Who's buying teen books? Lots and lots of adults
A new study by just served to confirm something that many of us already knew: Many of the readers buying books aimed at the teen market are no longer teenagers. But the numbers are more dramatic than we may have guessed. According to the Bowker study, 55 percent of customers who buy young adult books are 18 or older. In fact, the largest group of readers purchasing titles labeled "young adult" are actually 30 to 44 years old 鈥� hardly the target demographic for the books.
Of course sometimes parents or grandparents may buy books for young readers but according to the survey, 78 percent of adults who were buying the young adult books said they were buying for themselves, not someone else.
鈥淭he extent and age breakout of adult consumers of these works was surprising,鈥� said Kelly Gallagher, Vice-President of Bowker Market Research, in a . 鈥淎nd while the trend is influenced to some extent by the popularity of 'The Hunger Games,' our data shows it鈥檚 a much larger phenomenon than readership of this single series.鈥�
Suzanne Collins鈥� dystopian trilogy isn鈥檛 the only one that鈥檚 gotten adults to wander over to the young adult section. The teen readers genre, which is officially slated for readers 12 to 17, has crossed age lines over the past decade as series like "Harry Potter," "Twilight," and "Hunger Game"s have appealed to adults as well as the younger readers at which they were aimed. The first "Harry Potter" book by J.K. Rowling was released in the United States in 1998, while 鈥淭wilight鈥� by Stephenie Meyer was released in 2005 and the first "Hunger Games" book appeared on the market in 2008.
One part of the appeal may be that young adult books are sometimes written in a less complicated fashion than adult books and may offer more of a literary escape than an adult contemporary novel, providing a relaxing experience for an adult reader tired from commuting, working all day, and taking care of kids.
Observers of the book world have been discussing this phenomenon for some time now. Angelina Benedetti, the Washington state librarian, wrote in a 2008 column for the that it took her a while to catch on to the quality titles being released in the teen market but that now, when her friends come to her for reading suggestions, she points them to young adult titles.
鈥淚t was not until library school that I discovered the wealth of literature published for teens,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚n my haste to devour the oeuvre of Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, and John Irving, I had missed 'Weetzie Bat'.... For years, my nonlibrarian, non-teen reading friends have come to me asking for ideas because teen books are shorter, faster-paced, and designed to appeal to discriminating readers. They are a quick literary fix without the padding.鈥�
And there鈥檚 the simple matter of a book appealing to everyone if it鈥檚 written well. While Meyer鈥檚 vampire series has been less critically beloved, J.K. Rowling鈥檚 "Harry Potter" series and the "Hunger Games" books have been praised for their plots and social satire.
Amazon, in its "best of the month" picks, has included a young adult title in its "Top 10 list" four times so far this year 鈥� not on a separate "young readers" list but as part of its overall survey of best titles available. 鈥淓very Day鈥� by David Levithan was selected as a September pick, while 鈥淪hadow and Bone鈥� by Leigh Burdago made the June list. 鈥淭he Fault in Our Stars鈥� by John Green cracked the January list and 鈥淒aughter of Smoke and Bone鈥� by Laini Taylor made it to the September roll call.
