the wide variety in YA fiction

I've read three YA books over the past ten days and have been treated to a total smorgasboard of plots, themes and characters.

The 'Nightworld' mega book featured paranormal stories about a variety of teens. The "Princess Ben" novel was a fairy tale featuring teens. "Gossip Girl" is a soap opera, oops, novel featuring rich upper east side New York teens.

The only thing they had in common was the fact teenaged characters populated the pages.

Now, that being stated, I also have to state that YA books cover the grades from 6 through 12 and these books represent that very wide spread in ages and maturity levels. "Gossip Girl" with its drinking, sex, profanity and drug use is most definitely not a book for the vast majority of 6th graders. The back cover actually has an age recommendation of 15 and older. "Nightworld" tackles tough topics, but was a more tame read. "Princess Ben" could be read and enjoyed by the whole YA audience range.

Of course the quality of the writing is a whole other topic well beyond content. Don't think I will be wasting my time with any more Gossip Girl books, but I will eagerly search out more by Nightworld writer L.J. Smith. I still admire the skill of "Princess Ben" author Catherine Gilbert Murdock and her book "The Dairy Queen" is an excellent read.