I am not ashamed to admit that I am an adult who loves reading Young Adult Literature.
At first, I made the excuse that, “I work with teenagers, so I need to read things they would like, so I can make recommendations.”
And while, yes, I do try to cultivate a love of reading in my students, that is not the only reason I love YA. There is definitely something appealing and universal about the tumultuous time called adolescence.
While reading about the conflicts and issues one has as a teenager, I am reminded about how those problems seemed like THE biggest deal at the time, and they truly were. Friend issues could completely ruin your life, having a crush on someone who did not reciprocate those feelings was devastating, adding in family problems to the mix and your life feels like it is going to end. Being reminded of how simple those problems all seem now as an adult looking back, makes me believe that problems I currently feel are huge, will probably seem trivial in another ten years.
One of my favorite YA series is the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty.
This series follows the main character, Jessica Darling, from high school to a career after college. She is smart, witty, hilarious, sarcastic and has universal struggles with family, friends and boyfriends. Her love of karaoke also makes her amazing. Her flaws and conflicts make her very relatable to readers of any age. Those who are currently going through similar struggles can absolutely relate, those of us who may or may not have made similar mistakes Jessica made, cringe, reflect and remember what is was like to have been in that oh-so-confused mindset. There is interesting plots along the way, it was a series I flew through a missed when it was over.
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What is your favorite Young Adult series?
Angie Eats Peace 
I love love love Jessica Darling! It’s funny because these actually are not categorized as YA lit, but in fact adult fiction (where I work, anyway) so I don’t consider them as such in my mind, but I definitely think they SHOULD be. I wish I had read them when I was a bit younger. I only discovered them when I was 18 or so, but I would have loved them even more even just 2 years earlier.
I had no idea they were not YA, it definitely seems like they should be.