We are constantly striving to augment and improve the collections, replacing soiled and irrelevant items for new modern ones.

Senior fiction (young adult) particularly is evolving into a very exiting entity. Authors have already embraced the dystopian theme and are now creating new subgenres that align with the adolescent emotional and creative space. One arguably new area is ‘Romantasy’, though in library-land we have long grappled with which genre sticker to put on spines.

Romantasy combines the elements of both romance and fantasy, whereupon a core theme of romance rests within a magical world of exotic landscapes, wondrous, sometimes frightening creatures, magic, or epic quests. It's a portmanteau of "romance" and "fantasy" and distinguishes itself from traditional fantasy and its already existing subgenres with the romantic subplot established as integral to the main plot and character development. This genre's huge popularity has been propelled by social media like TikTok (BookTok), and features a blend of a utopian or dystopian land, powerful emotional arcs, and often culminates in a dramatic but happy ending. 

Though adult fiction is catching up in the realm of imaginative abandonment, it was as late as 1970 when literary critics such as Miles McDowell declared that writers of adult fiction who want to unleash their creative imaginings and develop “…the great archetypal experiences such as the quest or the great dichotomous morality pattens…” they must turn to the younger person’s literature arena. That said, young adult fiction is an escapist dream even if the reader is no longer an adolescent.

Adolescents have become so sophisticated these days but because of the complexity of theme or concept, many of these heavier stories are housed in our special senior fiction collection for students in years 10, 11, & 12. However, if as parents you are happy to allow your year 9 student to access and borrow from that senior collection, you need only write a quick note in their student journal or send an email to the library team at library@rok.catholic.edu.au. Year 7 & 8 students will need to satisfy themselves with our very extensive junior fiction.

Check out senior Romantasy fiction authors in the senior fiction room at Beerarlem:

ROBERTS, Lauren; O’DONOGHUE, Caroline; MAFI, Tahereh; AVERY, Annaliese; WOODS, E.V.; LIM, Elizabeth; KAUFMAN, Amie; MEYER, Marissa and many more!

Denise Harvey
School Librarian
Denise_Harvey@rok.catholic.edu.au