Christina Meldrum | MADAPPLE: What is a “crossover” book?

My first novel, MADAPPLE, is coming out this May from Alfred A. Knopf. The
publisher sent out advance copies of MADAPPLE to book buyers and reviewers. A
surprisingly large number of these readers have asked me: “Why is this a teen
book?” “Did you write it for teens?” “Shouldn’t the book be categorized as
adult fiction?” Truth be told, I didn’t write MADAPPLE for a specific audience.
I just wrote the book I wanted to write. My editor sees MADAPPLE as
a “crossover” book—that is, a book that spans the genres of adult literary
fiction and young adult (“YA”). Yet, because of the way the publishing industry
works, the book must be categorized as one genre or the other. Hence, it is
being marketed as YA with the hope that it will reach adults as well.