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James Patterson, Nick Hornby, and Young Adult Fiction
By Matt Margolis | June 26, 2007
As someone who has spent the past seven years writing and blogg about current events, politics and even writing a non-fiction book, I have recently had a rekindled interest in fiction after a rather long hiatus.
I first got into James Patterson novels when I was in high school. By the time I got to college, I’d read all of his books. Since then my reading of fiction has become a bit spotty, and I’ve become more selective of which books I would read, but without a doubt I’ve kept up on the Alex Cross series. Though I admit the last one of the Cross series was a bit disappointing.
Some years back he decided to reach out to a younger audience with his Maximum Ride series, which was loosely based on two earlier novels he wrote, When The Wind Blows and its sequel The Lake House, about bird-human hybrid children.
I took a chance on the Maximum Ride stories, knowing in advance that they were more geared to an audience that much younger than me, but of course, knowing how many adults are into Harry Potter, I couldn’t really say there is no precedence for such a thing.
Anyway, I like the first two books of the Maximum Ride series. The latest one, Maximum Ride: Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports was rather disappointing. As an older reader, I found the story becoming much less convincing. Perhaps such things are less of an issue for younger readers, I don’t know.
This fall will also bring the first young adult novel from my current favorite author, Nick Hornby, the author of High Fidelity, About A Boy, How To Be Good, and A Long Way Down. Hornby’s forthcoming young adult novel, Slam, is described as follows on Nick Hornby’s website:
Slam, a novel for readers of many ages, revolves around Sam who—after falling hard for a very pretty girl—ultimately finds his way through conversations with a larger-than-life poster of his idol, champion skater Tony Hawk.
I have already pre-ordered the book, and regardless of its target audience, I expect to enjoy it. Nick Hornby is a fantastic author, and while most will know him because of his first novel High Fidelity, which was adapted into an equally great movie, his most recent novel, A Long Way Down is my favorite of his works, and probably ranks as my favorite fiction novel. Let’s put it this way, I first “read” the book in audiobook format shortly after it came out in 2005 and have in the past few months made the effort to purchase a hardcover version so it may hold its rightful spot on my bookshelf.
So, as a fan of Hornby, I anxiously await the release of his next novel, and I am by no means discouraged by the fact this one is written for young adults. In fact, after reading the latest decription from Amazon.com, the book clearly tackles more adult themes than a simple teenage crush and a fixation for Tony Hawk:
Just when everything is coming together for Sam, his girlfriend Alicia drops a bombshell. Make that ex-girlfriend– because by the time she tells him she’s pregnant, they’ve already called it quits. Sam does not want to be a teenage dad. His mom had him at sixteen and has made it very clear how having a baby so young interrupted her life. There’s only one person Sam can turn to–his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Sam believes the answers to life’s hurdles can be found in Hawk’s autobiography.
But even Tony Hawk isn’t offering answers this time–or is he? Inexplicably, Sam finds himself whizzed into the future, for a quick glimpse of what will be . . . or what could be. In this wonderfully witty, poignant story about a teenage boy unexpectedly thrust into fatherhood, it’s up to Sam to make the right decisions so the bad things that could happen, well, don’t.
This sounds much more like a novel that longtime Hornby fans will want to read as much as the audience it targets. I’m looking forward to it.
Topics: Fiction, James Patterson, Nick Hornby |
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September 9th, 2007 at 7:46 am
I can see getting into Patterson in High School- I probably would have also. However, though I enjoyed “Kiss the Girls” as a movie/film, now that I’m a parent (12 and 14-year old boys) there are some things I just can’t stomach (even though I do read some pretty edgy crime fiction). After a brief try with Along Came a Spider, I threw the book away. Then I pulled it out of the trash/rubbish and ripped it to pieces. I just can’t handle the “kid stuff”.
I’m adding the America/British translations for Nick, of course! I’ve been writing about him and other writers in my week-old blog:
http://nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com
Having read Spree and The Dirt, I picked up a copy of the Aug 07 Believer and enjoyed that very much. I really enjoy his writing on books, as well as his writing of books (High Fidelity and Fever Pitch are particular favorites of mine).
Anyway, good point about fiction that is not just for kids! I look forward to reading through your other posts and will link to your blog. Best wishes, Jim