Where are the University Aged Books?

Lately I have been considering the relationship between my age and my love of YA. You can see this in a post I wrote a few months ago about the nature of YA and what I think attracts adults to YA, which you can find here. I have been reading more adult fiction for university in this past year and a half, and with this wider range of books I've started to wonder why no one talks about the in-between stage of teenage life and adult life.



I was discussing this with a friend whilst fretting about the future. Why does nobody talk about what a weird time in our lives this is? When I was a child I would see 20-somethings and think 'that is an adult'. But now that I'm there, I don't feel like an adult. I feel like I've grown into a more well-rounded person, and that I'm beginning to understand myself and the world around me in new and better ways. But I don't understand taxes. I don't have a fully set out career or life plan. I don't know what I'm doing.

Teenage years are incredibly difficult. That is why I think YA is so important - teens need to know that they're not alone in this time of growth and the big changes going on in their lives. But you don't come out the other end of high school being a fully formed adult. Far from it.

I would like to see more books that deal with the flailings of 20-something existence. When I was going through a difficult time as a teenager, I could always find a work of fiction that I could connect to, where a character was going through something I could relate to. I still find that with YA now. Some books hold messages I wouldn't know I needed until much later, and they help shape my perspective and validate my experiences. But now semi-adulthood is part of my experiences, and although not as intense as the teenage years, it is still an experience I'd like to see more of in fiction.

Fangirl is the only book I've read that deals with this phase of life. There has to be more, but I haven't come across them. When I first heard of New Adult I'd hoped this age range of books would cover the apparent gap in literature. But from what I've seen, the age category normally seems reserved for books with a more romantic and sexual focus than what YA would allow. There is nothing wrong with that, but those aren't themes that interest me all too much. Plus I feel like the lack of non-romance/sex focused books leads to the idea that it's necessary to have experienced those things by a certain age, or that it's necessary to want those things at all, which is absolutely not the case. But that's a discussion for another day.

I don't think we necessarily need a new age category in literature to fix the lack of university aged books. Fangirl is categorised as YA, even though the characters are not in high school anymore. I'm sure there are other books as well that document this phase of existence that are considered either YA or Adult. Life doesn't end after high school.

I'd like to see a future where literature doesn't just represent our 20s as just a time for romance, or a stage to gloss over as if nothing much happens. I want to see books that acknowledge this in-between stage and how adulthood doesn't come all at once, but in stages. And I want books to show that life beyond high school can be pretty great too.

Would you like to see more books about life after high school? Do you think there's a space for them in the world of books and publishing? Are there any books you can think of that deal with this strange but wonderful age?