She’s not alone there. Four other teens share her fate, and they form a family while they learn to deal with what they’ve lost and gained via their transformations.

Skylar left behind a boy she loved beyond belief. Jordan Peters. He finds her on the Island and forces himself into her new life, refusing to be swayed.

Often teen relationships are fickle and change daily. Not this one. Skylar and Jordan, they’re forever.

I’ve loved writing The Shattered Guardians, it’s great to have a group of young characters because you can put a piece of your own personality into each one.

The writing is going very slowly, mainly because of a lack of available time.

Your WASP story sounds great. I don’t think 19 is too old, as long as the voice is appealing to YA readers and the story isn’t too gory or technical. Readers under 16 can enjoy such a role model.

Yes, realistic, non-series fiction is doing very well these days, but whereas you may not be thinking of a series, if you have a big success with this heroine and her one story, there may be pressure from your publisher, or yourself, to do another…and another.

There’s also a lot or support for serious YA fiction from teachers and librarians who want to draw in a market that may be resistant at first. But once they’re hooked, having another book in the same voice or from the same perspective is a great way to keep them reading.

The problem is – she’s nineteen. Is that too old for a YA protagonist? Should I consider it YA with crossover to adult? Told first person from Maggie’s POV, the tone feels “young” but the subject matter is a little intense: Before Pearl Harbor, Maggie falls in love with a Japanese boy. He’s interned, she flies for the military. A third friend flies B-17’s in England. Is this too heavy a topic for a sixteen year old?

The main theme of many YA books is growing up, coming of age, having adventures that leave the protagonists older, wiser, and more experienced. This goes back to some of the great classic YA adventure stories: Jason and the Argonauts, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. And you’re right about Harry Potter: He’s been growing up from book to book and it’s not certain that he’s finished that process yet. Just like the rest of us, still becoming smarter and more mature, we hope.

Alan

Any comments?

I guess the bottom line is that I write YA because I myself have never “grown up” all the way.

RHDavis

Interesting idea, to imagine Salinger interacting with readers on Facebook.

The NYTimes is reporting that Salinger was friendly with younger kids and teenagers where he lived in Cornish, New Hampshire, and “was a regular at the $12 roast beef dinners at First Congregational Church in [nearby] Hartland, Vt. He would arrive about an hour and a half early and pass the time by writing in a small, spiral-bound notebook…usually dressed in corduroys and a sweater…and would not speak. He sat at the head of the table, near where the pies were placed.”

So I agree that he might very well have have taken up Facebook, since it would have allowed him to stay in touch and communicate without having to leave home too much or deal with pesky intruders. See article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/us/01salinger.html?hp.

The YA market is such an interesting mesh of genres. One good book can create a lifelong reader. It’s one of the reasons I choose to write for this age group. (That, and the fact that I’ve never really grown up.)

If anyone here is interested… There’s a YA and Middle Grade writing contest hosted by one of my top five agents, Mary Kole, at http://www.kidlit.com