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Vampire Academy: An analysis of the characteristics that engage young adults.

Young adult literature (YAL) is a term used to define pieces of literature that deal with topics and characteristics that are appealing to adolescents. This paper will look at an example of YAL to explore its characteristics that engage teenagers.

“Vampire Academy” is a bestselling series of six novels written by Richelle Mead. In these novels there are three types of vampires: Dhampirs, Morois and Strigois. Dhampirs are half humans and half vampires, they are guardians of the Morois and they have to protect them especially from the Strigois. While Morois are mortal vampires that are peaceful, Strigois are immortal vampires that have no feelings. Strigois are very strong and fast, and it is Moroi blood what makes them so powerful. Morois can use magic and they specialize in one element: fire, water, earth, air or spirit. The element spirit has been forgotten for a long time, so there is no much information about it. However, it is known that the users of the Spirit can revive and cure people. “Vampire Academy” books tell the story of Rose Hathaway, who is a teenage Dhampir that dies in a car accident and is brought back to life by her best friend Lissa Dragomir, a Moroi user of the Spirit. Due to a warning given by one of their teachers at St. Vladimir’s Academy, the girls decide to run away, but at the beginning of the first book, Vampire Academy (2008), they are found and brought back to their school. Throughout the six books both Lissa and Rose have to face different types of problems. In the first book the climax is appreciated when Lissa’s is kidnaped by her uncle and forced to use her spirit and save him from dying. However, in the second book, Frostbite (2008), the turning point comes when Rose’s friends and boyfriend decide to hunt some Strigois on their own. Trying to save them, Rose kills a Strigoi for the first time, but her boyfriend dies. In the third book, Shadow kiss (2008), Dimitri, who is Rose’s instructor and intimate friend, is attacked by a Strigoi. When Rose finds out that instead of being killed, he was made a Strigoi, she decides to leave the academy and kill him. In Blood Promise (2009) and Spirit bound (2010), Rose tries to kill Dimitri but Lisa restores him as a Dhampir. Additionally, at the end of Spirit bound, it is announced that Queen Tatiana, the Morois’ Queen, has been killed with Rose's stake and she is imprisoned. Finally, the last novel, Last sacrifice (2010), starts with Rose escaping from prison in order to find who the person who killed the Queen was. Taking into account the plot of these novels, it can be said that they are appealing for young adults because of their characteristics and the themes and genres they deal with.

Young adult literature should deal with issues, experiences and characters to which adolescents can feel identified with. Hertz and Gallo (1996) mention certain universal themes that characterize this type of literature, such as family conflicts and death. In addition, Small (cited in Hertz and Gallo, 1996) points out some characteristics that belong to young adult literature. The most important one that he mentions is that the main character is a teenager.

Vogels (cited in Bucher and Manning, 2014) also mentions that the characters are mostly young adults. What is more, he adds that “young adult literature reflects the changes that adolescents are experiencing. Making their first excursions into adult territory, adolescents are learning to take responsibility for their own actions.”

Additionally, there are different types of genres that generally call teenagers’ attention, such as supernatural fiction and romance (1). Paranormal or supernatural books involve creatures like werewolves, ghosts or vampires. Novels containing supernatural creatures are often mixed with other genres such as fantasy and romance. As regards romance, Koelling (2004) states that adolescents between the ages of 16 to 17 are interested in relationships, especially romantic. Also, according to Cheryl L. Dickson (2001), young adults like reading romance stories because they have unrealistic views of love. Most readers enjoy

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the fantasy world they can enter, or they enjoy seeing other teens facing situations similar to situations they have to face.

Fantasy is a genre that can be defined as literature which contains elements that do not exist in reality. Sharyn Vane (2012) writes “At Austin's BookPeople (a bookstore in Austin, Texas), fantasy books are twice as popular with young readers than novels set in a more realistic world”. She explains that adolescents like fantasy because it invites them to escape from their daily lives. They can put themselves into someone else's shoes and forget their pressures. As Jennifer Kendall (2) states in her article, “teens love reading books where the supernatural and real worlds merge.” She describes urban fantasy as a type of fantasy book that has supernatural and magical elements and is set in an urban world. Also, she states that “Urban fantasy is the genre of choice for today's teen.”

The main elements that “Vampire Academy” novels contain that are appealing to adolescents are their themes. These novels deal with two of the themes that Hertz and Gallo (1996) mention: family conflicts and death. Death is appreciated throughout all the books because at every time guardians and Strigois encounter and fight, somebody dies. However, death is appreciated mainly in the first, second and fifth books. In the first one, Lissa’s parents and brother die in a car accident. Even Rose dies in the accident, but she comes back to life due to Lissa’s Spirit. In the second one, Frostbite, although Rose tries to save her boyfriend, Mason, from the Strigois, she cannot protect him and he is killed. Even though she was not in love with him, his death leaves a deep hole in her heart. Finally, in the fifth book, the Queen of the Morois is killed and Rose is accused of being the murderer.

As regards family conflicts, the most important one is related to Rose and her parents.

Janine Hathaway, an outstanding Guardian, is Rose’s mother and she appears for the first time in the second book. Janine left Rose at St. Vladimir's Academy at a young age, because she did not want to abandon her career as a guardian. As Rose states, they had a rocky relationship, that is to say that it was very tight, because of the distance that comes from having a Guardian as a parent. Their lack of communication and bond can be appreciated when Rose muses about her mother: “My mom had been twenty when I was born. Growing up, that had always seemed really old to me. But now...that was only a few years off for me. Not old at all. Did she think she'd had me too soon? Had she done a shoddy job raising me simply because she didn't know any better at the time? Did she regret the way things had turned out between us? And was it... was it maybe possible that she'd had some personal experience of her own with Moroi men and people spreading rumors about her? I had inherited a lot of her features. I mean, I'd even noticed tonight what a nice figure she had. She had a pretty face, too -for a nearly forty-year-old, I mean. She'd probably been really, really good-looking when she was younger.... I sighed. I didn’t want to think about that. If I did, I might have to reevaluate my relationship with her – maybe even acknowledge my mother as a real person-and I already had too many relationships stressing me.” (Frostbite, P. 122)

In this fragment, Rose thinks over her relationship with her mother and she realizes that she does not know much about her past. However, she decides to stop thinking about it because she does not want to reevaluate their relationship.

Regarding Rose’s father, he is a powerful and wealthy Moroi called Abe Mazul. After having Rose, both Abe and Janine decided that he should stay away from her due to his work: he sells illegal goods. Rose meets him for the first time at the beginning of the fifth book but she finds out that he is her father at the end of it. So, at the beginning of the series, Rose does

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not know her father nor has a good relationship with her mother. Thus, dealing with parents and facing death are the main themes in all the books. These topics engage teenagers because they like reading about themes they can feel identified with.

Coinciding with Small’s characterization of YAL, the main character of the story, Rose, is a teenager. She is the narrator and heroine of the series. Rose is an adolescent who is not afraid of taking risks. Additionally, taking into account Vogels description about young adult literature, young adult readers can feel identified with her because she is a teenager who is learning to take responsibility for her own actions. This can be appreciated in the second novel, when Dimitri tells her about a place where Strigois are hidden. Instead of keeping it as a secret, she tells Mason about it. Once she realizes that Mason and some of their mates have gone there to kill the Strigois, Rose decides to go after them and bring them back to the academy. Therefore, as she realizes that Mason only knew about the place where the Strigois were hidden because of her, she feels guilty and takes responsibility for her action.

Finally, “Vampire Academy” series may be appealing to adolescents because of their combination of genres. Adolescents like literature that involves supernatural creatures, romance and fantasy and these books deal with those genres. Supernatural creatures are found throughout the whole series. There are three types of vampires, Strigois, Morois and Dhampirs that live in the same world with humans and alchemists. However, most of the humans do not know about the existence of vampires because the alchemists are in charge of keeping them as a secret. Also, in the third book, Rose begins to see Mason’s ghost. At the beginning she thinks that she is going crazy, but it is Mason who informs her that Strigois are planning to attack the academy and that Dimitri has become a Strigoi.

Taking into account the fact that these novels are set in an urban world with supernatural creatures, these books are urban fantasy, and as Jennifer Kendall states, that genre is one of the teenagers’ favorite ones. Lastly, Vampire Academy series deal with romance. Adolescents like romantic stories and, according to Koelling, they are interested in romantic relationships. In these books, Lissa falls in love with Christian Ozera, a Moroi who is avoided by his mates because they think he will become a Strigoi like his parents. Also, Rose falls in love. When she returns to St. Vladimir's, Dimitri becomes her mentor. After a few weeks they fell in love. Dimitri does not confess he is in love with Rose till the end of the first book, when they have a discussion: “‘Why did you lie?’ I murmured again.

Still holding me in his arms, he looked down at me. I could hear voices and footsteps getting closer.

‘Because we can't be together.’

‘Because of the age thing, right?’ I asked. ‘Because you're my mentor?’

His fingertip gently wiped away a tear that had escaped down my cheek. ‘That's part of it,’ he said. ‘But also…well, you and I will both be Lissa's guardians someday. I need to protect her at all costs. If a pack of Strigoi come, I need to throw my body between them and her.’

‘I know that. Of course that's what you have to do.’ The black sparkles were dancing in front of my eyes again. I was fading out.

‘No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you.’”

(Vampire Academy)

In this fragment Dimitri confesses Rose his feelings for her for the first time and he explains why they cannot be together. However, their love grows throughout the novels and at the end of the last one they end up together.

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To sum up the foregoing, adolescents like themes related to death and family conflicts.

Also, they like genres such as romance, fantasy and supernatural creatures. Sometimes these genres are combined, making the story even more appealing to young adults. “Vampire Academy” novels may be bestsellers because they deal with death, family conflicts, romance, urban fantasy, different types of vampires and ghosts. That is to say that they deal with most of the themes and genres that teenagers like. What is more, the main character is an adolescent to whom young adult readers can feel identified with.

References: -Mead, R. ( 2007) Vampire Academy. Penguin group.

- Mead, R. (2008) Frostbite. Penguin group -Mead, R. (2008) Shadow kiss. Penguin group.

-Mead, R. (2009) Blood Promise. Penguin group.

-Mead, R. (2010) Spirit bound. Penguin group.

-Mead, R. (1010) Last sacrifice. Penguin group.

-Hertz, S. and D. Gallo (1996) From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

- Bucher, K. and Manning, M. (2014) “Qualities of Young Adult Literature.” http://www.education.com/reference/article/qualities-young-adult-literature/ (Accessed 29th, 2014) -Koelling, H (2004) Classic connections: Turning Teens on to Great Literature. Wesport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

- 1. “Genres for young adult and young fiction.” http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/creating-readers/genres-and-read-alouds/genres-young-adultand-young-fiction (Accessed October 24th, 2014) - Dickson, C. (2001) “A Psychological Perspective of Teen Romances in Young Adult Literature.” http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v28n3/dickson.html (Accessed October 24th, 2014) - Vane, S. (2012) “What draws teens to fantasy novels? We ask authors, book sellers and teens.” http://www.statesman.com/news/lifestyles/what-draws-teens-to-fantasy-novels-we-askauthor-1/nRpBh/ (Accessed October 24th, 2014)

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- 2. Kendall, J. – “What You Need to Know about Urban Fantasy Books and Teens.” http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/5youngadultbooks/a/Urban-Fantasy-Books-ForTeens.htm Accessed October 24th, 2014)