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I am seeking to tackle and redefine "young adult literature" in my thesis Melancholy in the Digital Age: Desensitization, Dissonance, and Death by incorporating diversity and the most prevalent thing in the adolescent life: technology.

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Touching upon the lack of diversity in the publishing industry is an article by Kayla Whaley that can be read here.

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A topic not yet touched on here but equally as important to mention is in novels and television shows that include diverse characters these characters are more likely to be written out of the narrative. This is explored in an article on the Huffington Post and can be found here.

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A list of diverse books recommended by We Need Diverse Books can be found here.

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Solomon states that a majority of good writing comes from experience. This is important to remember in regards to writing to reflect the kind of lives young adults are actually living.  The young adulthood you experienced is not the same as the young adulthood your neighbor experienced.

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In an article published on The New Yorker's website, Andrew Solomon encourages young writers of both diverse and traditional backgrounds to be willing to write things perhaps out of their "comfort-zone".

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Popular author John Green even spoke with We Need Diverse Books about the importance of diversity and encouraging diverse writers.

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Shepard mentions this organization in her article, listing authors that are praised for being diverse people writing diverse stories such as the ones below.

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What is Being Done to Combat the Problem?

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What is Being Done to Combat the Problem?

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We Need Diverse Books is an organization created in 2014 with the goal of spreading awareness about the lack of inclusivity in young adult literature.

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Essentially, publishers believe "white, straightness sells" whether it is within the narrative or the author. As Amanda Shepard wrote in an article: publishers don't believe there is enough of a population to create a market for diverse books.

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Is There a Problem in the Young Adult Publishing Industry?

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Is There a Problem in the Young Adult Publishing Industry?

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Immensely. Wikipedia has an entire section dedicated to "White Washing on Book Covers" which claims that publishers commonly distort the perception of diversity on book covers to conform to traditional standards.

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However, marketing a novel as "young adult" is putting it into a category and not a genre since the novel could be anything from fantasy to romance to supernatural.

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In an article in The Atlantic young adult literature is defined as "... literature written with readers ages 12-18 in mind..."