The Striking but Fascinating Differences Between British and American YA

As an avid reader of all young adult and a reader of the yearly CILIP Carnegie shortlist, a realisation began to dawn on me. American and British YA are very different. I really like comparing things, so here it goes....

Point Number 1: I often find that British YAs  are more bleak compared with American ones.

For example, lets look at two  similar (ish) book series, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman and the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver. 

Why have you chosen these two series??? I mean, they don't seem that similar...
Well, in both there is a Romeo and Juliet feel to the books, and there is a struggle posed by their society to make life hard for the main characters. In Delirium they are forbidden to fall in love, while in Noughts and Crosses, there is a society which is atrociously racist to the Noughts, who are treated as second class citizens. Ok, so they aren't that similar, but characters in both experience tough things and are excluded from main society. In Delirium, Lena has to escape her city and leave behind everything she knows, she goes down to the Crypts, see her friends in the Wilds suffer, and her friend suffers with an abusive fiance. However, the sheer density in which the sad events happen in Nought and Crosses is astounding. It makes the book a compulsive read and very, very realistic. I really appreciate how many British YA authors are very brave and don't shy away from putting sad, bleak events in their books.

Point Number 2: You are far more likely to get a Happy Ever After in an American YA than a British one.

Kevin Brooks' book 'The Bunker Diary' won the CILIP Carnegie medal, 2014. He is a British author, and if you've read the book you know there is no happy ending. I find this to be a rarer occurrence in American YA, even Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy has some sort of happy ending at the end of Mockingjay.

Point Number 3: Many British YAs are very realistic.

Now wait a minute before you tear my head off - American YAs are very realistic also, especially authors such as Sarah Dessen and John Green. However, I do feel that British YAs do delve into a more realistic view of Britain, I've already touched upon how Noughts and Crosses is realistic, which is perhaps due to the extremes that the characters suffer. Another author that portrays a realistic view of British society is Jenny Downham. This is especially shown in the divide between working-class and upper middle class in You Against Me.

Point Number 4: British YAs tend to be more upsetting, whereas American YAs are happier.

Yes and I do know that the Fault in Our Stars is extremely upsetting, but I do find British YA novels to be a lot more depressing than American YAs - but then again, I do read a lot of Sarah Dessen books and romantic ones, like Anna and the French Kiss.

My favourite British YA Authors:

Malorie Blackman
Sally Gardner
Jenny Downham
Phillip Pullman
Meg Rosoff
Marcus Sedgwick

My favourite American YA Authors:

Elizabeth Wein
John Green
Sarah Dessen
Lauren Oliver
David Levithan

NB. I am not trying to be racist in any way, I'm just comparing different writing styles in YA from across the pond. This list is a generalization, not a be all and end all, it's not going to stop you finding a bleak American YA novel. I also love British and American writing styles equally.

 

 So - What's your favourite British YA novel and American YA?

Who are your favourite British and American authors?

Would you agree with these generalizations??

~Lucy x