Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Wishes For YA

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is whatever I want, so I chose ten wishes for YA. These are things that I want to see more of in YA literature.

Ten Wishes for YA

1. More books with unusual formatting/structures/writing styles. I want novels-in-verse, books with pictures, stories told in unique ways, anything that’s a little strange.

2. Short story collections. I love anthologies and collections, but there aren’t many good ones in the YA genre. I know they don’t sell well, but can we please have more?

3. Non-romantic love. Sometimes love isn’t romantic. I want to see characters who love their families or friends. Also, characters who aren’t interested in romance.

4. Physical disabilities and illnesses. I feel like we’ve been getting a lot of books about mental illnesses lately. That diversity is appreciated, but I’d like to see more characters with physical challenges.

5. Translations. What does YA look like in the non-English-speaking world? If it exists somewhere, I want to read it.

6. LGBT books that aren’t “coming-out” stories. I know that coming-out stories are important, but what happens after the coming-out?

7. Popular nonfiction. Most of the YA books I see on blogs are fiction. Where’s all the nonfiction?

8. Non-white protagonists. I think books are starting to get more racially diverse, and I would like to see that trend continue.

9. Dystopias where nobody saves the world. I love dystopias. I prefer the ones where the characters are just trying to live their lives rather than starting wars or overthrowing governments.

10. Realistic romances. No matter how good your romance is, it can’t cure all of life’s problems. I want to see characters working through problems rather than having the problems magically solved by falling in love.

What are your wishes for YA?