This blog post will come as a surprise to no one, but I tend to save writing these regular blog posts until the last minute, so I needed something that would be quick for me to think about and get onto the page. (I rarely procrastinated while I was in school. I think this is my mind’s way of rebelling about ten years too late…) Plus, I figured a shorter post might be a nice change from my tendency to write longer than absolutely necessary. Only the bare bones today, my friends!

YA is one of those labels that started as a mere descriptor but then became its own thing, like pop music. Technically, the “pop” in “pop music” stands for “popular,” and that’s still what it is, but pop music has really become its own genre. It has its own tropes and attributes. Technically, YA stands for “young adult,” and that’s still what it is, but YA has become its own genre as it has evolved, much like pop music.

YA has its own attributes that other book genres don’t, namely that palpable brand of teen angst. The only other place I’ve been able to find this unfettered angst is in pop punk music.

They both have that sense of “us/me against the world,” and are mainly about friends and romantic misadventures. There’s the mindset of having fun despite the struggles of adulthood and feeling like you’re not a full part of society.

Like pop punk, YA isn’t taken seriously just because it’s mainly for adolescents. And anything for teenagers can’t possibly have any merit. Including teenagers.

But as a queer person who didn’t get to live out his teenage years as he wanted to—and, in fact, doesn’t remember a lot of them because of mental illness—I can’t help but want to see what could have been, the good and the bad. I can’t help but want to know how other people went about becoming their own person, developing personalities and preferences and talents.

I didn’t really become my own person until my early twenties, but most people go through this in their teens. The coming-of-age story has always been one of my favorites, whether it takes place in a fantasy world, during a dystopian political uprising, or just a regular high school in an American town.

There’s something really refreshing about how close to the surface emotions are in YA literature. No matter what’s happening, it feels so important. That near-constant intensity is how life feels a lot of the time, even as an adult, when you’re neurodivergent. Life is volatile, and YA leans into that, because teenagers are “allowed” to have intense emotions and experiences, whereas adults are expected to rein those emotions in.

Most importantly, both pop punk and YA have become spaces for diverse voices to be heard and stories to be told. Both genres are in that weird liminal space between the underground and the mainstream—not taken seriously, but still widely known. More POC and LGBTQ+ artists and writers have carved out a space in these angst-ridden, emotionally expressive corners of the media world. Books, authors, and bands are becoming more representative of the community surrounding these genres, rather than just being controlled by cishet white men, as is “tradition.” This is the most beautiful thing about both YA and pop punk. Voices that have previously been ignored or suppressed are now able to shout and write honestly about their difficulties with all of the emotion they feel, rather than reining in their passion just for a chance to be taken seriously.

Reading and writing YA still brings me joy as an adult, because the genre has so much to offer the world. Younger generations are often known for being more accepting, and that is a quality to be commended. This openness and acceptance allows young adult stories to go in many different directions while still tapping into the universality of human emotion—much like many 2010s pop punk songs reach near universality with their specificity. It seems like an oxymoron, but giving the details can make a story hit even closer to home than something vague. And these types of universal yet specific stories make it easier for us to relate to others who are vastly different than us.

So, my friends, now that I’ve given you a somewhat coherent rant about my love for YA and pop punk, I’ll end with some YA book recommendations based on some of my favorite pop punk songs. Get ready for maximum angst!

1. “In Too Deep” by Sum 41: The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
2. “Fake Out” by Fall Out Boy: Dreamer Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
3. “Good As It Gets” by Little Hurt: Solitaire by Alice Oseman
4. “High School Never Ends” by Bowling for Soup: Brooding YA Hero by Broody McHottiepants & Carrie Dirisio
5. “You’d Be Paranoid Too” by Waterparks: Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp AND One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (I couldn’t pick one… They both are equally related to this song! And they’re both great audiobooks!)
6. “God Must Hate Me” by Simple Plan: I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
7. “Beverly Hills” by Weezer: This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow
8. “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’” by Fall Out Boy: This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab
9. “Kool” by Meet Me @ the Altar: The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding
10. “Caught in the Middle” by Paramore: I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

-Ryn PB