her second novel Seizure in the young adult series Virals, which follows Brennan’s teenage niece Tory, a science lover.
The books are co-written with her 33-year-old son Brendan, who came up with the idea, Reichs said in an interview Thursday from Ohio, where she was en route to a public appearance.
The plotting is equally as complicated as for the Temperance Brennan books, Reichs said, and the novels are heavily researched.
“The booksellers tell me a lot of adults are buying and reading them,” she said, adding that instead of saying “age 12 and up,” her French publisher has put “92 and down” on the cover. Her British publisher has issued the exact same Virals book as an adult edition and a young adult edition.
“The only difference is the cover.”
As for popular fall titles, Bourdon-King and her co-workers at Mabel’s Fables are fans of a new paranormal romance book called The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, the New York Times bestselling author of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.
“I’ve had four of my 10 staff members read it, and all four of us who are very different readers and have very different tastes, have all just said, ‘This book is just phenomenal.’ I wasn’t even attracted to the premise, but the writing was so great that I couldn’t put it down.”’
Another of her recommendations is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, which she describes as an Angels and Demons-type fantasy novel.
Bourdon-King also points to “A Monster Calls” by Patrick Ness, a story about the grief experienced by a 13-year-old boy.
A New York Times review says it is a “profoundly sad story. But it’s also wise, darkly funny and brave, told in spare sentences, punctuated with fantastic images.”