On Voice
Do YA books need to have a certain voice? That relaxed first-person voice full of slang? Well, I don’t think so. I do think voice is important. However, I don’t think the right voice can be narrowly defined. I just think it needs to be unique and interesting.
Example One:
House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast. This is a perfect example of a successful YA series written in a very YA sounding first-person voice. It works very well for the story, and I really like how it sounds as if the MC is telling you her story.
Speaking of boobs–I was totally sounding like one. (Boob…hee hee.)
Example Two:
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. The series that really rocketed this whole YA thing off the ground. It’s written in third person, and while it has a very distinct voice, it’s very different than the House of Night series.
Bolstered by the destruction of the locket, they set to debating the possible locations of the other Horcruxes, and even though they had discussed the matter so often before, Harry felt optimistic, certain that more breakthroughs would succeed the first.
Example Three:
Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld. He has such a unique voice. This is another third-person, and since it’s in the future, he pretty much made up his own slang although I didn’t pick a quote that has any of it.
Tally didn’t have the strength to explain that she’d really meant her hangover, which was sprawled in her head like an overweight cat, sullen and squishy and disinclined to budge.
Example Four:
The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. This one is written in first-person present, and it’s a historical fantasy. I think she does an excellent job at capturing the voice.
I had expected some sweet little cottage estate, the kind written about in halfpenny pages where rosy-cheeked young girls play lawn tennis on tidy green fields.
There is such a wide variety of styles in YA that a writer can pretty much pick the best voice regardless of tense and style. I do think it’s easy to assume first-person is preferred because of the success of Twilight, but I don’t think that’s the case. Like I said before, I think it depends on the story. And how you want to tell it.
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Comments
I agree. And, aw, I heart Scott Westerfeld.
Isn’t he the best? I want more books by him! Haven’t read his adult books yet so I guess I’ll have to read those to tide me over until his new steampunk fantasy comes out in a couple of years.
These are great examples. Proof that people tend to oversimplify when trying to answer a complex question.
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