Can a YA MC die at the end?

It's your artistic right to create your work any way you want. Shakespeare killed off his main characters in Romeo and Juliet. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars has one of two MCs die near the end, and the other has an uncertain future. Fault went on to be a successful motion picture.

However, personally, I avoid such works as I would death itself. And if an author ever does it in their works, I will almost certainly remember them and avoid all their works to the day I die. I have had too many loved ones die, including my infant daughter and my wife. I have no need to re-visit such events and the events leading up to them.

Hi MarkEsq. Yes, and even though it's somewhat rare, it's not a case of going against genre expectations. I'd go with what works for your story.

Yes. You will just have to be careful how to handle that if you decide to write it in first person. But I have seen a few stories (not many) that start out in third, then go to first person for most of the novel, and end in third person. Just saying this because a lot of YA novels are written in first person.

Yes absolutely.

Check out Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt - has two protagonists, and one dies at the end. I won't say which one but i't sa bloody beautiful book.

One of the protags dies at the end of Eoin Colfer's Supernaturalist too. I'm sure there's plenty others.

MarkEsq - the best answer for you is to read YA. An armful of it, even.

Yes for YA, and yes for MG. I remember the Animorphs books (from I think the late-90's???) having a 1st person character who died mid-sentence. It was odd, but impactful in a way that's stuck with me.

For sure, simply remember you may need to change the perspective of the narration to follow a different character in first or third person.

Chris Crutcher's DEADLINE has the MC die at the end. We know it's going to happen from the beginning, which may make a difference to whether the reader feels cheated. For that last chapter, we switch to his brother's pov.

Sage said:

The single-chapter POV switch is the cheat for me, not the death.

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Agreed. The only time it's ever worked for me was the very not YA Feed by Mira Grant. Due in large part because the new POV is also a MC in their own right, and the POV of the next book.

I hope so, otherwise my YA paranormal investigation/action-adventure series is all building up to a huge No-No, which also involves (spoilers, I dunno why I felt like mentioning that) the MC becoming the ultimate antagonist, the all-powerful evil and knows he has to be stopped and killed before he goes too far (like Jean Grey in Last Stand, basically)

I think if it suits the story, then it should be fine if the YA MC dies at the end. But if the reader doesn't understand why they had to die, it will just upset them instead so plan carefully.

If done well, yes. But there have also been books where the author felt it fit their MC and there was great disagreement from readers. If you're still feeling iffy about it, maybe get extra eyes on your manuscript and see what your beta readers think?

Yes.

Because we all experience the death of someone at some point, there should be fiction for all age groups that deals with it. A death in YA and younger could have a secondary importance beyond the narrative necessity of it. A death in fiction for younger people can be helpful. It can facilitate conversations about death, ease one's understanding of it, and assist in coming to terms with it. Whereas other mediums avoid it or do not have the tools to address the psychological and philosophical aspects of death, a novel can and by doing so, it can reach out and nurture healthy exploration of a difficult topic.

There are two ways of handling death for MCs or at least Very Important Characters.

One is tragedy. The other is melodrama.

Tragedy feels strangely good in a way (catharsis and all that). The story wouldn't meet its aesthetic arc without it.

Melodrama tends to be maudlin or even random. The writer seems to be thinking nothing beyond "Hmm, a death would make an impact right now. Even if there's no particular dramatic reason beyond 'killing a character gets the feels going in the reader.'" Extra melodrama points if the writer then defends their slaughter of a beloved character as "Death is real! It's random! I'm just teaching my readers that, because I have an existential knowledge of this subject that they don't!"

Before I Die by Jenny Downham. The narrator dies at the end. I think it was done very well.