The Young Adult (YA) Book as Art

Abstract

A nyone who says that books are not art has never read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro or Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Nor have they read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green or The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. These novels evoke emotion in those who read them, not just from the plot, but from the perfect word choice and phrasing. Hundreds of authors have created literary masterpieces for us, and those titles are found in school curricula and public libraries, on bedside tables and underneath pillows. But sometimes books are more than gently woven words and carefully crafted paragraphs. Sometimes there are images to correspond with the words, giving the reader the ultimate experience: text and images sewn together so as to enhance the reader’s imagination (“I wonder how that would look in real life?”) and curiosity (“That’s how!”). Books are art, and just like when critiquing a da Vinci or Matisse painting, there is no incorrect interpretation or opinion. Therefore, allow me to give you my interpretation of young adult novels as art, in terms of illustrations outside as well as inside the cover.