Nerd Culture in Young Adult Literature Today

It’s pretty obvious that nerd culture has become cool, possibly for the first time. Now in style are the glasses, the board games, the fashion, and the comics, but how did this come about? Well, first of all, the emergence of the internet (and iPhones) allowed for the nerd to raise to a place of power in society. People, in their strive for power, will look to these people for fashion (for who knows what reason) to be more like them. Thus, the nerd culture is here and is, hopefully, here to stay.

Being from a family that emphasizes the nerdy (love you Dad) I can completely get behind this trend. Comic books are resurfacing, cool story lines and characters are getting revamped. Movies and television shows are being made and (most) made well. But what’s better than that, is this trend is seeping into young adult and children’s literature.

Not only does this allow for children and young adults to be introduced to these awesome storylines, they are being shown people from different walks of life, which is extremely important in this day and age. Hopefully, in the books to come, there will be even more people of color as the main characters. By showing female readers the interesting aspects of science and technology, hopefully this will foster more women wanting to be a part of the STEM programs as careers.

This also allows for adults to revisit their favorite characters with their children in a new way and with fresh stories. One such example is with the DC comics revamping Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cat Woman. Parents and their children can all enjoy these new stories for these awesome super-people and have a new way to bond over that shared nerdy epicness!

Cecil Castellucci is one of the authors in the forefront of the nerd culture movement in young adult literature. Through her novels, she has normalized and, in a way, heightened the status of nerdy characters, or even fringe characters, in her novels. From The Plain Janes graphic novel to Boy Proof, she allows an inciteful viewpoint into these female characters lives. In Boy Proof, the main character Egg enjoys cosplaying throughout high school. Yes, she encounters bullies, but she is able to be herself and not question her values on what she enjoys. This is one of the first novels I have read that is set in a contemporary novel that allows girls to be who they are as nerds, not as book lovers, but geeky nerds. It shows girls they can be whomever they wish to be. Cecil, if you ever read this post, you are amazing and I hope you continue to write books like this.

Marvel was the first company I know about that has reached a branch out to the young adult genre. In turning to popular young adult authors, this company is introducing girls to the genre. It is a way that is more accepting than many of the comic book stores because it is for this demographic. Not to say girls cannot be into comic books. I wholeheartedly believe girls are able to be just as big of fans of the genre, but many of the men who hang out and work in these comic book stores make the female readers feel uncomfortable, often questioning their knowledge about the comics they are picking up. I know this because it has happened to me, personally. I still go into those stores, but it makes me pissed off knowing some of these grown men have tried to challenge me on my knowledge of comic books. (but that’s for another day)

The author who has worked most notably with this so far is Margaret Stohl who has written about Black Widow and the new character Red Widow. There will be a Captain Marvel novel written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. And finally, Top Angleberger will be releasing a novel about our two favorite Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Racoon and Groot!

DC comics has also decided to jump on the bandwagon and has started producing, and will shortly be releasing, their own line of young adult novels based on well-known characters. In addition to this, they are using powerhouses to write these novels and I cannot wait for them to be released. These books are all focusing on our favorite DC characters in their teenaged years. So get ready for a lot of angst! (just kidding. maybe.) The authors involved are Leigh Bardugo writing about Wonder Woman, Matt de la Peña writing about Superman, Sarah J Maas writing on our favorite Cat Woman, and Marie Lu writing on Batman! So keep an eye out over the next year when they will be released!

I will be talking more specifically about these adaptations next week to celebrate the release of Leigh Bardugo’s Wonder Woman novel! So stay tuned for that!

That’s all for this week’s post, sorry it’s a bit shorter. But I will leave you a few questions to think about! What are your personal thoughts on nerd culture? Do you think it’s overrated? Do you feel like you would be more interested in it if you were exposed to it more? If you are already a part of the culture, what are your thoughts on this emergence into the young adult genre? Let me know in the comments below!

As usual, you can find me on youtube.com, twitter, and Instagram at dsbookie. I post new videos every Thursday and new blog posts every Tuesday! See you next week!