Freebie Friday 33: Does This Page Count Make My Book Look Fat?

Happy March -- how did that happen?

Freebie Friday was pre-empted over the past few weeks to make way for the YA Academy Awards, but it's back today!

Today's question is: how do you feel abut the fact that young adult books have become so long?

Some people feel like this:

But as a blogger -- and I'm guessing others who need to read a lot, like librarians, authors, and teachers might feel the same way -- sometimes I think these huge books are going to kill me.

I don't remember YA books being so gigantic when I was a kid. (Though some genres, like fantasy, have always tended toward the longer side.)

But let's do a little comparison:

YA Dystopian in 1993:

The Giver by Lois Lowry

179 pages

YA Dystopian in 2013: I randomly picked two YA dystopians coming out in early 2013, and each had 384 pages. 

YA Contemporary in 1999:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

208 pages

YA Contemporary in 2013: Again, I picked at random two YA contemporaries coming out in early 2013. One had a page count of 368 pages, and the other was 304.

I have read 40 books so far in 2013, and 66% (27 books) have been over 300 pages. 

Has storytelling changed? If anything, I think our attention spans are getting shorter and the teens I know have less time to read.

Sometimes, I think a story is complex enough to warrant a 400+ page count. Other times, I look back at those nearly four hundred pages and thought: hmm… this book could have been shorter.

What are your thoughts on the supersizing of YA? Do you savor every page of those long books, or are they just tiring you out? 

Entries are no longer being accepted in the drawing, but you're welcome to leave a comment!