Targeted social media callout campaigns are causing a lot of controversy in the world of young adult literature.
The campaigns tend to be driven by adult readers of teen novels who seek to bar problematic works of fiction from being sold at bookstores.
Book publishers don't really care, since to them all publicity is good publicity, and a lot of what happens on social media rarely has an effect on a consumer's spending habits.
One particular book which received backlash was Laurie Frost's
The Black Witch, which was called out as being racist, ableist, and homophobic in a review that was posted seven weeks before its publication date.
Despite the social media outrage,
The Black Witch ended up charting at
#1 on Amazon's Teen/YA Fantasy chart.
In the past few months, young adult novels by Nicola Yoon, Stephanie Elliot, Sarah J. Maas, Erin Beaty, and Maggie Stiefvater were called out for either being ableist, heterocentrist, racist, or having the potential to trigger survivors of eating disorders.
Teen readers, the primary readers of young adult fiction, have chosen to discuss young adult fiction in private groups online away from the adult-driven controversies that flood platforms like Twitter and Goodreads.
Source: TwitterAre you an adult who reads teen & young adult fantasy novels?