The novel I am currently writing is meant to be a young adult fiction. What would like to know is there anything particular that I should be doing in regards to language and themes that I should abstain from?
Or does novel just need to have a great plot and a teen protagonist?
Young adult books to me would be something I'd feel comfortable having my teenager reader. It should not have explicit scenes in it whether it be rape, sex, murder and no strong language.
It takes some research too.Some advise that one should sneak into school dances and see what the kids get up to these days. Talking and bonding with teenagers in your family would also help as well as reading the books they read.
It shouldn't be too complicated too. You wouldn't want to sit with a dictionery all the time, you'd simply lose interest in what you are reading. It's a skill on its own to keep a teenager entertained especially in a book.
Depending on what the age group try reading some books aimed at teenagers.
I hope this helps.
Before I give a proper reply, let me address this...
"Who would buy a book for their teenage daughter if it contained a graphic rape scene? (Hopefully, no one.)"
If I may, why? I would, if I had a teenage kid. Rape is a serious, but real subject. It's something daughters (and sons and all in between; rape doesn't just happen to women or girls) should know of and understand, and presenting it in books, however graphically, will not harm them. Masking it as something less than it is, however, keeping it out of sight or teaching kids that it's something easily gotten over with help of a best friend (or anyone else), that is potentially harmful.
Michelle, as much as I know from YA agents/publishers' sites, what they're looking for is a character who grows and whose personality and view of the world develops. It doesn't necessarily have to be a positive growth, but YA novels tend to focus on that journey. Youth themes (as in, growing up, discovering one's own potentials, sexuality, etc.) don't have to be the topic or the focus of the story, but they should be something a character in YA story goes through, and that changes them in one way or another.
Young adult is aimed at 12+.
Whilst many of that age group could be choosing their books, or taking recommendations from their peers, many will also still be relying on recommendations from their school librarian or having books bought for them by parents. This means there are 'gatekeepers' that you have to keep in mind when choosing language and themes.
In terms of language, no one would expect a teen in a book to talk like an elderly spinster, but if it's not a word that could be broadcast on TV and radio in the daytime, then it's not going to be published in a book for 13 year olds, either.
I've also read recommendations not to use too much slang - although it may be how teenagers are speaking now, it won't be by the time a book is in print. It'll be what their parents are starting to use by then, and that's just like Jeremy Clarkson wearing jeans.
And in terms of themes, you'll need to think of the gatekeepers, too. Who would buy a book for their teenage daughter if it contained a graphic rape scene? (Hopefully, no one.) But if it was a story about how the protagonist helped her best friend come to terms with being sexually abused? That might work if done sensitively.
Great plot and teen protagonist? Sounds like a book a lot of people would love to read (not just teens). Good luck with it.