This is a commercial presentation for the book “Welcome to the USA”, Winner of the 2009 Best Young Adult Book in the Multicultural category by ReaderViews. You can buy the book at several book sellers:

Barnes & Nobles (Deluxe Color Interior Edition):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/welcome-to-the-usa-neha-talreja/1030925218?ean=9781461046707

Amazon (full color interior):

Economy Kindle edition:

The book depicts a humorous photo story capturing an Asian student’s journey through University of California, Silicon Valley/ San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego. In addition to great splashes of humor, a moving description of the immigrant experience, the book has more than 100 professional grade photographs (In color in the color interior version) for San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle.

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The book transports you to another world – a world of an a young person’s ambitions and disappointments.. the author comes out as courageous, imaginative, adventurous, and despite one vividly described pang of self doubt, self confident.

He also demonstrates survival skills – ability to survive in a foreign land. . The story starts with vivid details of the life in a campus at the University of California, and later, suspenseful & touching love story. Although it was written for a young adult audience, adult readers can also find this love story very enjoyable.

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Writing for Young Adults

What separates a Young Adult Book from and Adult Book? Various factors play a role, but predominantly, word count, age of protagonist and use of illustrations and pictures are a major part of what may separate a Young Adult Book from a book targeting adults. Of course, there’s lot of blurring.

What separates an adult novel from a Yong Adult piece of fiction is perspective. Young Adults, even smart, sophisticated young adults, have a sort tunnel vision which comes with youth. Everything is new to them.

They can’t, or at least don’t worry about consequences of their actions. Similarly, they don’t want to be “parented” but ma secretly yearn for affirmation, attention, respect and affection from their mothers and fathers.

Hence, books, specially fiction and stories targeting young adults must often have a sense of immediacy, a restlessness and impulsiveness to them. Also, the Young Adult characters are at the fore front, Adults usually fade to the background

Also, most adult fiction is usually written in past tense, i.e. the story is being told after the fact. But in Young Adult books, things need to be presented usually in a sense of here and now – and written in present tense more often than not. In Young Adult books, specially stories and fiction, adult characters pop in and out, whereas young adult characters take the center stage.

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