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I& #39;ve observed that media actually intended for teens (13-17) is lacking. YA is now always intended to "cross over." Teen shows are have the trappings of teen "stuff" (high school dynamics/activities/milestones), but adult behavior (/actors), for adult watchers (18-34 demo).
It seems like the people who are in the midst of their actual teens (14-16) are getting utterly left behind in entertainment and literature, with the exception of music (boy bands, man!).
I don& #39;t think this is because we "hate" teen girls. It& #39;s probably because teenage years are a brief time, and we decided the adult dollar is more reliable than the teen dollar (or teen attention span). But we& #39;re leaving money on the table and ignoring a gaping hole in the market.
We assume tweens/young teens will "read up," but without considering that 14-year-olds are reading about 17-year-olds acting like 25-year-olds (because the expected readers are in college or older). Which of two of those three ages are closer together?
I& #39;m not advocating for Bowdlerizing or discouraging adults from reading YA AT ALL, to be clear. I& #39;m not even saying we should change what "YA" looks like in the current market.
What I AM saying, is we should start a new Teen category and start filling the gap.
What I AM saying, is we should start a new Teen category and start filling the gap.
