Morning Chocolate and a question

Askinosie Chocolate (Billed as "life behind bars...without parole) is truly the most delectable chocolate I have ever tasted. A friend sent me some as a congratulatory gift in this very cool box, and I have been eating the bars every morning. (I know, I know, but I also take vitamins.) This is the richest, deepest, darkest chocolate on the planet--and it's chocolate with a heart of gold because it's also made with an eye to the environment and to help the farmers. You just want to marry it!

This extraordinary chocolate is made from Cocoa beans from Ecuador, in a tiny town in the foothills of the Andres Mountain, the supposed resting place of the Quechua Indians before they went further into the Andes. The centuries famous Ecuador Ariba flavor is found in these beans. The chocolate is also made by Shawn Askinosie, the brother-in-law of the very cool co-owner of Energymuse.com, Heather Askinosie (Timmi Jandromy is the other founder.) This is my favorite place for very cool necklaces. (You want to marry the necklaces, too, and I swear by my prosperity one.)

Now that I am fortified with the chocolate post, I have a question. What makes a book YA? I never understood why Madapple (see a few posts down) was considered a crossover, and now I have a friend who has written a brilliant heartbreaker of a book (which is also very funny in parts) about a young girl, which publishers seem to think should be YA, which means rewriting the character, who is 8 up to 13--which makes it a whole different book with a whole different flavor. As written, this book reminds me of Ellen Foster, and that isn't YA--so can anyone explain the difference to me?