# What is the difference between young adult, juvenile fiction, and teen fiction?



## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

I searched but couldn't find anything to answer this question. What is the difference between these three terms? I imagine "juvenile fiction" and "teen fiction" are categories of YA, but what exactly are the requirements of each? Thanks!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Good question, but to me it all sounds like different wording for, essentially, the same thing.


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## Stephen T. Harper (Dec 20, 2010)

I've never understood the term YA.  It seems like one of those nebulous terms that mean different things to different people.


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## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

I ask because I was looking for a book in my local library that is in the "Juvenile Fiction" section, but I could only find the "Teen Fiction" section. Looked for there author there, but no dice. So it got me thinking.


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## Guest (Apr 26, 2012)

Maybe it's the very same, but I have doubts in this as American YA and Central European YA is two different thing. American and British YA is connecting the YA genre to the age of the character; such as Harry Potter, age 12, Young Adult story for teenagers. While Central European YA, especially classic ones is connecting this genre to the type of the story instead, where the age of the MC doesn't count and even a 26 old can be the main character of a YA and also a Juvenile novel (Such as The Eclipse of the Crescent Moon, where the MC is 26 years old, yet the book is considered as a Juvenile novel in my country.). So if I should guess, and I just guess, mixing the American, British and Central European habits;

a, Young Adult is rather for teenagers, age 12 to age 18, while Juvenile can be a wider genre, which may range from age 6 to age 18.
b, Young Adult is about teenagers between age 12 to age 18, while Juvenile is about younger ones to the age of 18 and above.

But it's just a guess and maybe I'm wrong.


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## cork_dork_mom (Mar 24, 2011)

Young adult and teen are the same thing. Geared toward high school age kids.

Juvenile would be written for kids in elementary/middle school.

YA books can be read by younger kids (at my library we have Harry Potter in both YA & J, but Twilight books are only YA) but sometimes YA books deal with topics better suited to older kids. Teen pregnancy, drug use, date rape... etc. 

The Texas State Library has some great Round Table groups that have recommended reading lists for different age groups. I imagine other states would do the same.


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## Nancy Fulda (Apr 24, 2011)

cork_dork_mom said:


> Young adult and teen are the same thing. Geared toward high school age kids.
> 
> Juvenile would be written for kids in elementary/middle school.


That matches my understanding of the terms, as well.


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

As I understand it, they are all synonymous. The term "juvenile" sounds like it means "kid," but it just means "young" or "adolescent." YA is generally aimed at teens, but it can include readers beyond high school...it tends to flow into college now (like the new release _Tempest,_ whose protagonist is 19, I think), and I remember seeing a contest recently that was aimed at "YA readers" and allowed entries from ages as high as 25 (of course, lots of YA readers are adults, maybe as many as half of the readership). But YA is essentially geared towards 13-18 or sometimes 14-18 or 16-18 depending on the content. So teen fiction is usually synonymous with YA.

Here's an excerpt from the "young-adult fiction" page on Wikipedia:

"Young-adult fiction or young adult literature (often abbreviated as YA),[1][2] also juvenile fiction, is fiction written, published, or marketed to adolescents and young adults. The Young Adult Library Services (YALSA) of the American Library Association (ALA) defines a young adult as someone between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Authors and readers of young adult (YA) novels often define the genre as literature as traditionally written for ages ranging from twelve years up to the age of eighteen, while some publishers may market young adult literature to as low as age ten or as high as age twenty-five[3]. The terms young-adult novel, juvenile novel, young-adult book, etc. refer to the works in the YA category."

But hey, it's confusing to me too, and I write YA! So no worries...

EDIT: I checked, and the protagonist of Tempest is 19 and in college. And that book has definitely been marketed to YA blogs and readers.


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## Verbena (Sep 1, 2011)

The three things are similar.But I think boys like juvenile fiction than girls.


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## William Woodall (Jun 8, 2009)

I think the terms are close enough in meaning that you're very likely to find some confusion even among librarians.  So, to answer the OP, I think you'd just have to look for the book you have in mind in any or all of those sections, if your library has them.  I live in an area where (for various reasons) there are maybe five libraries I have to visit on a regular basis and not a single one of them follows the same shelving guidelines when it comes to fiction.

I long ago gave up trying to guess what their reasoning might be.  Now I just look up the book I want and go wherever they tell me.


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