Posted April 29th, 2011 under Books, Craft, Writing, YA Cafe
YA Cafe: What’s Your Favorite YA Voice?
divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MMySnzqwpoM/TXBSgzhOOdI/AAAAAAAABqg/3OsmXHm7pzM/s1600/YACafe-LOGO-purple.png” imageanchor=”1″ style=”clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”img border=”0″ height=”175″ src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MMySnzqwpoM/TXBSgzhOOdI/AAAAAAAABqg/3OsmXHm7pzM/s200/YACafe-LOGO-purple.png” width=”200″ //a/divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”iWelcome back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Gabriela fromnbsp;/ispan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;”ia href=”http://www.iggiandgabi.blogspot.com/”iggiamp;gabi/a/i/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;”i.nbsp;/i/spanemspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-style: normal;”iEach Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs./ibr /br /iWe’ve also got plans brewing fornbsp;/i/spaninterviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe./em/div/div/divdivdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”div style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”br //divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #3d85c6;”bspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: purple;”Today’s Special:/span/bspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: black;”nbsp;What’s your favorite YA voice?/span/span/divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #3d85c6;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: black;”br //span/span/divToday we’re talking about voice, which I consider to be an important element in YA since it really defines the genre. Voice is one of things that distinguishes YA from adult literature.nbsp;/divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”br //divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”This is the perfect opportunity to talk about iboy/i voices in YA. Fun fact: when I first started my WIP, my protagonist was a guy! His name was Drew and I loved getting to know him*. Inbsp;gave him interesting quirks andnbsp;tried not to make him a stereotypical guy. But ultimately I decided to swap him out for a girl protagonist because I struggled to get his voice right. It was hard! Also, I’d avoided writing scenes with him and his guy friends because I felt totally unqualified to write such scenes. What can I say? I’m a girl’s girl.nbsp;/divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”br /Drew still has a place in my heart, and perhaps I’ll bring him back someday. In the meantime, I enjoy reading other YA boy stories. Unfortunately boy protagonists aren’t as common in YA, which is a whole other conversation. Here are a few of my favorite male YA voices:br /div style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”br //divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”bColin Singleton from iAn Abundance of Katherines/inbsp;(John Green)/b/divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”Colin has so many awesome qualities: he’s an anagram master, a child prodigy, and he’s hilarious (though he doesn’t mean to be). His story is told in third person but the voice illustrates how Colin sees the world in a matter-of-fact way./divblockquote”Colin did not laugh. Instead he thought, Tampons have strings? Why? Of all the major human mysteries – God, the nature of the universe, etc. – he knew the least about tampons. To Colin, tampons were a little bit like grizzly bears: he was aware of their existence, but he’d never seen on in the wild, and didn’t really care to.”/blockquotebCharlie from /bbiThe Perks of Being a Wallflower/i/bbinbsp;/i(Stephen Chbosky)/bbr /I’ve mentioned before how much I loved this book and Charlie. He’s the opposite of what you expect a teenage boy to be (he cries a lot!) and the perfect example of why breaking away from stereotypes works. His voice shows how sensitive and introspective he is.br /blockquote”I remembered this one time that I never told anybody about. The time we were walking. Just the three of us. I was in the middle. I don’t remember where we were walking to or where we were walking from. I just remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere.”/blockquotebNick from iNick amp; Norah’s Infinite Playlist/inbsp;(Rachel Cohn and David Levithan)/bbr /Out of my three examples, Nick is the most typical guy. But that doesn’t mean his voice is typical.br /blockquote”Singing in the rain. I’m singing in the rain. And it’s such a [f*cking] glorious feeling. An unexpected downpour and I am just giving myself into it. Because what the [f*ck] else can you do? Run for cover? Shriek and curse? No–when the rain falls you just let it fall and you grin like a madman and you dance with it because if you can make yourself happy in the rain, then you’re doing pretty alright in life.”nbsp;/blockquoteThe thing these three voices (and all YA voices) have in common is that they show the characters’ personalities. You know them better from reading their words and thoughts.br /br /Writing this post made me realize that I need to read more books with male protagonists. I’m currently re-reading iIf I Stay/i and exited to read Adam’s point of view in iWhere She Went./ibr /br /bWhat are some of your favorite male YA voices?/bbr /br /iFellow barista, Gabriela atnbsp;/ia href=”http://www.iggiandgabi.blogspot.com/”iiggiamp;gabi/i/ainbsp;shares her favorite YA voices on her blog so check it out!/ibr /br //divdiv style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”div style=”margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;”ispan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: x-small;”*Getting to know an imaginary person? #StrangeThingsWritersDo 
/span/i/div/div/div
I really loved the quot;lowercasequot; Will from Will Grayson, Will Grayson. He was in such a dark place at the beginning of the novel, and we all got to watch as his voice matured. Also, I#39;m not sure if this is considered YA, but I LOVE Holden#39;s voice in The Catcher in the Rye.
Great post!
1Love love love Abundance of Katherines. I actually thought Hassan#39;s voice was just perfect for a sidekick/friend.
2Pretty positive I#39;ve mentioned this before (which means I#39;ve probably mentioned it many times) but Evie#39;s voice in iParanormalcy/i gets two thumbs up from me.br /- Sophia.
3Oh I LOVE this! I have to say I#39;ve written two male protagonists (one alternating w/female) and truthfully? I LIKED WRITING THE BOYS BETTER. Shh! I shouldn#39;t have shouted that. My girl MCs might hear me. My favorite guys? GOING BOVINE, WHITE CAT, and Luc from PERSONAL DEMONS. Those are voices I fell in love with.
4I love the protagonist from FEED. Finn from INCARCERON. Scott Pilgrim was always incredibly fun. br /br /Mia
5I love, love, love boy POV. It#39;s so fun to read and write and I wish there was more of it out there. What girl doesn#39;t want to get inside a guy#39;s head?br /br /I think C.K. Kelly Martin writes awesome male POV. I KNOW IT#39;S OVER is fantastic. I also loved SPILT by Swati Avasthi, FREEFALL by Mindi Scott, WHITE CAT and RED GLOVE by Holly Black. I#39;m embarassed to admit this, but I haven#39;t read John Green or David Levithan. *hiding*. I know I need to and they#39;re next on my list. I hear such fabulous things about their books. br /br /I currently have a male POV book out on submission and it was one of the funnest books I#39;ve ever written. I can#39;t wait to write more male POV too. br /br /Great post!
6Love the voices you chose for this one! I especially liked Charlie from iThe Perks of Being a Wallflower/i. Such a great book!
7Great post! I wrote a guy protag in my current WIP, and it#39;s really tough. I personally like Oscar from the book Candor, and I like John Cleaver from I Am Not a Serial Killer. Two very interesting stories with fascinating and unique boy voices!
8Ooh, I agree with Shallee, I also liked John Cleaver from I Am Not A Serial Killer. I enjoy boy voices.
9Ah! You#39;re a girl after my own heart. I love all of them, especially Colin. In fact, I love all of John Green#39;s MCs.br /br /And I totally suck at writing a convincing male voice. They are from Mars, after all.
10Ooh, great examples of male voices in YA
I definitely agree that voice is one of the things that separates YA from others. I also agree that writing the male voice is h.a.r.d! br /br /Hugs,br /br /a href=”http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com/” rel=”nofollow”Rach/a
11Interesting post. I#39;m not a huge expert on YA so I can#39;t think of any male voices in YA that stand out. I will say that writing in the male voice is extremely difficlut for me. I too had a story that was written from the male perspective and abandoned it. It was just too hard. Maybe one day I#39;ll revisit it and try again!
12Thanks for all of your book recommendations! Maybe reading some more boy voices will give me the courage to try writing that POV again.
13Great post!br /I recently enjoyed the voice of Leo in Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.
14I absolutely LOVED all the voices in John Green#39;s novels. He#39;s brilliant. Loved the voice from ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES and LOOKING FOR ALASKA. Each character stands out in their own way. No confusion. Amazing.
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