Is the “New Adult” genre really all that New or Adult?

New Adult fiction is the latest category of fiction created for young adults. This label was introduced by St. Martin's Press in 2009 in the attempt to promote novels that emphasized the ‘coming-of-age’ that takes place in a young person’s twenties.The protagonists of these novels are at a cross-over age, 18 to 26, who are in a transfomational period in their lives where they are formally ‘adults’ but are still on a journey to figure out who they are how they are going to respond to adult challenges.

Although the ‘New Adult’ genre has sparked a lot of interest within book lovers there seemed to be an automatic resistance by publishing professionals. In the attempt to clear the waters behind such grand differences, I have spoken to two major bookstore chains, Waterstones and Daunts Books, as well as academics to find the answers. Here are their arguments for and against this novelty…