Yeah, I agree. YA has had the shit elevated out of it recently, and it probably does have something to do with the rise of fandom assoc. with YA things like HP, possibly Twilight. I've been hearing a lot of "YA is bolder/more imaginative than adult fic" too.

Slightly OT: I've read a couple good (old) YAs recently, but part of my issue is I pretty much went straight from "classic Victorian children's lit" to "classic adult lit" in my reading development. I read some L'Engle and Sleator, but not much. I think it's why I struggle with both YA and pulp-genre.

Usual issues: female character? Like, a badly written female character, I hope.