[fantasyfan]

As usual, I came in too late for the nominations. Well, that’s my own fault. However as a fan of Youth Fiction—sometimes, but not always described as Young Adult works. I’ll use the term “Young Adult” as I’m more used to it. I’ll address myself to Sun surfer’s legitimate question. It has been defined as literature which is aimed at a younger reader while not necessarily excluding older readers.

It should deal with tensions, experiences and problems which are relevant to a younger person. Twelve has been mentioned as a possible starting point or perhaps first year in secondary school. My experience in teaching such works leads me to prefer the latter. However, I have definitely come across younger children quite capable of reading YA books with enjoyment. And here I would emphasise a very important point. A fine YA book can be read with equal and even greater immersion and depth by an adult. This point was made by C S Lewis regarding children’s literature and applies equally well to the genre under discussion here.

Let me give some examples of literary YA works. Alison Uttley’s novel A Traveller In Time is one such. The book creates a powerful ambience of another time. It focuses a historical tragedy through the perspective of a sensitive young girl. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic. I think it has the capacity to give the reader an unforgettable experience.

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce is another. Here there is no tragedy—rather a probing of a relationship over a time sequence with an absolutely beautiful bittersweet quality. Penelope Lively has written in the genre as well. The Ghost of Thomas Kempe won the Carnegie Medal and the even more beautiful A Stitch In Time won the Whitbread. Both of these—and especially the latter—are novels which are most certainly literary. The same could be said of the original ”Earthsea” trilogy by Ursula LeGiun. They are books which are aimed at younger readers—again I have taught them with some success at Junior Secondary School and rate them—particularly the magnificent second book—The Tombs of Atuan with its brilliant symbolism and exploration of the nature of evil, as very very fine indeed.

Now, as to What Maisie Knew, it is certainly not a YA novel. It is an adult novel concerning adults and their relationship to a child. It is not presented with any intention of being read by a young person with a view to deepening their experience of life. At senior level I have taught Henry James and my approach has always been as an adult dealing with the adult life-experiences that James so powerfully presents. My experience of reading (and teaching) adult works does not, of course, demean or lessen the specific quality and power of the joy provided by reading the YA works cited.

I think I originally suggested this genre and I should have been more specific about what I meant by it. But personally I think that both of you have come up with excellent choices.