The Enduring Power of YA Literature
Author Alexandra Brown Chang discusses the enduring power of young adult literature, including several book recommendations.
I’ll never forget the first time I “attended” one of Blair Waldorf’s parties—in my imagination, of course, through the pages of the Gossip Girl books by Cecily von Ziegesar. I was completely enthralled by this book series, swept up into the sparkling world of Upper East Side teenagers—and their scandals and secrets. Reading it felt like being transported to a fantasy world, where everything is gorgeous: the people, the places, the fashion.
I’d be remiss to not also highlight Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume—another one of my childhood favorites, which gave me something entirely different. This book made me hug my mother and grandmother tighter, feeling even more grateful for their strong presence in my life. Later on, I discovered Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld, which offered a more complicated portrait of adolescence that stuck with me long after I first read it in high school.
I’ve always loved reading stories about teenagers, and my enthusiasm for young adult literature has not waned during my 20s. If anything, I appreciate YA stories even more now! Coming-of-age narratives resonate with people far beyond their teenage years because we’re constantly evolving as human beings. You can “come of age” at any age—it’s not simply something that just happens once. It’s a continuous process. With every new stage of life, we’re invited to figure out who we are and who we want to be at that particular moment in time.
When I began writing By Invitation Only, I knew it would be a young adult narrative, not just because it focuses on an ensemble of teenagers navigating the glittering, high-stakes world of a Parisian debutante ball, but because the core themes (romance, friendship, identity, and self-expression) felt the most powerful in that space. Piper, the fish-out-of-water underdog, and Chapin, the seasoned insider, are both 18 years old—an exhilarating yet anxiety-inducing age—when the future feels wide open. The possibilities are endless, which is both thrilling and terrifying. Piper and Chapin’s evolving friendship, their respective romantic arcs, and their quests for self-discovery felt like a natural fit for YA. Although these ideas are certainly hallmarks of this genre, they are also incredibly universal.
YA literature largely shaped my taste as a reader, and writing a story in this space brought me so much joy. It gave me a chance to tap into that sense of “firsts”: first love, first heartbreak, the first time you question whether the person you thought you were is who you truly are. YA allows writers and readers alike to feel that rush of possibility—that exciting sense of standing on the edge of something entirely new. As I was writing, I found myself completely swept up in Piper and Chapin’s journeys, right alongside them, and I hope other readers feel the same! There’s something uniquely powerful about stepping back into that liminal space between childhood and adulthood, where everything feels heightened and uncertain, yet full of potential.
That’s why we keep returning to the YA classics: the ones that shaped us, that we passed between friends, that we still think about years later. Every generation has its story. For some, it’s Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. For others, it’s The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. On screen, we revisit films like Stand by Me, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Clueless, and The Graduate. More recently, we fall in love with movies like Lady Bird, Eighth Grade, and The Holdovers. These stories endure because the heart of them never changes. They capture that moment when you realize you’re no longer a child, but not quite an adult either—and in that middle ground, you ask the most important question: Who do I want to be?
Despite its emotional depth and cultural resonance, YA has often been underestimated. For decades, the genre (and its predominantly young, female readership) was deemed frivolous or unserious. But now, that’s changing. We’re living in a moment where YA is not just celebrated but respected. The TV adaptation of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty is a perfect example: It’s become a global phenomenon, appealing to multiple generations. Nearly every woman I know is watching it, whether she’s my 15-year-old sister or my 55-year-old aunt. Stories of self-discovery and first love never lose their appeal, because they’re not just for teenagers. They speak to anyone who has ever grown, changed, or wanted to start over again.
And of course, no teenage experience is complete without music! Songs can instantly bring us back to who we were at a certain age, like emotional time capsules. The right song can make you feel 18 all over again. For me, it’s any track from Taylor Swift’s Reputation album. Whenever I hear “Delicate,” I feel transported back to 2018, reliving the emotions of that time.
The connection between music and adolescence felt so essential that I built it into By Invitation Only. At the start of the book, I included a playlist of songs that represent each character’s emotional arc. Naturally, it opens with Taylor Swift’s “Paris” to set the scene. Piper’s songs chart her evolving hopes and fears, while Chapin’s reflect her inner conflict between expectation and authenticity. I even listened to many of the songs while drafting By Invitation Only. More than anything, though, I wanted the playlist to serve as a personal soundtrack to Piper and Chapin’s coming-of-age during one dazzling, glamorous, whirlwind week in Paris.
Ultimately, YA stories are so much more than teen drama or love triangles. They’re vessels that allow us to revisit who we were, reconnect with who we still are, and imagine who we might become. Judy Blume, my forever literary hero, said it best: “I am not sure that the inner world of teenage girls has changed. What’s most important to kids today is still the same stuff.”
YA literature is timeless, because the emotions of our teenage selves never fade; they just grow and mature with us. In a world that often hurries us toward adulthood, YA stories remind us that the joy, fear, longing, and angst of adolescence still live within us—not as emotions to be outgrown, but as the foundation of who we are and who we are still becoming.
Check out Alexandra Brown Chang's By Invitation Only here:
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