On Goodreads and other social media sites, I infuriatingly encounter adults criticizing YA titles and their characters for being “immature” and using other terms that indicate a lack of awareness that these titles are intended to be developmentally appropriate for teens. With a stunning absence of insight, one adult on Goodreads slammed an ALA–award winning nonfiction title for 10- to 14-year-olds because it didn’t contain anything new that she—the grown-up who was possibly old enough to have lived through the events depicted—didn’t already know.

Of course, there is no universal experience of adolescence, any more than there is of middle-age. YA is commonly understood to span ages 12 to 18, relatively few years, but ones in which people undergo an astounding degree of physical and emotional change. Many young adults shoulder adult-level responsibilities and have already experienced a lifetime’s worth of sorrows. Others have had the privilege of travel and other experiences many adults never get to enjoy.

Age is not a single determining factor any more than gender or race, but still we classify some books as being particularly well-suited to teen audiences. What do the ones written with the general developmental needs of teens—rather than the interests of the legions of adults who enjoy YA—have in common?

Certain characteristics—compelling plot, vivid sense of place, engaging dialogue—apply regardless of age. What is critical in YA is a deep respect for people whose lives are exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure (sometimes in the space of a single lunch period), who are often stereotyped and underestimated purely due to their age, and who are consciously navigating major life transitions that frequently lead them to incisively question societal norms, posing challenging questions that we would all do well to ponder. Check out the graphic novel Kiss Number 8, by Colleen AF Venable, illustrated by Ellen T. Crenshaw (March 12), for a great example.

There are many things teens are experiencing for the first time, romantic love with all its complications not being least among them. They are developmentally able to contemplate questions of identity across many dimensions in a much deeper way than during childhood. The depth and intensity of the feelings these firsts bring about cannot be underestimated. Love From A to Z, by S.K. Ali (May 7), explores all of this beautifully.

Many adults remember what it felt like to be an adolescent with a freshness that belies the years that have elapsed. These individuals write (or read) YA novels without demanding that the characters behave like adults or judging them for being anything other than what they are. It is the job of the adolescent to be an adolescent; teens are not imperfect or unfinished adults. The best YA books never forget that.

Laura Simeon is the young adult editor.