I don’t get it. Why are some people so antagonistic toward adults who read, and enjoy, youth fiction? I’ve met a handful of such people, listened to their scorn, read their sarcasm as they condescend toward those of us who thrill toward some youth fiction authors. They can’t understand why aficionados of well-written prose would make such a big deal out of stories “written for kids.”

In my experience that’s because a lot of these people are not avid readers. They wouldn’t know a good book if it smacked them square in the face. Just because such books are written for kids does not mean that they are childish. What attracts me to authors like J.K. Rowling and Christopher Paolini is that their writing, while geared toward kids, doesn’t ‘talk down’ to kids, and thus becomes very enjoyable reading for adults, as well. This is aided by the fact that the writing is top-notch – the geographies of these new worlds are very detailed, the plots twisted and constantly surprising, the characters developed and believable. _That_, my friends, is what so attracts me to some authors of youth fiction. And because the books are so well-written and enjoyable, I don’t mind that their primary target audience is for someone ten years younger than I am. I simply have a good book in my hands that is engaging and entertaining – and I intend to continue enjoying good writing wherever it may be found.