Want. Take. Have. (Pretty, pretty please?)

YA books haven't held up for me.  I LOOOOVED them when I was a kid, and remember many of them- or at least, how they made me feel- vividly.  But reading them as an adult.... they're kind of "eh."  And I'm talking all kinds of books, because I was a HUUUUUGE reader as a kid (no surprise, huh?)- Newberry Prize winners and Harry Potter types and the Sebastian Barth mysteries and Avi.  

The YAs I've been reading are just as subtle and well-written as adult books... but they don't delve into things as deeply; they aren't (usually?) as complex emotionally or structurally.  (BTW, what do YA writers think about this?  Do you agree?)

I'm all for basic, simple structure- I'm a minimalist, and my over-riding goal is always clarity.  But YA books just aren't as emotionally satisfying to me now as they used to be.

So, since I couldn't quite sink my teeth into YA books- even ones I loved as a kid- I tried re-watching my old Buffy DVDs.  

I was OBSESSED with Buffy as a teenager.  OBSESSSSSSSED.  Like, up to six in the morning in chat groups obsessed.  And dorky.  Obviously.

Anyway, the shows hold up.  Even things that annoyed me when I watched them as a teenager- Willow's weird hats, her timidness, the way the "kids" had great bodies and great hair and super cool clothes (compared to me and my lameness, anyway), how they always took tests really seriously even though real teenagers have some kind of test every other day- those things don't seem that big of a deal now.  

And now, I can really appreciate things like: how well constructed all the episodes are.  They have a powerful meta-story, while being satisfying in their own right.  And they're like potato chips- once you see the first act of an episode, it's hard not to watch the next.  And once you see an episode, there are so many questions that you just *have* to watch the one after.  Even the *SEASONS* are like that- I ended up ordering Season 6 because I just couldn't take not having it anymore.  

I like Buffy just as much now as I did when I was fifteen or sixteen- maybe more.  I would think I love it- campy monsters, out of date pop references and all- because I'm a beautiful and unique snowflake and my tastes are exceptional- except that they're not.  

Actually, I'm one of the grey masses everyone's always talking (snobbishly) about lately.  PLENTY of people love Buffy- plenty of people love it even more than I do.  They go to musicals and suffer through Serenity (which, to me, is like Buffy but boring, with lamer fighting, and ugly clothes) for Joss's sake.

And just because Buffy was (ostensibly) the equivalent of a throw-away action show like Heroes or Knight Rider- only made for kids, on a network-let micro-budget, with lower ratings and a final cancellation  six years ago- doesn't mean people are going to stop referring to it, buying the DVDs, introducing it to their friends, worshipping anything Joss Whedon touches, and generally loving the show to pieces.  

Why does this show seem at least as good as ever, while the books don't?  What does it have that they are missing?