Age is Just a Number

By Charlotte Bennardo

One of the themes this month is "intergenerational month." Dictionary.com defines it as: 

        adjective: of, relating to, or for individuals in different generations or age categories: i.e. intergenerational housing.

Um, okay. I'm still not sure what intergenerational has to do with writing, unless it's about those books we love (or hate) that seem to jump 'suggested' age parameters. Remember when the Twilight saga caught the fancy of women with teenage daughers? There were many moms who journeyed to the actual town of Forks, Washington. Others decorated complete rooms in the books' theme. Someone actually came up with the slogan "It's ok to read YA" because everyone, from adults to kids, seemed to be crossing 'suggested' age boundaries. 

Then there was that whole excitement over the picture book for adults, "Go the F&$* to Sleep" and then the sequels, "You Have to F&$*ing Eat" and "F&$*, Now There are Two of You." Who said only kids can enjoy picture books?

As an author, I write middle grade, young adult, new adult and adult. (I can't seem to keep to the small word count for a picture book.) I constantly skip between genres and subjects. If I can write for different tastes, why can't a person read what they want or like? Why should there be barriers to keep kids from reading numerous levels above their 'age'? It's like saying Halloween is only for kids. Or only 20 somethings can wear yoga pants. 

So let's ignore barriers- they never seem to work anyway.