If YA stories reflected real life...

[fjtorres]

This past weekend, at a little after 5 P.M. on Saturday night, John Hansen started musing about realistic YA characters. Frustrated with homework, he was wondering how YA characters out saving the world manage to even find the time. After suggesting his followers start tweeting out their own #VeryRealisticYA characters and stories, things quickly took off.

Authors like Scott Westerfield, The Bloggess, Zoraida Córdova, Saladin Ahmed, Kody Keplinger, Michelle Krys, and even our own Andrew Shaffer joined in the fun, while John left his trending hashtag to go work on an English paper. Which, as he said, was the truest example of #VeryRealisticYA.

The survival of the world depends on girl learning to control her powers. Girl can't. Everyone dies.

Girl gets a note reading "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER".
She's relieved someone is finally reading her tumblr.

Boy goes to wizard school. Incurs crushing debt; graduates; wizard job market is terrible. Does nothing with wizard degree.

The last one probably ends up using political connections to get a crappy government job.

More at the sources:
http://bookriot.com/2015/03/30/best-veryrealisticya/

https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/veryrealisticya

Girl discovers she is "chosen one" for magical realm attacked by evil wizard.
Realm has no wifi. Girl lets wizard have it.

[drjenkins]

Boy goes to wizard school. Incurs crushing debt; graduates; wizard job market is terrible. Does nothing with wizard degree.

As a middle aged man he has to make a living as a making-ends-meet Chicago private investigator, advertising himself as a "Wizard", even though he can't reveal to anyone that he is in fact a real wizard.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

As a middle aged man he has to make a living as a making-ends-meet Chicago private investigator, advertising himself as a "Wizard", even though he can't reveal to anyone that he is in fact a real wizard.

That's after the divorce where the redhead takes him to the cleaners, right?

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

That's after the divorce where the redhead takes him to the cleaners, right?

Actually, it's a reference to another, non YA, literary character.

[DiapDealer]

Injustice perpetrated: ex-MP Jack Reacher shrugs and finishes burger. #VeryRealisticThrillers

[DiapDealer]

Troy awakes to see the Greek army gone and a wooden horse outside the gates of the city. After hearing a fart followed by several muffled giggles, the horse is set on fire. #VeryRealisticEpicPoetry

[cadele]

Sparkly vampire drains whiny girlfriend and takes up with her best friend - a male, gang member werewolf. They spend a lot of time measuring their fangs.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

Actually, it's a reference to another, non YA, literary character.

Uh, yes.
Dude had a very good tv show, too.

[basschick]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

As a middle aged man he has to make a living as a making-ends-meet Chicago private investigator, advertising himself as a "Wizard", even though he can't reveal to anyone that he is in fact a real wizard.

funny continuation, except i never thought of harry as middle aged, particularly not in the first book...

[theducks]

Originally Posted by basschick

funny continuation, except i never thought of harry as middle aged, particularly not in the first book...

He drives an old school (before EFI) VW. I am not quite sure when carburetor V'dubs stopped production in the US, but it was a while back

IIRC VW did not make a mechanical pump injected Diesel

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Troy awakes to see the Greek army gone and a wooden horse outside the gates of the city. After hearing a fart followed by several muffled giggles, the horse is set on fire. #VeryRealisticEpicPoetry

Come on, fart jokes transcend place and time. I'm sure the same thing would have happened in ancient Greece. It would be more...

Helen is declared the most beautiful woman on earth. Her iCloud account is hacked and nude photos appear everywhere. She is trashed on social media and runs away with Paris. Nobody notices because Kim Kardashian posted new butt picks.

[Katsunami]

To some extend, I always get the urge to quit reading as soon as I discover that the protagonist who's obviously going to save the world by defeating #some-epic-meany is under 21 y/o. The feats often pulled off by some 14-15 y/o are just too much to be believable.

Maybe I should be more selective in my fantasy reading.

[DiapDealer]

So why are people more averse to young people being portrayed as being able to do things they couldn't/wouldn't actually be able to do, but not adults being portrayed as being able to do things they couldn't/wouldn't actually be able to do?

Don't get me wrong; it's no real skin off my back, but it seems YA fiction is often held to a higher "realism" standard than regular A fiction is. There's no real shortage of adults doing impossible things in adult fiction is there?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

So why are people more averse to young people being portrayed as being able to do things they couldn't/wouldn't actually be able to do, but not adults being portrayed as being able to do things they couldn't/wouldn't actually be able to do?

Don't get me wrong; it's no real skin off my back, but it seems YA fiction is often held to a higher "realism" standard than regular A fiction is. There's no real shortage of adults doing impossible things in adult fiction is there?

Could be because being truly heroic requires making wise choices in challenging situations, something under-25's are notorious for *not* doing. Could be the "extreme commonality" in settings and plots.

Or it could be the popularity of the subgenre.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Could be because being truly heroic requires making wise choices in challenging situations, something under-25's are notorious for *not* doing. Could be the "extreme commonality" in settings and plots.

Or it could be the popularity of the subgenre.

http://www.audiemurphy.com/

Take a long hard look at any list of the top warriors of any war.