I remember in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it was all paranormal romance, Twilight, Hush, Hush, The Mortal Instruments and that whole supernatural phase. Then dystopian YA took over with The Hunger Games and Divergent. I know Fourth Wing is pretty huge now, but beyond that, I honestly haven’t kept up with YA/NA in years. What’s the current trend?
Im halfway through the first book and enjoying the world-building. However, I find it incredibly hard to believe or picture these characters as 15- or 16-year-old teenagers. The only one who actually seems like one is Simon, but that’s more down to his archetype than his age.
It’s not that I think they’re bad characters, but nothing about them suggests they’re young, aside from the occasional mention of their age. They come across more like adults in their early twenties.
I’m looking for a young adult novel about a kid who runs (non competitively) to deal with the stress of having an alcoholic blue collar father. He gets bullied at school too. His father stops drinking for a while and things are going well. But at the end of the book, the kid is competing at a track event and the father shows up drunk. One of the bully antagonists is named Kinsella. Anyone?????