Anica Rissi and Krista Marino: The Teen Movement

Anica Rissi is a Senior Editor at Simon Pulse, a YA imprint of Simon & Schuster. They publish young adult books from the very literary to the very high concept.

Krista Marino is a Senior Editor at Delecorte Press (Random House Children's Books). She works on YA and MG fiction.

Anica: There is a need to target teens where they live...on the computer. Teens are building a relationhip with authors in ways they didn't used to.

Krista: What I see happening right now (and down the line) kids are really moving away from the books that resemble their world. They're buying THE HUNGER GAMES instead of SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS. They don't have to think about what's happening at home, in their world.

Anica: A key of YA is the immediacy of the moments, intensity of the experience.

Many teens are leaning towards dark books. But the girl-ends-up-with-the-boy type of book is also still working.

Anica: There's no room for something that doesn't have layers.

POSTED BY JOLIE STEKLY