I asked her if a 19 year old is too old for YA...here's her response:
"This is a valid question. To be honest, 19 years old is too old for YA. YA = high school aged characters. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and even then the character is usually 18. YA is the genre name for books aimed at teens. Once they reach college, it's a different category. (Albeit one that doesn’t exist yet.) The reason I want to see this as an adult novel is because I think the premise, the voice, and the style of your writing all lend themselves better to the adult market, and I think you could do well there. In terms of Adam's relationship with his father, I don't think there would be too much of a difference between 19 and 23 in regard to his attitude/outlook on life/etc.
To answer your question, I don't think this novel - as it's written now - could be classified as YA. If it's important to you to be on those bookshelves in the bookstore, then my biggest advice is to research and read YA novels in this genre that were published in the last five years. If you change your mind and decide to make them older instead of younger, then I hope you contact me again in the future!"
