Is There Such a Thing as YA Crossunder?

Dearly Beloved Y'ALL,

Forgive me if this post comes from a lack of knowledge about the publication industry. I try to learn of the 'industry' only so far has it helps a project along. I salute those folks who become experts in the byzantine ins and outs of marketing, distribution, packaging, etc. But lately, I've been curious about one question: Is there an established subgenre called something like "YA Crossunder."

First off, lemme define my term "crossunder." We're all aware of what "YA crossover" is because we're all aware of Harry Potter. I love YA crossover books. The term "crossover" in general is sought after in publishing. Who wouldn't want to write a mystery that "crosses over" to appeal to romance readers. Or a SciFi book that crosses over to historical fiction, etc. But regarding YA, I've only ever heard folks talk about it going in one direction; crossing "over" from younger people to older people. Hence my question about "YA Crossunder": is there a subgenre of books written for old fogies like me but with the intent to also appeal to younger folks.

Before we go too far, I need to plead a lot of ignorance about how YA works. Because I didn't learn to read until I was about 13, I avoided the stuff that my classmates had been reading before…not wanting to showcase my disability. As such, I focused on reading books shelved in SFF as 'YA crossunder.' This changed my life in a wonderful way. I suspect a bunch of folks do this but aren't hyperaware of it as I was.

There's another (self serving) reason I'm interested in this phenomenon. Presently, Spellwright will be published by eight different publishing houses in seven different languages: six are shelving it as "adult fantasy" (no, not that kind of adult fantasy), and two of them are publishing it as YA crossover fantasy. I'm very cool with all of this, especially since I envisioned the series as a YA crossunder (though, on occasion, I do fret about publishing not making books more attractive to young men). It'll be interesting to how the different shelving does or doesn't change anything.

Anyway, off the top of my head, I can think of two pretty cool examples of folks trying to work with what I'm now thinking of a YA crossunder. A few years back, Tor split Robert Jordan's first Eye of the World into two mass market paper backs and given more YA-ish covers. I think that worked out pretty well for them . Secondly, there are Alex Awards, given by the ALA to "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18." Personally, I think this award is the epitome of an awesome idea and do a small devotional dance every morning to influence the people involved to consider Spellwright. If you know a librarian involved in the ALA and if you liked Spellwright, give them a some flowers (because, hey, what librarian doesn't deserve flowers?) and then point them to the section of their libraries containing SFF books written by bald people whose names rhyme with Flake Barlton. Small section, only one book there; they can't miss it.

Okay, but back to my real question. Are you aware of other books that 'crossunder?' Is this actually a large subgenre I should have know about already? Are there particular examples I should be checking out?

Lemme know what you think, and I'll go back to editing Spellbound.