Before the twentieth century, stories featuring teenagers existed, but they were typically grouped with children's books or adult fiction. Librarians played a key role in formalizing YA as a distinct category: in the early 20th century, institutions like the New York Public Library published lists of books for young people, and by 1944 the term “young adults” was already in use to describe literature for older children and teens.
Despite this early groundwork, there was no widely recognized YA genre until the mid-20th century. Earlier novels such as J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951) featured adolescent protagonists and spoke directly to teenage experiences; however, it was not initially marketed specifically as YA. Teen romance novel Seventeenth Summer, published in 1942, is also considered one of the earliest YA novels. It is noted for its themes of first love and coming-of-age.
