Young Adult Books Quotes & Sayings

It's true that when you read YA you rarely have to read about middle-aged men having affairs. Personally I consider that a plus. — Erin Bow

I usually give a book 40 pages. If it doesn't grab me by then, adios. With young adult books, you can usually tell by Page 4 if it's worth the time. The author establishes the conflict early, sometimes in the first sentence. The themes of hope, family, friendship and overcoming hardship appeal to most everyone. — Regina Brett

I know you may feel so far that circumstances have directed your path, but right now I want you to know that you do have a choice. — Larry Itejere

You know, I think some people fear that if they like the wrong kind of book, it will reflect poorly on them. It can go with genre, too. Somebody will say, "I won't read science fiction, or I won't read young adult novels" - all of those genres can become prisons. I always find it funny when the serious literary world will make a little crack in its wall and allow in one pet genre writer and crown them and say, "Well Elmore Leonard is actually a real writer." Or "Stephen King is actually a really good writer." Generally speaking, you know you're being patronized when somebody uses the word "actually — Elizabeth Gilbert

Evil surrounds everyone, but not everyone is able to confront it. — George A. Kos

It's funny how books can change you. You open up a book and one minute you are who you've always been, then you read some random passage and you become someone else. — Brian Joyce

The woods that I loved as a child are entirely gone. The woods that I loved as a young adult are gone. The woods that most recently I walked in are not gone, but they're full of bicycle trails. And this is happening to the world, and I think it is very very dangerous for our future generations, those of us who believe that the world is not only necessary to us in its pristine state, but it is in itself an act of some kind of spiritual thing. I said once, and I think this is true, the world did not have to be beautiful to work. But it is. What does that mean?
[from 'A Thousand Mornings' With Poet Mary Oliver for NPR Books] — Mary Oliver

I used to be an editor and I was editing young adult series. I didn't really like the books that I was reading, so I decided that I would write a book about something I'd want to read if I was 16. It turned into a Cinderella story ... I developed a proposal and the characters of 'Gossip Girl' for my job. — Cecily Von Ziegesar

I am not as valuable as the books, I AM the books! They are a part of me I cannot delete or cut off or ignore! I AM CURRENCY! - Nevel Walker — Whitney L. Grady

When I look at my bookcase and see the books upon the shelves, I think to myself, There is a God. — Sully Tarnish

But life is beautiful, Sariel!' Gabriel said, trying to convince him. 'Watch the sunrise sometime lying in the scented flowers of the field, or the shooting stars at the end of summer! Read a couple of really exciting books or lose yourself in the unselfconscious smiles of children. Have a swim in a clear mountain lake or take a run among trees clothed in autumn colours. If you can see the good in Earth, your own existence will become the richer for it!'
'That all sounds very well and good, but you haven't convinced me,' the deep-voiced angel murmured and Ariel laughed.
'My friend, Gabriel was very gently trying to suggest that you should fall in love and that will better dispose you to the world! — A.O. Esther

Would you like me to put you out of your misery, before I put you out of your misery? — Paul Cude

I love young adult fantasies. While I say that, I have not seen all of the Twilight and Harry Potter movies. But I've read all of the books, and I love them. I love them because I enjoy being transported to a different world and having my imagination challenged. That's a huge part of what we do as actors. We have to imagine ourselves in a different world. And when you are in a young adult fantasy, it challenges you in the best way. — Viola Davis

There are several authors who are also lawyers - and not only the ones who write legal thrillers. There are other attorneys who write romantic fiction, and I know of at least one who writes young adult books. — Candace Camp

Hearing my brother's words coming out of Henry, this stranger in a strange town, made me feel wild with all the loss - wild and wired with no place to put those feelings. — Laura Anderson Kurk

After the end of the world, there is a world. Life doesn't stop. It changes. And it changes me. — Caroline George

So he earns your undying love by reading a book under a tree?" Cole said dryly. "Why didn't I ever try that approach? I like books and trees. — Brodi Ashton

Life had handed me a different set of cards and I was going to have to play my hand either way. — Brittany Hawes

You won't find the tales I bear in any books ... My tales are from the Moon Realm. - Ebb Autumn — Richard Due

People lose a lot of time being afraid... People lose a lot of time in hating others, and there's no fun in it at all. — L. Frank Baum

I've published over 100 books - and that is divided about 50/50 adult and young adult. Lately, I have been writing more YA, which is such a great genre to write it. I don't have a favourite (I usually say it's the last book I've written), but certain books do stick in the mind. My very first YA novel, The Children of Lir, will always be special to me, and, of course The Alchemyst because it was a series I'd wanted to write for ages. — Michael Scott

Jo told me once that she was an old woman everywhere but in her studio. "There I'm only myself," she'd said. Standing in the middle of masterpieces that only Jo had ever seen and touched, I knew what she meant. — Laura Anderson Kurk

I see now that dismissing YA books because you're not a young adult is a little bit like refusing to watch thrillers on the grounds that you're not a policeman or a dangerous criminal, and as a consequence, I've discovered a previously ignored room at the back of the bookstore that's filled with masterpieces I've never heard of. — Nick Hornby

The dusty library air is electric with secrets/ almost palpable in the thick quiet that bounces between/ Cal and those books and me — Stasia Ward Kehoe

About the library," he whispered. He took out the pencil stub from his pocket and poised it over the page.
"Will you write like Mr. Blake or like yourself?" I inquired.
He wrote and whispered the words aloud as he did. "I am in the library. It smells like old stuff."
"It smells familiar," I suggested. "It smells like words." Because his left side was to me, I couldn't easily take his hand to write.
"Books are boring," James said as he wrote.
"They line the walls like a thousand leather doorways to be opened into worlds unknown," I offered.
He thought about this and then wrote with a smile, "I hate books. — Laura Whitcomb

The most important thing, I believe, about books for babies and very young children is that they are shared between the child and a caring adult. It is time for physical closeness and comfort, of quiet and harmony, of sharing ideas and emotions, laughing and learning together. The learning and benefit that take place are not only enjoyed by the child. Any adult who takes time to share books with small children will be rewarded, enriched, and revitalized by it, every time. — Jan Ormerod

Children's and YA books are about being brave and kind, about learning wisdom and love, about that journey into and through maturity that we all keep starting, and starting again, no matter how old we get. I think that's why so many adults read YA: we're never done coming of age. — Betsy Cornwell

Books allow us to escape from the pressures of modern life. By far, the best vehicles of escape are Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy genre allowing us to lose ourselves in worlds far away from the reality we know. This escapism works because we totally immerse ourselves and:-

We become the hero or heroine.
We are the ones who thwart evil.
We laugh as we socialise with characters we have never met but feel they are as close as our family.
We cry when we lose a good friend. — Peter Graham

No one can steal your freedom from you. You can only give it away. — Bella James

When I was growing up in the 1960s, there was starting to be more books geared towards young adults. — Alison Bechdel

I wanted to know what it was like to be a drug addict, and have an eating disorder, and have a loved one die, and fall in love. I saw my friends going through these things, I saw the world going through these things, and I needed to understand them. I needed to make sense of them. Books didn't make me wallow in darkness, darkness made me wallow in books, and it was books that showed me there is light at the end of the tunnel. — Jackson Pearce

Personally, I believe "Young Adult" to be an arbitrary title that means the book "Can be enjoyed by anyone/Has a main character who's not quite an adult/Isn't really boring. — Shannon Hale

I have always loved reading books for children and young adults, particularly when those books are mysteries. — Eleanor Catton

I couldn't suppress a smile. It was inconceivable that I was here, in a place as extraordinary as the fantasy books Sophie loved. Maybe...just maybe those stories are based on a measure of truth. Maybe one day I'd write our story. — Heather L. L. FitzGerald

Purple Mike promises to be an intriguing read that will teach anyone who wants to know about the highs and lows of drug addiction. Purple Mike is a legal, natural high. Enjoy reading. — Sin Mils

He [an earnest young reporter] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be art, the object of children's books is to whip the little rascals into shape. — Katherine Paterson

I think that books for young people should have serious and important themes, they shouldn't be trivial. So the books I write, they would be the kind of stories you would write in an adult novel only they just happen to feature a child at the center of them. — John Boyne

Among my books, the ones that sell best are for readers between the ages of 8 and 12. According to a study by the Association of American Publishers, the largest area of industry growth in 2014 was in the children and young adult category. — Kate Klise

Calling a book "Young Adult" is just a fancy way of saying the book is censored. — Oliver Markus

I guess, my advice would be the following: stay calm and do not let the panic seize you. — Kateryna Kei

My book group has one rule: no books for adults. We read young adult fiction only. — Lev Grossman

Now that you're here, now that they know you exist, you'll never be free again. Ever. We're prisoners to our books, our fates planned long before we were born. You're no different than us. Fight your fate all you want, but deep down you know it's true. — Angela Parkhurst

You like to think with young adults that with your books, a little part of it has reached them and will stay with them. It is great to be part of an eight-year-old's world. — Anthony Horowitz

New Adult is a label that is condescending to readers and authors alike. It implies that the books act as training wheels between Young Adult and Adult. For the New Adult books that are particularly childish, the label implies that they are a step above Young Adult
which is insulting to the Young Adult books that are far superior. For the New Adult books that are particularly sophisticated, the label implies that they are not worthy of being considered "adult." It's a lose-lose situation for everyone.
[ ... ]
Therefore, the new genre of New Adult is a large step backwards. It increases the system of categories and labels even further, and prevents readers from expanding their horizons and minds. The term is reductive and it is insulting to its own audience. — Lauren Sarner

I like to read fiction, and I particularly enjoy reading young adult fiction. But I also read children's books, adult books, current authors, and classics, but I like fiction the most. — James Howe

What a lovely display of personhood. He's like a good book cover that grabs your gaze. Read me. I'm fun but smart. You won't be able to put me down. — Laini Taylor

I believe reading books is one of the best ways to gain real empathy for people different from ourselves, and helping boys develop empathy for girls is a cause worth fighting for. — Shannon Hale

Writing is 90% procrastination, 8% perspiration, and 6%biscuit
None of it is math. — Almney King

The thing is heavy.
I'm talking the whole Harry Potter series put together heavy. Those are some great books. Totally inaccurate, but great. — Danielle Ellison

Anyone interested in the world generally can't help being interested in young adult culture - in the music, the bands, the books, the fashions, and the way in which the young adult community develops its own language. — Margaret Mahy

Writing is the Art, re-writing the craft. — O'Brien Browne

A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old. — Jane Yolen

I wonder if the folks at Christian books will fire you when they find out about your devil powers-John Gramm — Natasha Larry

Growing up and seeing your parents' flaws is like losing your religion. I don't believe in God anymore. I don't believe in my father either. — Nicola Yoon

Sometimes surviving is all you can do — Emilee King

I haven't written a young-adult book in years. I'm also doing six 'Goosebumps' books a year now. — R.L. Stine

If a boy can manage to have coffee with me during the apocalypse, I know he cares. There's not a speck of doubt in my mind. He must care. — Caroline George

To see what books were available for my older students, I made many trips to the library. If a book looked interesting, I checked it out. I once went home with 30 books! It was then that I realized that kids' novels had the shape of real books, and I began to get ideas for young adult novels and juvenile books. — Cynthia Voigt

Speak up and speak clearly. I want to hear what you have to say because it matters. Let's listen to each other and respect one another's opinions. Although, they may be different, wisdom allows us to be responsible for our own feelings and actions. — Felicia Johnson

When he wasn't busy chasing unseen mice around the academy, Ion spent hours in the Borean Study, searching through dusty books for anything that had to do with the banshee or the Shroud. But finding this anything proved to be difficult as well, especially when the books you're reading have everything to do with something, but certainly nothing to do with your anything. And in trying to find this anything, Ion forgot about a very important, specific thing, which would quickly ruin his Wednesday. — Nikolas Lee

Putting lessons in young adult books is very dangerous. — Ned Vizzini

'Harry Potter' opened so many doors for young adult literature. It really did convince the publishing industry that writing for children was a viable enterprise. And it also convinced a lot of people that kids will read if we give them books that they care about and love. — Rick Riordan

With a young-adult series, you need to get a lot of books out on the market quickly. Teenagers aren't going to wait years and years for the next book. — P.C. Cast

I don't read young adult or children's books, now that my grandchildren are beyond the age of my reading to them. I read reviews, and so I'm aware of what's out there. But I tend not to read the books. — Lois Lowry

In books and movies, the stories always end when the two people finally have their romantic kiss. The happily-ever-after part is just assumed — Gayle Forman

There is a very big difference between writing for children and writing for young adults. The first thing I would say is that 'Young Adult' does not mean 'Older Children', it really does mean young but adult, and the category should be seen as a subset of adult literature, not of children's books. — Garth Nix

When I was growing up, if there was a Young Adult section of my town's library, I missed it. I wandered right from 'The Babysitter's Club' over to Stephen King. His books were big and fat and they seemed important. I eventually worked my way through most of the shelf, but 'It' is the one that stuck with me. — Erin Morgenstern

What's interesting to me is how many vampire/urban fantasy authors are writing young adult series as well, often set in the same world as their adult books, but focused on a younger audience. — Carrie Vaughn

I had a few people ask me if I might one day write my own autobiography. I just told them, 'It's already being written; through my books. — T.S. Wieland

I tell you this because books for young readers are so often written about that very moment: the moment of the fork. The moment the old man cannot return to. — Virginia Euwer Wolff

Outside Styx's apartment was not the first time Rochester and I had met, or would it be the last. We first encountered each other at Haworth House in Yorkshire when my mind was young and the barrier between reality and make-believe had not yet hardened into the shell that cocoons us in adult life. The barrier was soft, pliable and, for a moment, thanks to the kindness of a stranger and the power of a good storytelling voice, I made the short journey
and returned. — Jasper Fforde

One of the biggest challenges of writing for middle-grade or even young-adult readers is that I don't want to have too much violence in it - which really limits what you can do. It's important that they're not just bloodbaths or glorifying violence. I always try to show that a person who dies leaves a hole. There's grief in my books. — Alane Ferguson

Nothing ensures the success of the child more in the society than being read to from infancy to young adulthood. Reading books to and with children is the single most important thing a parent, grandparent, or significant adult can do. — Anita Silvey

The distinction has blurred between young adult and adult books. Some of the teen books have become more sophisticated. — Ann Brashares

First, you need to realize everything you thought you knew about yourself, about me, is a lie. — Angela Parkhurst

Sometimes books feel like the only thing that keep her sane. Actually, she knows that they're the only reason she's still even vaguely okay right now. That's what she clings to: reading great books and seeing great films and, for as long as she's immersed in them, being able to forget, if only for a short time, about the reality of her life. — Steph Bowe

Remember, there were dragons long before men came into the world. Why, it was none other than The Great Dragons of Yore who invented the idea of knighthood. Yes, yes, that's right! Dragons had knights, Kings, princesses and queens long before men crawled out of the muck. — Sully Tarnish

It's - I write the books and let the market find who reads it. I guess a young adult is anywhere from ten to fifteen. — Louis Sachar

I'd rather not know what lies ahead because I like the dark. I like thinking there is something good in the places I can't see. And that's not ignorance. That's just hope. — Caroline George

I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down. — Bella James

Romance novels are my favorite books to read. I write young adult romances, and am so happy to be promoting this wonderful genre. — Simone Elkeles

What kind of life is that? Do you know? Do you? Because I know. I lived that life. For years I lived it. Without you. And I've never been more miserable. I'd rather fight everyday to keep you near me than have you walk away. I'd rather pay that price, Max. I'm not afraid to pay it. I can't believe you're standing here telling me that you are."
~Layla to Max; TORN — Laney McMann

Books are the only things worth stealing. — Sully Tarnish

I already fear for my life just because of who I am, you think adding a little inconsequential vampire to the equation will change any of that? — Amalie Howard

Some say it is the elements of hope and wonder in children's books that make them special. But there are many dark young adult novels these days. Adults loved Harry Potter, though it was written for the young. In the end, it is probably up to the reader of any age to decide if this book is for him or her. — Katherine Paterson

Teachers and librarians can be the most effective advocates for diversifying children's and young adult books. When I speak to publishers, they're going to expect me to say that I would love to see more books by Native American authors and African-American authors and Arab-American authors. But when a teacher or librarian says this to publishers, it can have a profound effect. — Pat Mora

And prayer? How could you pray to a God you wanted to hit? — Benjamin Alire Saenz

You cannot be betrayed by your enemies, only your friends. — Brian D. Anderson

Words have the power to change us." - Tessa Gray — Cassandra Clare

I had a whole evening planned. I was hoping to sweep you off your feet. Like those guys in your stupid books. — Lisa Brown Roberts

I kiss him to get him to stop talking. If he keeps talking I will love him, and I don't want to love him. I really don't. As strategies go, it's not my finest. Kissing is just another way of talking except without the words. — Nicola Yoon

Interview on The Skiffy and Fanty Show 2010. In response to query that young adults may not be open to the nuances/realism in Moorehawke:

'(In fact)young adult readers seem to (be very inclined)to reading the (Moorehawke) books thematically. Some (not all) adult reviewers ... tend to be very plot oriented. Because the books are a slow release of information and very character driven ... (they) don't reward impatient reading ... but young adults seem to be very patient readers. They're very analytical as well. I get very analytical responses from my young adult readers. — Celine Kiernan

Perhaps death is just a big lie. — Bella James

When you're younger and you see something that really speaks to you, it's indelible in a way that's not the same as when you're an adult. So I'll always love reading books and making movies that resonate with young people. — Nina Jacobson

I focus a little more on pacing when I write books in the young adult category, and of course there's the great American fear of anything sexual, so that's somewhat backed off in YA. — Paolo Bacigalupi

I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief ... I'm not in the business of offending people. I find the books upholding certain values that I think are important, such as life is immensely valuable and this world is an extraordinarily beautiful place. We should do what we can to increase the amount of wisdom in the world.
[Washington Post interview, 19 February 2001] — Philip Pullman

When you look at what C.S. Lewis is saying, his message is so anti-life, so cruel, so unjust. The view that the Narnia books have for the material world is one of almost undisguised contempt. At one point, the old professor says, 'It's all in Plato' - meaning that the physical world we see around us is the crude, shabby, imperfect, second-rate copy of something much better. I want to emphasize the simple physical truth of things, the absolute primacy of the material life, rather than the spiritual or the afterlife.

[The New York Times interview, 2000] — Philip Pullman