Learning Curve: The University-Set Novel Made Palatable, and Appropriate, for Young Adult Readers

Caitlin Clements makes the case for the university setting in YA literature, done appropriately for young readers.

Abstract

From brooding Dark Academia to steamy New Adult, the university setting and the young people inhabiting that space have proven consistently newsworthy. To read the headlines, one might assume that dark, edgy, or boundary-pushing content is the only way the post-high school demographic is being depicted and catered to in current literature. There is, however, a contingent of authors whose work is gentler in its approach, offering readers a softer potential vision of their late teens. This subset of novels proves that the university setting has its place in Young Adult literature, in a way that’s appropriate, relatable, and/or inspiringly aspirational depending on the reader’s current phase of life. That trend is examined in this article, using a trio of standalone novels published in the past decade which primarily focus on teen protagonists’ first year at college or university: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (2013), Loveless by Alice Oseman (2020), and Begin Again by Emma Lord (2023).