It's In to Write for Teens

I find it interesting when successful adult authors try their hand at books for teens. Are they simply bored and want to try something new? Do they want to feel like kids again? Who knows but I started thinking about this when Sherman Alexie’s first book for teens, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series, which includes The Angel Experiment, School’s Out –Forever, and Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, has been extremely popular. The Angel Experiment was a New Hampshire Flume Award nominee for 2007. FYI—the Flume Award is a New Hampshire book award for kids in grades 9-12. Here are some other adult authors that have strayed into the world of young adult literature:

Isabel Allende: City of the Beasts, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, & Forest of the Pygmies

Michael Chabon: Summerland

Carl Hiaasen: Hoot & Flush

Alice Hoffman: The Foretelling & Incantation by Alice Hoffman

Nick Hornby: Slam