But that's just not true.

但實情並非如此。

Millennials and whatever we're calling the generation after millennials are actually more well-read on average than earlier generations, and also read more books per year.

千禧世代 (或其他稱呼千禧年後的名詞) 其實每年平均下來，閱讀量比在他們之前的世代還要多。

And believe it or not, we have the likes of the "Hunger Games" and "Harry Potter" and even "Twilight" to thank for that.

信不信由你，這要歸功於《飢餓遊戲》、《哈利波特》甚至於《暮光之城》的貢獻。

So thanks, YA.

所以謝啦，青少年文學。

Young adult is a term whose meaning has varied wildly over the years.

青少年文學是個近年來變化廣大的用詞。

It can apply to coming of age tragedies or serialized adventures of babysitters or insert really dated twilight joke here.

它適用於成年後的悲劇作品、保母冒險記的連載作品或非常老套的暮光之城玩笑。

But where did this young adult genre come from?

但這種青少年文學體裁是從哪裡來的？

And why did it get so big?

還有它怎麼變得如此風行的？

While narratives for children have existed since people started telling stories, a designated literary market for that mysterious, magical period of time known as teenagerdom is somewhat new.

雖然為兒童所撰寫的故事早在人們說故事時就存在了， 但那被稱為青少年時期，神秘又奇幻的年紀所指定的文學市場卻是個新興市場。

And to be fair, teenagers weren't a designated demographic in most respects until around World War II, due in part to advances in psychology, sociological changes, like the abolishment of child labor, and even technological advances like the car making it easy to sneak out of your parents' house.

平心而論，青少年在二次世界大戰前並不被大多領域視為一個獨立的市場區劃，部分是因為心理學的進步和社會學的改變，像是童工的廢止一樣，而部份原因甚至還有科技的進步，例如車子的普及，讓我們能更容易從父母的房子中溜出來。

But suddenly, teens are here. And with them come a plethora of shiny, new things marketed to them, clothes, music, films, radio programs, and of course, the novel.

但突然間，青少年出現了。伴隨而來的是大量專為他們設計，閃閃發光的全新事物，其中包括衣服、音樂、電影、 廣播頻道，然後當然，還有小說。

In 1942, Maureen Daly, herself only 17 years old, publishes the "Seventeenth Summer," which some have called the first young adult novel.

1942 年，在莫琳·戴利僅十七歲時，她出版了《第十七個夏季》，有些人稱之為第一本青少年小說。

"Seventeenth Summer" featured plot points and themes particularly to teens, under age drinking, driving, dating, and the, of course, eternally popular angst.

《第十七個夏季》的情節和主題特色主要在於青少年未成年飲酒、開車、約會，當然還包括永不退流行的焦慮。

But it wasn't the great literary critics of the time who defined this new category of fiction.

但這個全新的小說類別並不是由當時偉大的文學評論家所定義出來的。

It was librarians, in particular, librarians from the New York Public Library.

而是圖書館員。更精確點說，是來自紐約公立圖書館的圖書館員。

Starting in 1906, Anne Carroll Moore built a, sort of, League of Extraordinary Librarians, women who were interested not only in keeping this nascent adolescent audience in libraries but also finding out what made them tick.

從 1906 年開始，安妮·凱洛·摩爾創建了由一群女性所組成的非凡圖書館員聯盟，而他們不只是想將新生代青少年讀者們盡量留在圖書館裡，更想要找出什麼樣的書才能吸引這些年輕人。

Another young librarian brought on by Moore, Mabel Williams, began working with her peers to find books in both the children's and adult sections that might be of interest to teens.

摩爾帶來的其中一位年輕圖書館員玫波·威廉斯便開始與同僚們一起在兒童與成年分區中，尋找青少年可能會有興趣的讀物。

And in 1929, the first annual NYPL books for young people list was sent to schools and libraries across the country.

1929 年，第一份為青少年設計的紐約公共圖書館年度書單被送往全國的學校和圖書館。

In 1944, another NYPL librarian, Margaret Scoggin, changed the name of her library journal column from "Books for Older Boys and Girls" to "Books for Young Adults."

1944 年，另一名紐約公共圖書館員瑪格麗特·斯科金則將她圖書館期刊的欄目名稱從「年長少年少女書籍」改為 「青少年書籍」。

And the genre was christened with a name that has lasted to this day.

而這個類型所被定下的名稱便一直留存至今。

While the YA genre had already been laying down its roots for decades at this point, most YA fiction tended to feature the same generic plot points.

雖然此時的青少年體裁早在多年前就根深蒂固了，大多數青少年小說傾向於相同類型的情節。

Girl dates boy.

女孩和男孩約會。

Maybe they have a fight or something.

也許他們還會吵吵架之類的。

But then they resolve it.

但最後他們都會和好。

The end.

劇終。

But in the 60s, young people started to see more thoughtful contemplations of what it is just to be a teenager.

但在六零年代，青少年開始對作為一名青少年的意義有了更細膩的深思熟慮。

Hugely noteworthy from this era is S.E. Hinton's, "The Outsiders," published in 1967.

這時期最引人注目的是於 1967 年出版，蘇珊·辛頓的《局外人》。

At first, the novel that failed on the adult paperback market, the publisher noticed it was mostly being purchased by teens and then re-marketed it to them.

最初，這本小說在成人平裝市場中失敗了，但出版商注意到該書的主要買家為青少年，因此便重新以他們為目標客群行銷此書。

And YA allowed itself to explore deeper subjects, ushering in novels like "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" and "The Chocolate War."

而青少年小說本身也發展出更深入的主題，引領出像《神啊！你在嗎？是我，瑪格麗特》和 《巧克力戰爭》這類小說。

During the 80s and 90s however, YA started skewing towards serialized fiction, or from the likes of R.L. Stine, school centric fiction like "Sweet Valley High" and "The Baby-Sitters Club" and genre fiction like K.A. Applegate's "Animorphs Series."

然而在八零到九零年代間，青少年小說開始更傾心於連載小說，或是 R.L.斯坦所著的小說，以及像是《甜蜜谷高》跟 《保姆俱樂部》這類的校園中心小說，還有 K.A.艾普格特的《動物變形人》這類的大眾文學。

So while young adult fiction was plenty lucrative, it wasn't really respected by people outside of its targeted readership.

雖然青少年文學的賺頭不少，卻沒有受到目標讀者群之外人們的尊重。

It was low art for kids!

這是給小孩的低等藝術。

But then everything changed with a boy wizard.

但一切隨著一名巫師男孩的出現而改變了。

In 1997, publisher Bloomsbury takes a leap of faith and publishes "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."

1997 年，布魯姆斯伯里出版社大膽地做出決定，出版了《哈利波特—神秘的魔法石》。

In spite of being genre fiction, "Harry Potter" manages to resound not only with the YA audience, but it also leaks into a large adult market.

雖然這是一本大眾文學，《哈利波特》不只在青少年讀者中造成迴響，同時也滲入龐大的成年讀者市場中。

Harry Potter as a character also grows up with his readers, starting out 11 years old and ending at 17.

哈利波特也隨著讀者依同成長，從一開始的 11 歲，成長到了結局的 17 歲。

And the tone of the series matures as well.

系列書籍的敘述口吻也跟著變得愈加成熟。

So this new post "Harry Potter" YA is nearly as long and sometimes longer, sometimes way longer, as adult fiction and on the same reading level as commercial adult fiction.

因此最新出版的《哈利波特》青少年小說幾乎跟成人小說一樣長，有時更長，有時長度超出許多，且跟商業化的成人小說有著相同的閱讀水準。

"Harry Potter" also opens the door for a wide variety of darker, genre-based YA novels that can appeal to an audience beyond teens and possibly get optioned for a multi-million dollar movie franchises.

《哈利波特》也為各種暗黑系列的青少年小說開啟了大門， 吸引了青少年以上的讀者，而且還可能被百萬美元等級的電影製作計畫看上。

With "Twilight," for instance, came a boom in the YA subgenre of paranormal romance.

以《暮光之城》為例，這部作品在青少年小說中的超自然羅曼史類別中大放異彩。

And boy, that sure was a thing that came and went.

但它還真是一轉而逝的風潮。

"The Hunger Games" popularized the subgenre of YA dystopia.

《飢餓遊戲》則帶動了反烏托邦青少年小說的流行。

And that, also, was a thing that came and went really quickly.

而它也是一股疾速潮起潮落的風潮。

And now, well, genre fiction is still popular in YA, but the trend has cycled back to discussing relevant social issues and the world as it is.

如今，大眾文學在青少年小說中依舊很受歡迎，但流行的趨勢已經又回到了討論相關的社會議題和世界的樣貌。

John Green's, "The Fault In Our Stars" was a massive hit that dealt with kids who fall in love while dying of cancer.

約翰·葛林的《生命中的美好缺憾》講述孩子們在罹癌瀕死的狀況下戀愛的故事，是個非常熱們的作品。

And one of the most popular YA books of the last year was Angie Thomas's, "The Hate You Give," which was partially inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

而去年最受歡迎的青少年小說是安琪·湯馬斯的《致所有逝去的聲音》， 部分內容取材自「黑人命也是命」的維權運動。

And also it was really great by the way, you should read it.

順帶一提，這本書非常精采，你應該去讀讀看。

So it's a bit reductive to be dismissive of Young Adult.

因此要是輕視青少年小說就顯得有些狹隘了。

First of all, it's not just a niche genre.

首先，這不僅是一種獨特的類型。

YA is remarkable for its wide appeal.

青少年小說的廣大吸引力也是令人嘆為觀止的。

55% of YA books purchased in 2012 were bought by adults between 18 and 44 years old.

於 2012 年 55% 的青少年小說是由 18 到 44 歲的成人所購買的。

It's also remarkable to see the emergence of a genre pioneered by women, authors like Maureen Daly, J.K. Rowling, and Angie Thomas, and librarians like Mabel Williams and Margaret Scoggin.

而這類型小說的嶄露頭角是由女性所領頭，由莫琳·戴利、J.K. 羅琳和安琪·湯馬斯這些作家， 以及梅玻·威廉斯、瑪格麗特·斯科金等圖書館員發起，這點也令人讚嘆不已。

Not only does YA shape younger audiences as readers, it is a genre that helps give its audience a lexicon for understanding that there is a complex world between childhood and adulthood.

青少年文學不僅塑造出年輕的讀者群眾，同時也提供了讀者一種辭典，讓他們了解還有個夾在兒童與成人間更為複雜的世界。

So what is your favorite YA book?

所以你最愛的青少年小說是哪一本？

Are there any books you love that maybe you didn't realize were categorized as YA?

是否有本你很熱愛的書，而你之前不知道它其實是青少年小說？

Leave a comment below.

請在下方留言。

"The Great American Read" is a new series on PBS about why we love to read, leading up to a nationwide vote on America's favorite novel.

「美國最受歡迎的小說」PBS 電視台的全新紀錄片，講述關於我們熱愛閱讀的原因，並在最後將舉行美國最受歡迎小說的全國性投票。

Who decides America's favorite novel, you ask?

你覺得是由誰決定美國最受歡迎的小說呢？

Well, that would be you.

當然是你。

So head to pbs.org/greatamericanread to vote on your favorite book.

所以前往 pbs.org/greatamericanread 選出你最愛的小說吧。

Check the link in the description for more details.

請點選影片資訊欄以獲得更多詳細資訊。