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Crossover Appeal #6

Leslie Fannon

Staff Writer

Leslie Fannon is a blogger, crocheter, graduate student and, most recently, an assistant at a publishing company. She writes about poetry, graphic novels, and Spanish literature at Regular Rumination. Follow her on Twitter: @lulu_bella

Crossover Appeal is a weekly feature that challenges the idea that you have to choose a side between YA and adult fiction. Each week we’ll feature a book that has been marketed as YA and a book that has been marketed as adult and tell you why everyone should be reading them, no matter what happens to be your comfort zone.

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YA Books for Adult Lit Readers

Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery

When Anne is sent to live with her new adoptive parents, she is dismayed to find that they really wanted a boy, not a girl. Though they’re determined to send her back, Anne works her charm and Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert can’t imagine living without plucky Anne and her cheerful, if not sometimes troublesome, ways. Anne of Green Gables is a childhood classic, but if you never got around to reading it as a little girl or boy, pick it up as an adult. You won’t regret it.

Why You’ll Love It

When I was in middle school, I was required to read Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter and I hated it with every fiber of my being. I couldn’t understand or relate to someone who was happy about everything, even getting run over by a carriage. When, somewhere down the line, someone associated Anne of Green Gables with the horror that is Pollyanna, I understandably shied away. So when a very good friend of mine pushed and pushed the series, I was hesitant, but I trusted her judgment in books. She was right. I fell in love with Anne, who yes, is optimistic, but only after she has appropriately wallowed in her sorrows a bit. She’s ridiculous, absolutely, but I loved her nonetheless. While I probably missed out on reading Anne of Green Gables as a child, I’m glad I decided to read this one as an adult. I could appreciate it all the more and I think there are other adults out there who would pass on Anne, just because they don’t think they would enjoy it as an adult. I think you’ll love it!

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Adult Lit Books for YA Readers

The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore

What do the great heroines from Western literature have to teach us? Quite a bit, actually. The classic heroines of the novels featured in Erin Blakemore’s The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder along with their creators have as much to teach us now as they did when they were first published. At once a love letter to her favorite stories and a biography of the authors’ lives, The Heroine’s Bookshelf is like sitting down and having a conversation with a good friend.

Why You’ll Love It

Whether you read these classics as a teen or as an adult, you’ll love revisiting them with Erin Blakemore. She gives them a context that makes the stories even more enjoyable and the antics of our favorite heroines even more remarkable. Yes, this is nonfiction, but it’s the kind of nonfiction that you just can’t put down. Blakemore’s passion for her subject matter really shines through and the stories, especially about the authors of these classic novels, are entertaining and eye-opening.