YAvangelism in six easy steps

Recently I've had several conversations with YA-loving women, both writers and readers, who complain that the men in their lives just don't understand young adult literature. (Several of these men have gone so far as to refuse to read the books that their wives and girlfriends have WRITTEN.) It's true that YA can be a hard sell for the majority of the adult male population. But I'm here to report that the sale can be made.

Image courtesy of Hot Guys Reating Books

Meet my latest success story, Nate.* I've been friends with Nate for twenty-six years, and he's been reading adult literature and history books pretty much exclusively for most of those years. But a while back, when I first started getting really serious about YA literature, I slowly, gently started encouraging Nate to read them, too. I'll admit it took a while to ease him in. But you guys? IT WORKED. And I'm not just talking about the gory, lots-of-stuff-exploding kind of YA, either. A few days ago, I knew Nate's indoctrination was complete when he sent me an email regarding the extremely high swoon factor of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS.**

Want to make more men like Nate? Simply follow my six easy steps to YAvangelism.

1) Make sure your target man likes to read. Talk to him about adult books. Ask him what he's reading, and nod encouragingly when he says, "I just started this book about a failing marriage in an 1930s coal-mining town" or "I'm reading this fascinating tome about how to properly invest in pork bellies." When he asks you what you're reading, show him, but act casual about it. Say, "It's about this electromaginetic pulse that turns everyone in the world into zombies. No biggie." If he says, "Isn't this for teenagers?" just say, "Yes." Do not say, "Yes, BUT—" Defending yourself makes it seem like you think YA books NEED defending. (N.B. Try not to mention how cute the boys in your book are or how much kissing there is. These things generally will not help your case.)

2) When your target man comes to you and says, "What is this Hunger Games thing I keep hearing about? Do you think I should read it?", smile, but do not act overeager. Calmly say, "Absolutely. It's really good. I'd be happy to lend it to you." Have CATCHING FIRE and MOCKINGJAY on hand for when he calls in the middle of the night, frantic for the rest of the story.

3) Start recommending other things that are fast-paced and slightly HUNGER GAMES-esque, like the CHAOS WALKING books by Patrick Ness or DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. Throw in a little high fantasy or an epic quest to see how that goes over. Introduce him to books that are technically YA but don't seem like it—CODE NAME VERITY is a perfect example. (The only reason I knew that was YA was because of the imprint and the sale price.)

4) Soon your target man will start requesting books from you on a fairly regular basis, and those pork bellies books will be long forgotten. Now it's time to slyly slip some contemporary titles into the mix. Best to start with male protagonists—anything by John Green is an excellent choice, as is EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS by A. S. King or MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork. Grown-up men often have a lot in common with their teenage counterparts; they'll be sure to relate to these fictional seventeen-year-olds.

5) By now, your target man should be hooked. You'll know it has happened when you invite him out to lunch and he says, "Hey, when we're done eating, can we go to Barnes and Noble?" Take advantage of the situation. Tell him he can't possibly leave the store with just one book—that's simply not done. Pile his arms high. If he asks you which book he should get by a certain author, hem and haw and debate with yourself out loud until he gets impatient and decides to just get them all. On the way to the check-out, slip something girly with lots of pink and sparkles into the stack, claiming that you think his wife will really enjoy it. Pretend not to notice when he reads the jacket copy and nods approvingly.

6) The next time you're together, make some casual comparison between a real-life situation and a situation or character in the sparkly pink book. When he says, "Oh, yeah, it is just like that!" without missing a beat, try to hide your gleeful smile.

Congratulations. You've got him.

Your man has successfully been YAvangelized.

*Name changed to protect the innocent... or embarrassed. Also, that's not Nate in the picture.

**I am in no way implying that liking Stephanie Perkins's books is not manly. I think it is super manly. 

P.S. A side note to anyone who read last week's entry: story #1 is the lie. That is, in fact, a scene straight out of my never-to-be-published first book. I am sorry to report that story #2 did indeed happen.

Comments

[Nate]

A few things:

1) I exist. And I did in fact write said email regarding the sexiness of St. Clair in 'Anna'. And yes, I'm straight.
2) A clarification: I got pulled in to YA via Harry Potter ( I know, I know) , the Dark Materials trilogy, and Looking for Alaska. I was more than hooked by the time I read Hunger Games.
3) Re: books with girly pink sparkles: ALISON TOTALLY DOES THIS. SHE IS NOT EXAGGERATING. I have enough pink on my bookshelf that I need to get a set of pink drapes to pull the room together...

[Julie]

Haha, I love this! Well done, Alison, and congrats "Nate" on being part of the awesome world of YA.

Recently my husband decided to read An Abundance of Katherines--I'm not sure why, but I didn't have anything to do with it. I think he read some stuff about it online. Of course he really liked it and I was very excited. :) So far he hasn't read any other YA novels yet, but at least he got the gateway book out of the way!