# 55% of YA Books Bought by Adults



## Steerpike (Sep 13, 2012)

See story here: New Study: 55% of YA Books Bought by Adults

I know I buy YA books if they look good (and a lot of them are). Contrary to what a lot of people think, there doesn't seem to be any limit on subject matter, either in terms of 'dark' themes, sexual content, drug use, and the like. I've seen fairly explicit depictions of all of the above in YA books.

Is YA v. Adult a distinction without difference? It seems like the primary factor is the age of the protagonist.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Sep 13, 2012)

I've only read a few books in recent years that would qualify as YA so my experience is limited. However, it seems to me that those elements we consider adult (violence, sex, drugs, etc.) are much more graphically depicted in an adult book, 

Just because those elements are present wouldn't classify them as adult themes. In my opinion, it's the description. Like I said though, my experience is limited so I could be way off.


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## Steerpike (Sep 13, 2012)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> I've only read a few books in recent years that would qualify as YA so my experience is limited. However, it seems to me that those elements we consider adult (violence, sex, drugs, etc.) are much more graphically depicted in an adult book,
> 
> Just because those elements are present wouldn't classify them as adult themes. In my opinion, it's the description. Like I said though, my experience is limited so I could be way off.



Perhaps, as a general rule. I've read a couple with some pretty explicit sexual depictions, though I don't want to go into detail here. It was enough that I was quite surprised to encounter it in a YA novel novel the first time.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Sep 13, 2012)

Steerpike said:


> See story here: New Study: 55% of YA Books Bought by Adults
> 
> I know I buy YA books if they look good (and a lot of them are). Contrary to what a lot of people think, there doesn't seem to be any limit on subject matter, either in terms of 'dark' themes, sexual content, drug use, and the like. I've seen fairly explicit depictions of all of the above in YA books.
> 
> Is YA v. Adult a distinction without difference? It seems like the primary factor is the age of the protagonist.



Could be. I wonder if anyone's done an analysis of YA works as a whole to see if there's any common factors besides the age of the protagonist. Holden Caulfield was 17 in _Catcher in the Rye_; I don't know that anyone would call it YA. (Although apparently it was originally intended for adult readers, but became popular with teens later. I hated it.)


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## Roc (Sep 14, 2012)

I think it would be a good idea to explain what adults are...18+

In that case, I would have guessed more than 55%


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## Lucipher (Sep 14, 2012)

yea I agree with roc lols


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## Steerpike (Sep 14, 2012)

The largest segment of purchasers was in the age range from 30 to 44.


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## Feo Takahari (Sep 16, 2012)

Maybe the actual 17-year-olds are all reading manga.


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## Ireth (Sep 16, 2012)

The numbers could be skewed by sales of books to adults who are buying them as holiday/birthday gifts for their kids.


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## Steerpike (Sep 16, 2012)

Actually, if you look at the study referenced it looks like they're accounting for the people who are actually reading the works, not simply point-of-purchase.


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