Why are adults reading children's fiction? The Crossover Novel delves into the heart of the controversy over "crossover fiction"--the fiction that has crossed from children to adult readers over the millennial decade, and continues to do so today. This book argues that the popularity of cross-reading cannot simply be attributed to clever marketing or to the "dumbing down" of adult readers, as some have claimed. Crossover fiction may be understood as an extension of "kiddulthood," the celebration of youth culture in a modern, capitalist society that places a premium on speed, flexibility, and lightness. In other respects, however, as Falconer persuasively argues, it can be understood as capitalism's antithesis: the expression of a desire for personal rootedness and for communally shared truths.