New Female Authors Expand The Genre of YA

The face of YA has been changing for years now, and thanks to these amazing authors, it will keep changing for the better. In an upcoming issue of Elle, five authors will have their own spread in the magazine and online, of how their novels have helped readers and the world of YA. Those authors include Angie Thomas, Nic Stone, Tomi Adeyemi, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Akwaeke Emezi.

Image via Theatlantic

If you aren’t aware, Angie Thomas is the best selling award-winning author of The Hate U Give, and On the Come Up. Both her novels have dominated the bestseller list since her debut book came out back in 2017. Nic Stone is best known for her novel, Dear Martin, and a few others such as Odd One Out, and Jackpot. Tomi Adeyemi is another best selling author of the fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone and the sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengence, which was just released this past December. Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut novel, The Poet X has received critical acclaim and won several awards, and her newest novel With the Fire on High is a best seller as well. Akwaeke Emezi, and they are well known for their debut novel Freshwater, and their other novel, Pet.

Image via BooksandBooks

All of these amazing authors bring a new perspective that wasn’t present in the YA genre much before. They’ve talked about how much they loved reading growing up and about the lack of diversity books used to have. With their own revolutionary writing they are part of the shift in books, where young readers can pick up a book and see themselves. These fabulous authors also express admiration for each other, and support each other in their journeys as the new faces of the YA genre.

Thomas’s novel, The Hate U Give was adapted into a film and released back in the fall of 2018 to rave reviews and an average score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Her second novel will be hitting the big screen soon, with the director from the hit television show, This is Us, Kay Oyegun at the helm. Adeyemi has a movie coming out soon for her novels as well, and Oyegun, has also signed onto direct this project. Acevedo’s first novel, The Poet X won the 2018 National Book Award, and now this year Emezi is a finalist for the same award for her novel, Pet.

These authors are breaking barriers, and back in 2013, 3,200 children books were published and only 94 of those books featured women of color and then in 2018, those numbers quadrupled and they’re going to keep rising with these authors.

More kids are reading and are being inspired to read because of these authors. Representation matters more than people think and these authors are not only inspiring children to read, but also to become writers as well.

Featured Image via Bookstr