How to Write Young Adult Fantasy: Part 1 — Defining the Genre

The book that renewed my love for young adult fantasy was Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone, where wishes can be bought with strange currency:

It wasn’t like in the storybooks. No witches lurked at crossroads disguised as crones, waiting to reward travelers who shared their bread. Genies didn’t burst from lamps, and talking fish didn’t bargain for their…