New Adult

     So there is this new-ish genre floating around in libraryland and publishing called ‘NewAdult’  ….I’m sure you’ve all heard of it – if not --- check out some more info here and here.

     Basically it is that crossover genre between Young Adult and Adult (fiction) – a book that follows the characters around 18-23 years as they enter new adulthood, after college, or post high school …  think the HBO show ‘Girls’, or Meg McCafferty’s  Jessica Darling series. 

     In the case of the Jessica Darling series, my library has it cataloged across sections with the first two books cataloged as YA, and the last two as Adult Fiction. I find it odd to separate a series like that, but for content purposes I can understand. However, if we had a New Adult section, those last two could be cataloged as such.  Speaking of such, I have heard of some libraries adding this subgenre as a category of its own within their fiction section.  

     I feel like so much attention is focused on the main departments of children’s, teens, and adults, that those ‘new adults’ are getting the short end of the stick in some respects. Their novels are shelved either in Young Adult or Adult …. But we mustn’t forget the many shades of grey …. 

     Do you have a separate section for New Adult titles in your library? What do you think of this new wave in literature?