Viz:
A countdown of 25 things that show up repeatedly in young adult fiction:
- #25 – Vegetarian teens with unsympathetic meat-eating parents
- #24 – Shy or withdrawn characters that take refuge in the school’s art room/ compassionate art teachers
- #23 – A token black friend among a group of white friends - usually it’s a girl, and she’s always gorgeous
- #22 – A tiny scar through the eyebrow, sometimes accompanied by an embarrassing story
- # 21 – Using the word ‘rents for parents, but not using any other slang
- # 20 – A beautiful best friend who gets all the guys but doesn’t want them
- #19 – The wicked stepmother who turns out to be simply misunderstood and it’s all cleared up in the climax
- #18 – Authors showing their age by naming characters names they grew up with (i.e. Debbie, Lisa, Kimberly, Alice, Linda, etc.)
- #17 – Parents who are professional writers or book illustrators
- #16 – Using coffee, cappuccino, and café latte to describe black people’s skin
- #15 – Main characters named Hannah and making a note of it being a palindrome
- #14 – Younger siblings who are geniuses, adored by everyone, and usually run away during the book’s climax, causing dramatic tension
- #13 – The mean-spirited cheerleader (and her gang) as the story’s antagonist
- # 12 – A dead mother
- # 11 – Heroines who can’t carry a tune, even if it were in a bucket
- # 10 – Guys with extraordinarily long eyelashes
- # 9 – The popular boy dating the dorky heroine to make his former girlfriend jealous, and then breaking the heroine’s heart
- # 8 – The diary, either as the entire format, or the occasional entry
- # 7 – Fingernail biting
- # 6 – Characters who chew on their lip or tongue in times of stress – usually until they taste blood
- # 5 – Raising one eyebrow
- # 4 – Main characters who want to be writers
- # 3 – Calling parents by their first names
- # 2 – Best friends with red hair*And the number one thing found in YA novels…
- #1 – Lists
Originally published in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Bulletin, July/Aug. 2007. Original can be found here.
Agree? Disagree? Can you add to this?
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5 comments:
Love the list! It will come in handy! Things to avoid like the plague when writing?
Crap! I based my fictional red-headed best friend on my actual red-headed friend. I never even bothered to check on it being a cliche first. Although, I guess after Harry Potter it should have occurred to me. :\
I, too, am curious as to where the "red-headed best friend" trope came from. I also have a red-headed best friend, which may mean it's a theme that shows up frequently in literature, but why is it a cliche specific to young adult literature?
Rachel, have you tried the "TV Tropes" website:
Why heroes want redheaded friends!
#24 – Shy or withdrawn characters that take refuge in the school’s art room/ compassionate art teachers... or music room, or library... i could on! Thanks for posting this, really is helpful and very true! As well as funny!
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