[header] How to write a young adult novel [title] Ditch the idea that young adult is a genre. [step] Although bookstores and publishers use the phrase young adult as a marketing category, it is not necessarily a genre. A young adult novel could represent any genre such as science fiction, mystery, horror, romance, historical fiction, or fantasy. 
[substeps] This is one aspect of writing young adult fiction that many authors find appealing. You are not restricted to one specific genre, and instead can write books in different genres or books that cross genres.