What makes a good young-adult fiction novel?

I’ve been writing for a long time. I’ve won plenty of awards and my writing skills managed to land me a full scholarship to college. I have more than a few novels in various stages of completion lying around, but one thing I’ve never tried to do is write a novel targeted to young adults. Now, 7,000 words into my story of a college freshman’s addiction to dreaming, I am wondering what makes a good young adult fictional novel? What aspects of characterization and setting make books most appealing to young adults? Is it really all about making the characters relate-able, or is there some other aspect to it that you can think of?