Do we publish books that teens really want to read?

So I got an email from Zetta (I blogged about her yesterday - hope you don't mind me sharing this, Zetta), and she asked how many writers connect to what teens actually want to read? And I think I'd add to that - does it matter?

She was partially asking based on the really fascinating interview from Finding Wonderland with Sherri L. Smith about her book Flygirl. An historical novel set during WWII, the story centers around the idea of "passing" for a mixed-race girl - an issue that had different sorts or resonance when jobs were explicitly unavailable if you were African American. And Zetta was wondering about her novel A Wish after Midnight (a timeslip novel that follows a teenage girl from her life in contemporary Brooklyn to Civil-War era Brooklyn). She ended up self-publishing the novel as publishers seemed particularly uninterested in the historical aspect of the book (they were more interested in the gritty urban contemporary section - a whole different issue). She wonders - are teens really interested in reading books about the past?

Of course there are all sorts of teens, and I loved to read about the past, and I loved fantasy books even more. I think there are books that address different kinds of readers. Aidan Chambers' series (including Breaktime and Postcards from No Man's Land) imply an intelligent, precocious and advanced reader, I think. Then there is Twilight, which certainly doesn't demand a whole lot of its readers. It takes all kinds, and we all benefit from a varied diet of books (a smörgåsbord, if you will).

There is often discussion about awards, and whether they go to books that adults like but children don't. This became a major debate after Anita Silvey published her article, Has the Newbery Lost Its Way? on this topic. And several felt that The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which won the most recent Newbery, reversed the trend. Many thought it was both well-written and popular.

So do we give young readers what we think they should like, or what they happily devour? And who should authors write for - themselves? Or should they be out there on the ground, working with kids and workshopping their books? People are often shocked when I say that, when I worked in publishing, I never saw any publisher go to kids to test their product (as happens with films, for instance). It made some sense to me working in publishing. But is it a problem? Are the adults working in publishing, and those writing the books that get published, missing an opportunity to create books that speak more directly to young people today?