first person wave

[wishfulclicking]

After reading The Hunger Games and other YA books, I have to ask: is the first person pov especially prevalent among YA novels with female protagonists? Is this something to make the characters easily related to? Something more common with female protagonists? Is it a recent trend? Because I didn't necessarily read a ton of YA growing up, I jumped into classics in an attempt to prove myself and compete with my cousin, but the ones I did read were written mostly in the third person pov.

Onto other things:

It's been less than 24 hours since I started googlewave and it's okay. I have jumped in a Sons of Anarchy wave but no one has replied yet and I joined the glee wave but I don't expect it to be too active until tomorrow. I just logged off because it seemed to be slowing down a bit. I do wish when I joined a wave, it would center on the most recent blip thing, I don't like having to scroll. I still haven't figured out how to add video to a wave yet.

Is it etiquette to just click on any contact? How does that work? If you see me on wave, feel free to start up something if you want. What ever you want to wave about is cool.

Comments

[wishfulclicking]

I only notice POV when it's not third and I do notice tense too, but if the story is good, then I forget about it. Like after the first two pages The Hunger Games just sucked me in and I didn't think about the tense or pov. I even had to read an excerpt again to make sure.

What was the name of the book with the male protagonist in 1st person? Was it good?

Present tense is what makes a story feel the most immediate for me, no matter the pov. First person, when done well, does heighten the effect. I've felt connected to books written in third too.

I have read more recent books with more variety when it comes to style, tense, and pov. I don't think first person pov is something that should be villified, and maybe it only stands out because it's still not common.

I've heard good things about Liar, it is so on my list to read. I'll check out the other book you mentioned too.

[stripped]

The book with the male protagonist is The Real Question by Adrian Fogelin. It's not just first POV but also present tense. I'm still undecided on what I thought of the book -- it's not fantasy or sf, just a book about a boy who's never really looked outside the privileged world that was created for his normalcy and on a sudden whim, takes a step into a world he never really knew existed. I liked it, but I don't think it was earth shattering.

I think first is more prevalent than people realize, especially in the urban fantasy market. Chicklit did a lot with it (snappy heroines LOVE first POV) and then there are things like Dresden etc. which also use it. It just can be hard to do right.

I find in writing that books get told however works for them. Changing POV can change the entire feel of the book. I've also read some excellent books which mix the POV, like Elizabeth Bear's Jenny trilogy (Hammered, Scardown, Worldwired) where Jenny's bits are in first, and the rest are in third. And it really works.