As the lines between Young Adult and Adult fiction begin to become increasingly blurred, the need to make sure that the content that is being published as YA is appropriate for its intended audience is as important as ever.

According to Farshore’s 2024 Review of Children’s Reading for Pleasure, 46% of YA readers are aged 18-27. This creates a dilemma for publishers as they try to publish works that would be popular with their main audience whilst also approving content that is appropriate for teen readers.

With the growing popularity of ‘spicy’ books on TikTok,  publishers are having to consider what level of sexual content is appropriate for their YA readers. Speaking at The Bookseller’s 2024 Children’s Conference, Publisher Director at Simon and Schuster’s Children’s Ali Dougal said that when looking at the appropriateness of a book for a YA audience, they would consider the level of explicitness and how the sexual scenes were portrayed in terms of consent and messaging. In particular she highlighted how wary they have to be of certain problematic tropes such as ‘bully romance’ when considering if it would be appropriate for a YA reader.

Whitehall, in their piece on the ‘Adultifcation’ of YA said that YA books that include sex and relationships can be a way for teen readers to explore those subjects at their own pace. In this sense, YA novels with sexual content can be a healthy way for teen readers to learn about sex and help them to navigate relationships throughout their teenage years. As FairyLoot founder Anissa de Gomrey stated at The Children’s Conference, it also be a way for teen readers to read about sex in a way that has been approved to be appropriate for them by publishers and prevent them from reading adult books that contain sexual content that may not be appropriate for them to read.

YA Author Alexandra Chistro said in an interview with The Guardian that the lines between YA and adult are becoming blurred due to “any books using marketing based on similar tropes across audiences, making things confusing for potential readers.” However, influencers such as Holly McLouglin on platforms like TikTok are making it clear to their audiences whether or not the book they are promoting is appropriate for a YA reader or not.

Some publishers have already attempted to balance the use of sexual content in YA books with appropriateness for its audience by using YA books to educate YA readers about sex and issues surrounding sex, such as consent.

Welcome to Sex! by Dr Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes is targeted towards a YA audience and focuses on offering advice to teens about sex and includes accounts from teens themselves about their experiences and advice.

Published by Gallery YA. Illustrated by Jenny Latham.

There is also YA fiction that deals with sex education and attempts to potray sex in an age appropriate way. Twenty Seconds From Now by Jason Reynolds centres around a seventeen year old losing their virginity through the lens of consent and respect towards women.

Published by Faber and Faber

References

The Bookseller. (2024). The Bookseller’s Children’s Conference . Available from: https://www.thebookseller.com/broadcast/event-streams/monday-all-sessions-playlist–the-bookseller-childrens-conference-2024 [Accessed October 20 2024]

Farshore. (2024). The Farshore and HaprerCollins Children’s Books Annual Review of Children’s Reading for Pleasure, 2024 [online]. Availible from https://www.farshore.co.uk/2024-annual-research/ [Accessed October 19 2024]

Whitehall, E. (2024). The Adultification of YA. The Bookseller [online], February 20 2024. Available from: https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/the-adultification-of-ya [Accessed October 19 2024]

Knight, l. (2024). Children exposed to ‘spicy’ adult fiction by BookTok influencers. The Guardian [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/17/tiktok-children-exposed-to-spicy-adult-fiction-booktok-influencers [Accessed October 19 2024]