YA New York

This is a book review of a non-YA book. Yes, yes it is. And yes, this site is called “YA New York,” not “Not YA New York.” But I can’t help myself.

Because Meg Cabot, High Priestess of YA, or as my friend Jami calls her, “the Yoda of YA,” has penned yet another fantabulous book. Her list of wonders grows ever longer, my friends.

I love that woman so much it’s sick. But here’s the thing: Meg write lots of books. Some are YA, like the super-awesome Princess Diaries series and my personal favorite, Jinx. Some are not, like Queen of Babble Gets Hitched.

When this tome arrived in the arms of The Boyfriend last night, in an envelope with a Key West postmark, I ripped into it faster than I have with any other book any publisher has ever sent me.

This is because I have been waiting for this completion of the Queen of Babble series for quite some time. The first book of the series was sent to me by a very kind publicist in manuscript form. I still have that manuscript, even though it’s totally waterlogged from having been read in the bathtub. The second book, Queen of Babble in the Big City, I might have actually bought. Indeed, I know I did. In hardcover, too. And then I was super-annoyed when it had a cliffhanger ending. I was like, “Meg! What are you doing to me? Do you really think I can wait months, years even, to find out what happens to our heroine, Lizzie Nichols?”

So this final installment is one I’ve been itching to get my hands on for … well, forever. And I’m so glad I did, because it is the best of the series.

Look, here. When I was a teenager, there weren’t a lot of books for me to read. Not books written expressly for kids my age. You know, when you’re sixteen you’re too old for Sweet Valley High. Heck, you’re too old for that stuff by the time you turn thirteen.

And so by the time I was thirteen I was buying books that had Fabio on the cover. Books filled with words like “turgid.” Yes, that’s right. I was a trashy romance addict. Because books were never censored in my house, I got away with it. As long as Fabio was only like, peeking out from underneath a cover that seemed more chaste than it actually was.

Meg’s books are not trashy romance, though they are chick lit for grownups. So here is what I have to say to you: Decide for yourself. If you’re older than, say, fourteen, I’m sure you can handle Meg’s adult books. But be warned: They’re about grownups who have sex and get married and stuff. So, you know, it’s definitely not like reading about Mia Thermopolis.

Back to my point here: I know these books are written for an adult audience, but I trust teens to read whatever they want, and I’m not going to tell you to forsake one of your favorite YA authors just because her newest book is for a different demographic. Also, there is nothing nasty in any of Meg’s books — they are all as wholesome as she is, though you may find the occasional curse word in her adult fiction.

If, on the other hand, you are twelve … well, you might wait a year or two or three. But I honestly don’t think any of you out there are twelve, from the spying I’ve been doing on my statistic logs. And that’s all good, because occasionally I use a naughty word myself, you know. As do most YA writers, I’ve discovered.

Point here: Meg Cabot proves, once again, that she is the goddess of all things YA and chick lit and YA chick lit and adult chick lit, and Queen of Babble Gets Hitched is absolutely worth every penny, whether you’re sixteen or sixty. Which is why I broke my own rule about this being a land of YA and YA alone. Because, I have to admit, every once in awhile there is a good, teen-friendly book that doesn’t feature a teen protagonist.

Buy Queen of Babble Gets Hitched from Amazon.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.