Carolyn Howard-Johnson, who wrote This is the Place, a novel loosely based on her life of growing up with a Mormon father and non-Mormon mother, wonders why literary fiction has taken a back seat to Sci-Fi, Fantsy and Romance these days.  Although Carolyn writes mainly for adults, her ideas could apply to books for younger people, too.
Perhaps you’d like to take a look at her guest post at Potpourri of Writing and see what you think.