YA Novels For Teenage Girls

From my experience with teen fiction, otherwise known as YA(young adult) fiction, certain authors adapt a certain perspective and tone in their characters that makes their style of writing easily identifiable.

In regards to teen women, there are two specific writers that I think are great examples of what is relatable teen fiction.

Book: Just Listen
By: Sarah Dessen

A great example of one of her better novels is Just Listen. I recommend this novel among others of hers for teenagers and mostly female readers because it addresses alienation and misunderstanding in high school, and addresses sexual assault and eating disorders.

Plotline/Summary: Sixteen year old Annabel used to have everything. Great friends and popularity, but something happens at a party that causes her friends to hate her.  She gets through the year when she meets a social outcast who helps her in terms of personal growth and facing a dysfunctional family, including a sister with an eating disorder and the misunderstanding that caused her friends to hate her. 

Review: Just Listen was great to read in the perspective that Sarah Dessen used to lead up to the big reveal of the story's dilemma. I liked that Annabel doesn't explain why her friends are alienating her until the middle of the story because the build up makes a vague assumption that most readers will easily understand, but focuses the story more on Annabel's other issues such as her anorexic sister and difficulty coping with her situation alone because no one is willing to understand what really happened the night her friends decided to hate her. 

It's my favorite book of Sarah Dessen because I feel like it's a point where her writing is more concrete and steady in character depth, aside from her earlier novels that have been a bit general. 

Author's Writing Technique: She writes from the perspective of a teenager, but her writing is age appropriate and very descriptive. I think her style of writing is very on key with the way that teenage girls think and process information, so it works to her advantage. She also uses extreme situations in terms of relationships and eating habits, which is also a typical necessity for her characters. 


Writer's Tip: For writers that are just starting to develop a voice in their characters, it works to try and focus on a general perspective: be it a man, women, teenager, adult, child. It'll help a new writer to learn how to write from a specific character's perspective so that he or she can eventually experiment with writing from new perspectives.

Book: Love You, Hate You, Miss You
By: Elizabeth Scott

 The only novel I’ve read of hers so far is Love You, Hate You, Miss You: it is absolutely amazing and I recommend it for anyone.

Plotline/Summary: Amy is stuck with the aftermath and death of her best friend, Julia, when Julia tried to drive home intoxicated after Amy convinced her to leave a party. As Amy is put into therapy and rehab she writes in diary form to Julia about her struggle; through her recovery she deals with the guilt of Julia’s death and self discovery.

Review: Love You, Hate You, Miss You is one of the best young adult novels I've read in a long time because it has a raw honesty in Amy's character. By writing in diary form, it makes her thoughts and opinions honest and valid, and uncensored. Amy's perspective is also very intuitive, yet in denial for most of the story, so the ending when she realizes how unreliable of a friend Julia really was, she's able to understand why and also forgive Julia and the guilt she felt for Julia's death.  

Author's Writing Technique: The novel is written in diary form and gives the reader the sense of a raw, honest perception of realistic situations that teenagers often experience in today's society. It addresses drunk driving, drug use, death and alienation to explore a character's struggle with her own experience and self realization and how it affects others in her life. 


Writing Tip: Try writing from a diary perspective because it can help to give clarity to a character's thought process and opinions.