Western YA?

Black Storm Comin' by Diane Lee Wilson?

It's the story of a young African-American teen who signs up with the Pony Express in order to help out his distressed family. It's a good book. But it's the only one that comes to mind.

I'm 26, so I'm not a YA anymore, but when I was a teen - and even now - Westerns felt really old-fashioned to me. "Westerns? That's something my DAD would watch, and there's too much violence." I would sooner watch a samurai movie - and a lot of westerns were based on samurai movies! - than a western.

I do think combining SF/F/horror with western themes is one interesting possibility - look at the popularity of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, science fiction anime that borrow a lot of tropes and imagery from westerns.

The beauty of YA is that al the books are shelved in the same spot, so readers can simply browse and find a good book, whatever the genre.

I write YA and read a ton, but I've never read a western. The genre as a whole is a bit out of fashion these days I think, but if that's the story that appeals to you, write it. Maybe all YA needs is a really cool YA western to shake up the genre and start a trend Teens have proven time and time again that what they care about is a great book, and the genre comes second.

I'd read a western if the story sounded good. I have nothing against the genre, I love western movies, I just never happened to pick up a western novel. The things that would make me pick it up at a store are sadly things beyound your control. Title and cover art is what first grabs me, and that's something the publisher will ultimately decide for you. But after that, story is what sells the book.

I'm 17 and I read westerns. I haven't actually read one in awhile, but when I do, I really like them. I was always into Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey.

If there were YA westerns out there, I'd read them, but as you've said, there doesn't seem to be many. The biggest issue I've had with adult westerns written by newer authors, is that they're full of profanity, to the point that I quit reading them. I want a western where the main character cowboy is a clean cut sort of person, not a mouthy hard case who's always half drunk and looking for a fight.

It's the romanticized 'All American Cowboy' character that makes a good western. After that, all you need is a bad guy, a saloon (that the cowboy frequents for the odd shot of whiskey and local news, rather than intoxication) and a couple of good gunfights. Then I think anyone interested in a good story would read them. You just might have to be more creative with your marketing.

YA Westerns?

I was watching Gunslingers while at the gym the other day(it was a marathon of the series) and I got a few ideas in my head for a story, then I thought to myself. Um, are there YA Westerns?

I thought about it all night and nothing was coming to mind. I could not think of one book that had been written recently. That doesnt mean they havent been, but I don't remember any. I read VOYA and can't remember anything in the magazine.

So are there YA westerns that have been written in the past 5 years?

If you write one, I'll read it. I love western's! Well, romance westerns. I've never read a YA western, but I'm keen. I can't think of one either.

History_Chick said:

I was watching Gunslingers while at the gym the other day(it was a marathon of the series) and I got a few ideas in my head for a story, then I thought to myself. Um, are there YA Westerns?

I thought about it all night and nothing was coming to mind. I could not think of one book that had been written recently. That doesnt mean they havent been, but I don't remember any. I read VOYA and can't remember anything in the magazine.

So are there YA westerns that have been written in the past 5 years?

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Hmm, the closest thing I can think of is Dustlands: Blood Red Road, or Rootless (by Chris Howard). But I'm not sure they would be considered a western, per se.

Maybe someone else can chime in on that regard.

I can't chime in regarding published westerns, as I can't think of any, but I've seen a couple of people (not many) classifying their works as YA westerns on QT, and they occasionally pop up on #mswl.

I see Western Romance all the time, but YA Westerns? Can't say really, although I vaguely remember a small few in the young adult section. Without even having to pick it up, you can clearly see by the covers they were westerns. (one shelf dedicated to them) so not many at all.

It might be a tough sell. There aren't that many straight westerns published nowadays.

Liosse de Velishaf said:

It might be a tough sell. There aren't that many straight westerns published nowadays.

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I wouldn't write it, because of that very reason. I was just wondering if anyone could remember a YA western.

I write YA historical fiction. That's hard enough to sell.

IIRC, Rae Carson's next series is a historical fantasy set in the gold rush. Not quite a Western, but as close as I can think.

Um, one of my favorite beta/CPish people has a SF weird west manuscript. Still not what your looking for, though.

Man, someone really needs to get Westerns to make a comeback.

They'd probably be marketed more as historicals than as 'Westerns.'

The only YA I can think of is... well, I know there was a historical YA fantasy about faeries and Oklahoma but I'm not sure it was a 'Western' per say. I may even be getting my time period wrong so don't mind me lol

The only ones I can think of are Blood Red Road and Rebel Heart.

I love that series, though - I kinda wish westerns could be the 'next big thing' in YA. Though fwiw, I just checked on goodreads and they're listed under post-apocalyptic/dystopian.

Sage said:

Historicals (pre-60s) are doing well, according to an agent on WOC, and I saw a lot of agents looking at historical queries. Westerns are kind of their own thing, so I'm not sure how they fall in YA when they aren't steampunk.

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pre 1860s or pre 1960s?

I find that interesting because when I go to my local B&N I rarely see HF, and when I read VOYA I tend to see a few here and there, but its only a handful. I'd love to see more.

I didn't set out to write a YA novel, but I think it has become that (or possibly) New Adult). It's not exactly a Western, more Neo-Western I guess. It's set on a working ranch in Texas, and I think it has elements of a Western.

One of the women in my prose group commented how it was great to see young male characters doing physical work like hauling hay or building fences, because she'd been a teacher in a rural area and there were few characters the boys could relate to.

Didn't mean to write a Neo-Western either...just wrote about what I know.

I think that in the right hands, YA Westerns could do really well. The American West is an era that most people (even non-Americans) have a superficial familiarity with, more so than a lot of more obscure periods, so they can 'get' the visuals for a lot of it. And yet, there are a lot of specific bits that are pretty much untapped by fiction.

And, lives were as different from modern teenage life as a dystopia or a fantasy Middle-Ages kingdom. There were very few high-schools, there was a lot more work for everybody to do, and people had more responsibility at a younger age.
Teenage girls were school teachers. And wives and mothers. One woman writing in 'Western Horseman' magazine said that as a ranch wife 'I did everything a cowboy did, but in a skirt'. I don't imagine her children had a ton of 'free' time, either.

Less supervision, too, not that parents didn't want to, but - no phones!
Once you were out of earshot, you couldn't hear your mother calling you! On the other hand, that same communication factor makes some threats greater.
If you get trapped or captured, you can't just figure out how to get hold of your phone.

Y'know, sometimes people don't know what they want 'til they read it. Write it.

And as Hillcountryannie said "One of the women in my prose group commented how it was great to see young male characters doing physical work like hauling hay or building fences, because she'd been a teacher in a rural area and there were few characters the boys could relate to."

I don't imagine YA girls mind reading about young men hauling hay or building fences, muscles straining under their shirts... excuse me. Didn't mean to bring that up at all.
It would also be a chance to see young people of both sexes doing necessary work for the family's survival and success.

I agree with frimble3.
If YA westerns aren't out there maybe it's because nobody's written a good one rather than nobody wants to read one. Their rarity is a great reason to write one in my opinion.

ajaye said:

I agree with frimble3.
If YA westerns aren't out there maybe it's because nobody's written a good one rather than nobody wants to read one. Their rarity is a great reason to write one in my opinion.

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Yes, interesting points. Maybe when I am done with my WIP I will try to tackle one. As others have stated I suppose it could be slapped with the HF genre sticker.

I disagree a bit. I think the lack of YA Westerns has more to do with the fact that the larger market for Westerns as a whole is much smaller than when Zane Grey was pumping them out awhile back. Especially as the US comes more to grips with the reality of Manifest Destiny as opposed to the mythology of the West as encouraged by historians such as Frederick Jackson Turners Frontier Thesis and it's portrayal of the making of the true American identity stemming from the pioneer life-style and with the reality of the Native American/US Government conflicts gaining exposure from books like Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee and the shifting focus of the high school history curriculum.


But! I do agree that someone writing a really good Western, probably dealing a bit more realistically with life during the western expansion and marketed properly could maybe drive a renewal of interest in the genre. Throw in some action adventure based on the railroad wars, say.


In fact, if I didn't dislike the constraints of historical fiction so much, I'd be really tempted to write such a story. Would a secondary world fantasy with Western elements count?

I know this thread is almost six years old, but the mischievous side of me wants to bump it and have the two western ya threads right next to each other.

...sorry...

Samsonet said:

I know this thread is almost six years old, but the mischievous side of me wants to bump it and have the two western ya threads right next to each other.

...sorry...

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Are we verging on merging now?