The agent panel at Publishers Weekly’s “Beyond Twilight: What’s Hot in the Teen Market in Publishing and Hollywood” discussed what coming up in the market in the near future. Evidently it’s fat vampires and sexy werewolves. Dystopia is also a newish trend:
The discussion also touched on the rise of dystopian novels like The Hunger Games and The Road and the role that blockbuster films like Avatar and a forthcoming Hunger Games film adaptation will have on the popularity of the genre among teen readers. Noting the depressing plot of The Hunger Games, Lundberg said the industry was “not sure how the film will do. Kids killing kids? It’s a Hollywood non-starter,” causing a librarian in the audience to respond, “But my teens like depressing,” to general laughter.
That’s good for me. (Memento Nora is set in a near-future dystopia.) It’s hard to believe anyone doubts how well the Hunger Games movie will do, but then again Hollywood seriously underestimates its viewers. Thankfully, YA book publishers don’t do that–much.
I’m reading “Hunger Games” right now. I was a little afraid of it (really!), but I am gripped and I haven’t been so involved in a book in a looong time. Kids like good stories, I think, and they especially like when authors treat them with respect and don’t patronize them. That means not shying away from dark stories.
It is a great story. The sequel is just as gripping. I pre-ordered Mockingjay–the third one–as soon it was available on Amazon.