Fantasy Freak Week: Where have all the young men gone?

You might have noticed my list of YA fantasy books yesterday was...err...slightly gender bias. That was not intentional on my part, but it called to attention a certain hole in YA fantasy. Fantasy books for teenage boys are almost completely missing from the market.

There are so many great Middle Grade fantasy series out there for boys:

Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer (2001-current)

Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (2003-2004)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (2005-2009)

Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull (2006-current)

There are also a lot of YA "girl" fantasy books teenage boys would like if they gave them a change:

Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (2005)

Peeps Duology by Scott Westerfeld (2005-2006)

Wake Series by Lisa McMann (2008-2010)

Graceling Series by Kristin Cashore (2008-current)

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn (2010)

But the fact is, boys stop reading "kid" books once they get to high school. So many publishers disguise young adult fantasy by publishing it for adults and then marketing it to teenage boys. Don't believe me that many YA fantasies are masquerading as adult fantasies? One of the most common themes in fantasy is a coming-of-age journey that exposed the protagonist to the world:

The Authurian Saga by Mary Stewart (1970-1995)

Xanth Books by Piers Anthony (1977-current)*

Shannara Series by Terry Brooks (1977-current)*

Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan (1990-current)*

Stardust by Neil Gaiman (1998)

While this might be a financial decision for publishers (adult books sell way better than YA lit), the outcome isn't negative. It bridges that no-mans land between ages 16 and 21 where a lot of boys stop reading, and it opens deserving books to a larger market of readers.

Very few authors are able to break the mold and write fantasy books published in the YA market both girls and boys enjoy. To those brave authors, agents, editors and publishers, I stand and applaud:

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin (1968-2003)

Discworld Novels by Terry Pratchett (1983-current)*

The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima (2006-current)

And I can't think of any more past those three, but I welcome your suggestions.

*There are like a gazillion books in these series, so I've only included the first two and the last two.

Fantasy Freak Week: A Growing Love Affair

There are some people who can't get enough fantasy. They spend hours dissecting the difference between green magic and charm casting and comparing the mystical rules of imaginary realms. Mixed in with books encased by cover art of wizards and mid evil ladies, they display fan art and homemade wands. I've even heard arguments break out about whether Harry Potter is high fantasy or urban fantasy and listened as someone paralleled Frodo Baggins to Christ in a church sermon. And who doesn't have an idea for a fantasy novel shoved in a drawer or box somewhere?

The point is, people take their fantasy seriously.

Then you have readers like me. While I enjoy the occasional fantasy novel, I don't consume them unilaterally as I prefer reading contemporary novels. But because of the ridiculously high volume of reading I do, I still end up reading about a dozen fantasy novels a year, and with over 20 years or reading...well, you do the math. So while I know the genre well, I'm not emotional attached to is, allowing me to be slightly more objective in my views.

This week I plan to address several different topic of fantasy lit. To kick it all off, here are the definitions of several popular fantasy sub-genres as well as an example to start your own reading lists. Keep in mind that many fantasy books use multiple elements, which means authors can create new, imaginative stories to keep the genre alive. And because I'm a YA Lit junkie, all of these books are marketed for teen readers and have all been published in the past decade.

Contemporary/Urban Fantasy: An alternate world hidden within our own world in which magic exists

Fairy Tale Fantasy: Storyline relies on folklore or legends

High Fantasy: Depicts an epic struggle between good and evil with wars, quests and a plot-driven storyline

(Two more books to come in this series)

Historical Fantasy/Alternate History: Fantastical elements in a historical setting

Low Fantasy/Fantastical Fiction: Elements of fantasy without the fantastical being the driving point of the story

Mythic Fantasy: Draws upon the themes, symbols and archetypes of mythology

Paranormal Fantasy: Where the modern world meets the spirit world

(These two books are by the same author but are not part of a series)

Science/Futuristic Fantasy: Not to be confused with Sci-Fi or Dystopian fiction--an advanced society comes from fantastical rather than scientific means

Supernatural Fantasy: Seemingly ordinary characters find extraordinary powers

 

(The forth book comes out this fall)

Wuxia Fantasy: Probably the fastest growing and most under-represented sub-genre in fantasy fiction--an quest for truth using Asian martial arts and mythology

(The sequel comes out this fall)

Fall at Mt. Vernon

It might have reached 85 degrees today, but the signs of fall are here.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but the colors shifting from green to orange to red to green again made me want to bake pumpkin pie and drink apple cider.

My friend was trying to catch one last glimpse of the turtles before it gets too cold, but they seem to have taken an early retirement.

The late season rains we got last week mean George Washington's Grist Mill is ready to go for the fall harvest.

This was the perfect afternoon for a picnic with friends to enjoy the changing season. I can't wait for all the trees to change colors and the fields to turn golden. This is one of the best times of year.

The Changing Season, or How Rahm Emanuel and Sara Zarr Ended Up in the Same Post

There are so many things I've been thinking about and wanting to post about and wondering if I even have anything interesting to say about. Like:

• Registration opening for the SCBWI Winter Conference. Sara Zarr is one of the keynote speakers along with Louis Lowry and Linda Sue Park, and Jane Yolen and Mo Willams will take part in picture book panel discussions. I find inspiration in the writing of all of these authors, so hearing them all speak at one event would be... Well, words fail to describe the total awesomeness this event will be. Just do me a favor: no one register until I can save enough money to attend. I can't have the conference filling up before I can afford it.

• National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. Last year I participated and laid the groundwork for a really solid novel. And while the experience was emotionally, physically and creatively exhausting, there's something magical about belonging to a community of writers like that. It pushes you to do more and work a little harder because you know that someone not to far away is doing the exact same thing.

• The simply amazing Laurie Halse Anderson's #speakloudly campaign  has got me thinking a lot about what we can do to increase public awareness of how books impact children and teens. I keep coming back to the concept of parents and children reading together. And I don't mean parents necessarily reading aloud to their children or reading books before they allow their children to read them. I simple mean reading about common topics/themes/genres and then talking about those topics/themes/genres together. (More on this in a later post that I'm still working out in my head.)

• I'm running into problems with the initiating action in a couple of my WIPs. I'm in the middle of rewriting one of the manuscripts I thought I was done with, and I need to fix the beginning of another before I can move forward. Lots of headaches and worries, but I'm hoping the hard work will pay off in the end.

• There are a ton of amazing books coming out in the next few months, and I'm dying to get my hands on them. The only problem? I already have a ton of books I need to read, and my October is turning out to be just as insane as my September. I need a professional time manager to come organize my life. And I might need a motivational speaker thrown into the package to help me follow through.

• On a lighter note, Dancing with the Stars is finally getting interesting. I find myself almost charmed by The Situation (and I promised myself I would forever feel indifference towards the cast of Jersey Shore) with his surprising work ethic and self-deprecating humor. And in a positive turn of events, the dancers I like the least have all been voted off, 1, 2, 3. Now if only Glee would stop over digitizing their music so I could watch an episode without wincing...

See, a lot to write about, but nothing that actually makes an entire post. This is what happens when I have too much to think about--nothing comes out fully formed. I've also been thinking a lot about The Trevor Project and how important it is to show love for people despite (or maybe because of) their differences. And then there's Rahm Emanuel leaving the White House and the upcoming holiday weekend and the changing seasons and the end of baseball season. Fall is a season of transition, and I guess my brain just needs to wrap around all the changes going on.