Young adults read not only to experience real-life problems, but also to "escape" from those problems. The two most popular types of novels available to teens are the contemporary realistic problem novel and the formula romance novel. A study examined the incidence of specific adolescent developmental tasks (adolescent problems/concerns) in 15 contemporary realistic fiction and 15 formula romance novels written for young adults between 1985 and 1992 and examined the books' readability levels. Using content analysis methodology and the application of the Fry Index of Readability, results indicated that, overall, the formula romance novels contained a higher incidence of adolescent developmental tasks than the realistic fiction novels, although the difference was not statistically significant. There was a significant difference between the two types of novels in the incidence of low-level developmental tasks (the formula romance novels had a higher incidence of occurrence), but no significant difference in the incidence of mid- or high-level tasks. There was no significant difference between the reading levels of the two types of novels. (Four tables of data are included; 38 references, a list of the novels studied, coding forms and instructions, and the Fry graph for estimating readability are attached.) (RS)