Hello! I'm working on a YA-novel, which I have done for a couple of months now, but just recently I've began thinking about if the age of my characters are appropriate for Young Adult. Most of them, the main ones at least, range between 14-16 years old, and I guess I'm wondering if this is too young for the characters to be. Is it?
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Too young characters?
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No - there's no concrete age limit. 'Young adult' is as much about the tone and content of the book as the age of the characters.
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14 to 18 is what I've heard as the general age range for YA, so I'd say yours fits. But yeah, the genre is not just about the characters' age, theme and content also plays a role in determining the genre.
Agree with tone versus age thing.
My youngest chars were 19, but the MS was/is overtly YA (hopefully not anymore.)
My youngest chars were 19, but the MS was/is overtly YA (hopefully not anymore.)
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I've read the words "age up" for YA before, so if you're writing for an audience that's 12 to 14, characters 14-16 would probably do fine, but if you are looking for an audience that is 17-19, 14-16 may not be the age you wanna go with. I'm not a professional on the criteria, though. This is just what I've read.
While tone plays a role in genre, when I read YA stories with younger protagonist, I always have trouble with suspending my disbelief at 12-14 year children doing some things, but that's not the same for everyone I suppose. Not sure why my headspace needs that extra few years, but it just does for me. However, if the premise warrants it, I might let that go, but that is usually what I consider too young for YA as a reader.
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I mean, the "Enemy" series by Charlie Higson is based on kids 16 and under fighting off zombies, so I would assume that as long as you can make the characters and setting believable, then readers wouldn't necessarily break their suspension of disbelief.
Fourteen is usually considered the low end for a YA main character, but it is in the range. It will be a slightly harder sell than a 16 year old, but still in the range.
There definitely is an age range for YA. Eighteen is the normal cutoff, but sometimes a 19yo sneaks in. If they're not a teen, it's not YA, but the OP is fine.
There definitely is an age range for YA. Eighteen is the normal cutoff, but sometimes a 19yo sneaks in. If they're not a teen, it's not YA, but the OP is fine.