The YA feel

A while back I considered changing my protagonist's age to 16 and revising Eternal Knight into a YA novel. YA seemed to be the the "place to be" and it wouldn't require a major rewrite to make it happen.

But it didn't work. At least it didn't work for me. Hadde isn't a sixteen year old. She has always been a twentysomething to me. I originally wrote her as a 28 year old. Only later did I revise her down to 23. I just can't imagine her any younger than that. She is just too tough, too experienced...too world-wise to be a sixteen year old.

I recently read a Dystel & Goderich agency blog entry on the YA summertime feel. The post's author, Miriam, notes that YA is about good storytelling that doesn't get bogged down with dense writing or dark mid-life themes. YA offers a great escape, and that's why even adults love it.

Eternal Knight isn't a Young Adult novel, but I do think it offers the escape and good storytelling of a YA novel. But how do I get that across in my query letter? How do I get a query letter reader to realize that I'll take them on a great journey in less than 250 words?