There are some genres that has a bad reputation for being "easy" and dumbed down for the masses, even though it's full of talented writers doing amazing things. Genres like middle grade, YA, romance, mystery, horror/thriller, fantasy, and sci fi get credit for having entertainment merit but rarely any literary merit.
Please share what well written books from a maligned genre you think has literary merit and proves that a book doesn't have to be literary fiction, speculative fiction, or the classics to say something powerful.
For me:
Middle Grade: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie . Both had me feeling so many conflicting powerful emotions all at once. Books don't make me cry, but these almost did.
by Anxious-Fun8829