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The problem with some Young Adult fiction is that, basically, it doesn’t match the actual experience of being a young adult — or, at least, that was the argument made by a leading YA author when talking about what they want readers to get from their books.

“I taught middle school and high school for a long time, and one of the things that kind of bugged me was when adults talked down to middle school or high school students as if their lives are so easy, as if, "Oh, well, you'll see what life's like when you get older and you have real responsibilities,’” Leslie Lutz said during an appearance at Emerald City Comic Con 2025 in Seattle recently.

“The truth is that kids are dealing with a lot, and they're dealing with it for the first time without all of the structures in place that adults have because they have this experience. They also need to be treated like individuals rather than Teenager #1, Teenager #2, Teenager #3. That's just dehumanizing to treat teenagers like they're all the same: ‘Oh, teenagers are like this, or…’ You can't even make that statement!”

Lutz’s experience as a teacher has informed her writing, she believes.

“I think my characters have a tendency to have adult responsibility too young, because I've known a lot of students who were like that, and I experienced that as a teen as well. I want [readers] to feel like they're seen when they read a book like this, that, yes, I see you. I understand that you are not in Sweet Valley High experiencing the perfect high school experience, and that's okay. And anybody who tells you that those are the best years of your life, they're not telling you the truth because those are coming in the future. I want them to feel like they have a future that is going to be better than maybe what they're dealing with right now.”

Lutz’s latest book, Sweetest Darkness, is available now.

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