The Influence of YA lit

Upon reading about the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson book, Influence, on People.com over the weekend, I noticed one thing missing from the People article: No one mentioned that Influence is being published as YA by Penguin Books for Young Readers. It was in their fall catalog, which I received last week. PW says it'll have a 200,000 first print run.

Now I have to wonder why no one mentioned it. It could be that it simply didn't fit into the article. Or the person who wrote the article doesn't know what division of Penguin is publishing it. Or they didn't care. Or they didn't mention it because YA lit is only Twilight, Harry Potter, and Gossip Girl. I can easily see why it's being published as YA: Teens are known for being especially interested in celebrity lives and fashions. Fashion design is a hot up-and-coming college major and I know if I were interested in that I'd love to read about Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano and all those other people whose clothes I can't afford. I think the idea of writing about and interviewing those who influence you is a neat idea for a book, something more interesting than the average 64-page celebrity bio that we see so much of in book catalogs. I've requested a copy and when it comes out, I'll read it. And encourage BCCLS librarians to buy it for YA.