J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit for his children. He is and was not the only one to consider young people the natural readership of fantastical literature. Our section for children and young adults has much to offer people of age 10 or more. The classics of fantastical literature such as Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, Krabat, The Hobbit, or The Neverending Story, or the wonderful adventure series series by Kai Meyer or Philip Pullman right up to the modern blockbusters Harry Potter, Eragon, Inkheart or Hunger Games.
But so-called grown-ups should not shy away from this section either, because it contains some real gems of the fantasy genre, for example the foundational Earthsea cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin or the entrancing Otori trilogy by Liam Hearn. The young adult subgenre also has excellent science fiction, such as the essential Tripods trilogy by John Christopher. Patrick Ness’ series of Chaos Walking books is a more modern example which shows that YA books can handle complex themes with as much depth and seriousness as works for a more adult readership.
But there’s not just the heavy stuff, we also have literal stacks of reading material that can be consumed hungrily and breathlessly from the first to the last page. The Warrior Cats, Skullduggery Pleasant, Leigh Barduro’s briskly adventurous series, or the epic sagas of young Chosen Ones which will never fall out of fashion, these days represented in the work of Victoria Aveyard, Sarah J. Maas or Veronica Roth.
By the way, some of the above mentioned works lead a life of back and forth wandering between the youth and the adult section. This is because good literature transcends age group classifications and we don’t see much sense in prescribing which shelves people are allowed to browse through.