Recently a New York Times reporter asked me why I thought books like The Beacon Street Girls would sell in the same market where The Gossip Girl formula has been a proven hit. Who would buy the more wholesome books? Parents? Tweens? Is the trend around more wholesome media completely driven by parents or are the more "conservative teens" stimulating demand. I haven't read either series (so I can't speak to whether they are extremely well written or not — librarians feel free to weigh in), but I know Gossip Girl is more "sex in the city" for teens and Beacon Street appears to be more wholesome morality tales for tweens.

My good friend who is a librarian would passionately argue that the best YA fiction are the books that are extremely well written and tell great stories. They don't have to fit into either market niche (i.e. sexy or wholesome). They can be well written sci fi and deal with real issues. I would have to agree. In some ways the explosion of the YA publishing market has created these "niches" (based on our own cultural schizophrenia around sex) that publishers are rushing to fill with whoever can write to that specific formula. They are the new "Sweet Valley High" books but are either racy or pure. What I loved about Judy Blume's books were that they were "real" without having to be either extreme.

I thought about this when I saw the most recent press release for the new Beacon Street Girls book Freaked Out with a headline that read:

"As More Girls Abuse Alcohol and Drugs, a New Book Series for Tween Girls Encourages Smart Decision-Making"

It's almost like how "Law & Orders" are ripped from the headlines. Now YA books (or at least the marketing of them) are directly reacting to what's going on in the culture right now. These books may or may not sell, but something tells me they won't end up being YA classics.

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