James Baquet

    What is a “young adult?” No one is quite sure. In the United States, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), part of the American Library Association (ALA), has defined a young adult as someone between the ages of 12 and 18. Some say “young adults” are a little older: mid-teens to mid-20s.

    This is a marketing niche in the book-publishing industry. YALSA, mentioned above, was formed in 1957. Since that time publishing for young adults (YA) has been booming (think of the “Harry Potter,” “Twilight,” and “Hunger Games” series).

    I missed many of the “hot” YA series when I was a young adult myself. Of course we read some YA books like “The Catcher in the Rye” and “Lord of the Flies” in school.

    But before the Internet, we weren’t even aware there was such a niche. So I didn’t know about the stunning Alderley books, “The Dark Is Rising” sequence, or the fun “Chronicles of Prydain,” until the last couple of decades. I did latch onto C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” in my late 20s, just out of the YA demographic. And in more recent years, I’ve kept up with volumes like “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” by Rick Riordan and the “Mortal Instruments” series by Cassandra Clare.

    But it wasn’t until my 30s, as a teacher myself, that I met the Murry and O’Keefe children and their families in “A Wrinkle in Time” and its sequels, by Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007). L’Engle was a serious author, whose works have some of the same Christian overtones as those by Lewis. The fascination for me was the weird mix of religion, science, and magic, which L’Engle has described as different aspects of a single reality.

    Born in New York, L’Engle moved frequently with her family due to her father’s poor health, changing schools often. This left her a lonely child, who turned to writing stories and keeping a diary for solace. She was a poor student, though, and didn’t become a published author until her early 40s, despite long hours of writing. “A Wrinkle in Time” itself was rejected over 30 times before it was published.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. clearly defined section of

    a market

    2. get one’s hands on

    3. second or implied meaning

    4. because of

    5. not accepted, turned down

    6. another word for “series”

    7. comfort

    8. books or movies that

    follow another

    9. being very successful

    10. a part of a population with a shared quality (age, income, etc.)