BoingBoing and YA.

Over at BoingBoing (obviously):

Living in a space that no one watches too closely is one of the secret ways that people get to do excellent stuff. Science fiction's status for decades as a pariah genre meant that writers could do things with literary style, theme, and political content that their mainstream counterparts could never get away with (games, comics, early hip-hop, mashups, and many of the other back laneways of popular culture have also enjoyed this status). These days, a lot of the coolest stuff in the universe is happening in the kids' section of your bookstore (and yes, I'm aware of the irony of calling attention to a field that has prospered because it wasn't receiving too much attention to blossom).

It's worth reading down through the comments, both to see what books are recommended and to see what people have to say about shopping in the YA section -- it's really too bad that so many people are embarrassed to be seen there.  Whenever I'm in a bookstore, I make a beeline for it.

It made me wonder:  Back in the day, did people feel embarrassed browsing the sci-fi (or other genre fiction) shelves?  For that matter, do they still?

[Later:  Related (well, sort of) article at PW.]

(first link via Colleen)