adult/YA? crossover

Not sure if this is the best place to request advice, or if it should be a group. I'm trying to compile a list of adult books that would appeal to teens or adults who read just or mostly YA. Possibly as an introduction to adult literature. Can but doesn't need to be classics. Crossover books, maybe. I would like a wide range, but books written well.

I have some ideas already. Michael Crichton, John Grisham, the Ender series by Orson Scott Card, Dragonriders by Anne McCaffrey.The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.

Hi there, apart from the Harry Potter series, here are some titles that I know of that have been marketed as "crossover":

The Book Thief and I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.

The Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn, starting with Across the Nightingale Floor.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

I've read all the titles above and would recommend
them all!

Pls forgive me for blowing my own trumpet but my book was also promoted in the crossover category: Game as Ned.

As far as adult titles go that might work for YA readers, I'd suggest Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Stephen King's The Stand. Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book looks like it also has a crossover flavour - I've only read a chapter so far.

The Jane Austen books and Bronte sisters' books, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, Star Wars and Star Trek novels all appeal to teen readers.

The Wheel of Time maybe isn't crossover, but my boys are reading it and love it. I tried to get my oldest to read The Stand, but I haven't read it since I was a teen. And I don't think I totally understood it then. I thought maybe Firestarter or The Dead Zone (gruesome, but a normal topic) was tame enough to start for Stephen King. I think I Am the Messenger is a good selection. The only thing of Neil Gaiman I've read is American Gods, but I'm looking to read more. How about historical fiction? Anyone have ideas? Or classical? I don't know if I've read any Bronte. I only thought Jane Austen was so-so. I think maybe The Grapes of Wrath, but I need to reread it. I don't want to do only classics, but a few thrown in that teens would pick on their own would be good.

You might want to check out a recent thread in this book,Teen Books for Adult Readers. Comes at it from the other direction, but loads of good ideas in it.

As for John Steinbeck, I prefer Of Mice and Men. It's not too long, and the writing is spare. Steinbeck wrote the book and the play nearly simultaneously, and story is quite character driven. In addition, the story is refered to often in our culture and it's cool to be able to catch the reference.

Remember the little scrappy dog and the big dumb one in the cartoons ("Which way did he go, George? Huh? Huh? Which way did he go?")? That's George and Lennie.

The language is of the bunkhouse, but I've heard worse in any school hallway. (Unless they see me first!)

I'd like to refer you to the Alex Awards on the American Library Association website. Here's the description:

"The Alex Awards are given to books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing."

They have lists by year, going back to 1998. Hope this helps!

In addition to the Alex Awards, many states have state programs in which students nominate, read, and vote for their favorite. In Illinois, ISLMA does the Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award list. I am the Messenger is on this year's list. The Girls by Lori Lansens is also on it. Jodi Piccoult seems to appeal to many of the girls at my high school. Jennifer Government is also on the Abe list. Last year's list had James Patterson's The Angel Experiment part of his Maximum Ride series which has been popular with teens. Hope this helps.

YA fiction is a term invented by marketers. Books are books. Although the term of YA fiction is useful, and there are great writers in the market, I think as long as you are using great literature, it doesn't matter what any one of any age reads. I once knew a 7 year old avid reader that was reading Old Man and the Sea.

There are some books out there that I think could have been labeled as YA, but they generally have just a bit more mature subject matter. Twelve by Nick McDonnell is one title that comes to mind.

I am just always looking for a good story, no matter what the age of the characters. However when suggesting fiction for young readers, you have to be careful of having too much gratuitous sex/drugs/rockn'roll that can sometimes be found in adult books.

That being said, I think Margaret Atwood is very interesting "adult fiction" writer that some young adults might enjoy.

Among classics, of course there's Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee, and perhaps other works by Twain.

For mystery, what about Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories? The Moonstone is another thought, although Wilkie Collins might be a little bit heavy for someone just getting started.

In the sci-fi genre, there may be some tendency today to look down on Asimov, but the Foundation trilogy and The End of Eternity should definitely be included.

And certainly I'd include an anthology of Edgar Allan Poe.

To an extent I've got to disagree with d_perlo. For newer readers, I'd personally be a little bit careful on the Brontës. Maybe you can tell from my LT handle that my favorite novel happens to be Jane Eyre, but if you're going to recommend it, make sure you steer the reader toward an edition with good footnoting, because some of the dialog involving Adèle Varens is in French. It's easy French for anyone who knows French, but the readers you're working with will probably be helped considerably by footnoting.

And I'd definitely stay away from Wuthering Heights. Even with good footnoting I'm concerned that newer readers are going to have real difficulty with the Yorkshire dialect. Also, although I have an enormous respect for what EB was doing with the multiple unreliable narrators, I'm not sure a newer reader will catch what's going on.

It's been ages since I've read Stephen Crane, but The Red Badge of Courage is (along with To Kill a Mockingbird) probably one of the two greatest coming-of-age stories, and at under 50,000 words it's not something that will prove overly tedious to a newer reader.

And of course you'd want to include To Kill a Mockingbird as well, especially since you've got the advantage of the movie tie-in to Gregory Peck as well as the audiobook reading by Sissy Spacek, giving you the opportunity to use multimedia resources to liven interest.

CurrerBell,
You have some good suggestions. We've already read Huck Finn, Connecticut Yankee, Sherlock Holmes and some of Asimov. I didn't personally like The Red Badge of Courage but plan to have my son read To Kill A Mockingbird.

What I'm trying to do is get a long list that I can give to him and have him choose. But I'd also like to have some books listed that girls would like also. And certain ones not give him a choice.

teachbooks, Only thing I've read of your choices is an Atwood book I don't think my son would like. The sex/language/etc is some of why I'm asking advice.

I also don't think age necessarily matters, but content does. Many loved classics are books the boys are going to balk at. But I want my 16 yr old to start reading books that are more literary, more language oriented. But not be irritated the whole way through. He wants to do some writing himself. I want to show him some examples of different writing. But I need a long list, because I want him to have some choice.

librarianjojo,
thanks for the Alex Awards suggestion. I know my state has an award list, too, but with this I'm looking for more challenging books. I think my son will always read YA. I don't have a problem with that. I read it, too. But he is ready for adult now also and classics. I've read some, but not extensively. mostly for classes. I Am the Messenger I think could just as easily have been adult and has literary value. I will have to check if he read it. He does like Maximum Ride, but they are very light reading. As homeschoolers, I am trying to make sure he has "literature," though not necessarily the standard choices or only classics.

oops. foggidawn,just noticed you referred to the Alex Awards 1st. In commenting, I was going bottom to top.

I taught Of Mice and Men in Junior English for a number of years. The writing is spare, and Steinbeck was writing it as a stage play at the same time, which I found interesting.

There is a certain amount of "bunkhouse language," but I've certainly heard worse from this age group when they thought they were out of adult hearing!

Old Man and the Sea might be another adventurous one that isn't too intimidating in length.

I didn't like Of Mice and Men. I did really like The Grapes of Wrath. It's long, but hey, my sons are reading Wheel of Time. Plus, I really like the movie. I've been thinking about reading East of Eden myself. How about that one? Any thoughts?

I picked up Stardust and Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman from the library. Plus, a couple more Terry Pratchett books. I suppose I need to be looking at classics lists and just trying them myself one at a time. But how can I keep up with YA then?

Try Terry Brooks his books are like Card but I liked them better. They fit very well with young adults.

In addition to The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger, you should consider Fighting Ruben Wolfe, also by Zusak. Like the others, it has a great deal of merit and the morals/lessons are excellent.

I would suggest Douglas Coupland's books as a good jumping off point for an intro to adult fiction. Of course the Lord of the Rings books as well if they are into the Wheel of Time series. Which gets progressively more frustrating and derivative as it goes on by the way (not to speak ill of the dead). Great Gatsby is another good one. If you have no particular concerns about quality and/or political leanings I read the hell out of Tom Clancy's books when I was about that age.

This is something I've been trying to achieve with The Magic Lands. I think that I've only been partially successful though, as my only negative review so far came from a thirteen year old girl who didn't seem to get the book at all, while adults have responded much more positively!

minerva66: yes, boys can be a bit different! Oddly enough, I just don't tend to recommend a whole lot of realistic fiction for them. Hmm.There is some buzz surrounding a new book called The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Haven't read, but it's on my list for now. I believe it is for pretty mature readers. There were always a few young readers of either gender that got involved in Steven King books. I seem to remember reading one of my first of his at the age of 14. Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle was another one I read when fairly young (18 or so I think). I know it's not a long list, but hopefully a few more to add to the one you're creating.