Students are to post reactions (minimum 350 words) to the assigned reading linked below. Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Middle Grade: A Conversation w. Editor Molly O'Neill: "As
you know, I have a marketing background, which means that whether or
not I intend it, one of the first things my brain starts thinking about
for a book is its readership: who is a book FOR? What kind of reader is
it going to reach, and how? Maybe instead of asking “What is middle
grade?” it’s easier to think about “Who is the middle grade reader, and
what is he/she looking for in a book?” I think that a middle grade
reader is often (and note, I’m speaking BROADLY, here) reading for one
of two reasons: to understand, or to escape. Middle grade readers who
read to understand look for stories that help them piece together the
truths that seem to be opening up all around them, about the world and
their place in it, and the connections between themselves and their
family, their community, their friends, etc. Or they’re reading to
understand about a different time/ place and what it was/would be like
to be a kid then. Or they’re reading to just understand how stuff works,
period—from the everyday mundane stuff to big concepts like justice and
honesty and friendship and happiness and love. Click heading to read the rest of the interview.
An SFWA Introduction to Middle Grade & Young Adult: "For writers who are interested in writing middle grade or young adult fantasy or science fiction, the first step is puzzling out what exactly those categories mean. Science fiction and fantasy, after all, has a long tradition of featuring young protagonists — including such classics as Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey, Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, and Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey — even if those novels weren’t originally published as middle grade or young adult books." Click heading to read the rest of the article.
"Middle Grade and YA: Where to Draw the Line?" by Judith Rosen: "Since Harry Potter first hit these shores in 1998, there’s been confusion over where best to shelve it: put it where most kids look for it, in middle grade (ages 8–12), or where the later, darker novels belong, in young adult (ages 12–up)? But J.K. Rowling’s books aren’t the only ones that fall into a gray area, especially as more kids aspire to “read up” because of popular films like Divergent and The Hunger Games. At the same time, adults have begun reading down, not just YA but also reaching for middle-grade books like Wonder and Out of My Mind, because they don’t want to miss out, either." Click heading to read the rest of the article.
24 comments:
After taking a Children & Media course last semester, I’ve viewed “children’s media” through a different lens. Whether it be a show, movie, or book, I often find myself wondering how the idea was pitched and what the intended educational value is. With that in mind, I really resonated with the point that middle-grade readers want protagonists that are their age. In fact, it was one of my main arguments in a paper about the success and relatability of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. It’s different because it focuses on an 11-year-old girl as she navigates natural things like puberty and moving towns. Although The Hunger Games is still wildly popular, the protagonist is 16 years old and might not be as engaging for an audience a step below young adult. Therefore, Margaret from Are You There God? is a more translatable character to the average middle-grade reader.
I also agree that “writing down” to the reader is a problem. A book that is trying too hard to incorporate modern-day slang would be the first thing to take me out of the plot. Especially in the case of fantasy and science fiction, I should be completely immersed in a different world, not reminded of the slightly cringe-worthy phrases of real life. In a similar vein, I’m personally not a fan of books that reference recent modern events. For example, The Life Impossible (although not middle grade) by Matt Haig is set in the year 2024 and describes a character wearing a sweatshirt from Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. Despite my preferences, this might actually be engaging for a middle-grade audience as it could help them see themselves in the novel via music and artists they care about.
Ultimately, I believe the most important thing is to treat middle-grade books with the same care and attention as any other genre. As mentioned in the blog post, this is a critical age when books have a serious impact on whether kids grow up to become voracious readers or couldn’t care less. So long as the audience is treated more like “mini humans on an adventure” and less like “unaware kids,” I believe the genre will be successful.
One section of the interview that I found particularly interesting and important was the part that talked about the effect that a strong voice and character has on a Middle Grade novel. For me, the books that have always had the most impact on me have been ones that have interesting characters rather than an interesting plot. I love novels where the characters feel like actual human beings with unfabricated emotions and actions. Characters whose voice is strong and intimate as if the reader is inside their minds. Characters who you can find yourself in because of the way they are able to describe things that you didn’t even realize you were feeling. I believe that creating characters who feel like that is something that is key to any successful novel, particularly in Middle Grade novels because I find that at times, there are less complex characters in that category.
As the interview also mentions, I believe that Middle Grade authors tend to play it safe when it comes to creating their books. They try to write in a way that they believe their target audience will enjoy instead of actually creating something. Though it is important to consider who will read your work when you are creating it, I find that it can get in the way of what you are creating. It can allow you to question all of your decisions as an author and end up writing something that is very inauthentic and dull. When I write I try to write something that I would want to read. I realize that that is a very basic and overplayed statement, yet it is a quality that can be easily overlooked when trying to create something special. There have been times where I have tried to write a piece that was “different” and “unique”, yet it felt so forced that I ended up creating something that I didn’t even want to read. Therefore, while I do believe having an intriguing plot can greatly influence how good a book is, and I also believe that a book cannot survive with good characters and a terrible plot- my personal preference will always favor complex characters over complex plots.
I would argue that one major distinction between middle grade and young adult novels are their levels of complexity. MG novels, I have found, are easily comprehendible and straightforward in terms of their characters and plots. Typically-- but not always-- there is a lack of subplot or any other sort of deviation from the main plot. (Said subplot could be romance, deep and complex family issues/dynamics, etc). This is especially true for middle grade novels geared towards much younger audiences. The simplicity of these novels is not a negative trait whatsoever, and I actually believe they're incredibly special in their ability to immerse young minds into the reading world. I disagreed with the statement in the interview about MG authors "playing it safe", as I believe they're simply executing their ideas in a way that's understandable for young readers.
YA novels, on the other hand, tend to be more convoluted. They typically have far more impending catastrophic conflicts/threats with greater consequences. They also generally incorporate subplots and more complex characters. This is why I believe Harry Potter was so successful, because aside from the intricate worldbuilding, many readers grew up with those books and watched the overarching plot become darker and more elaborate.
In analyzing these readings, the most significant thing that came across to me was simply distinguishing Middle Grade and Young Adult. We start with understanding that these two reading levels are meant for readers of different ages. We then explore specifically why this is, and we can learn from the readings that there are multiple reasons why such as there being more controversial content and romantic storylines. With this in mind, let's take a step back to understand this better: so yes, MG is meant for younger audiences than YA. But a major distinction between these two reading levels is that YA has more controversial content. Controversial means it's something that is debatable. That people argue about. And that generally has to do with more complex topics which can be anything ranging from same sex marriage to drug and alcohol use and or abuse. This is not something that younger readers are yet familiar with nor do they understand it fully. Because they're not mature enough yet. They're still developing (which is fine, it's just going to take them some time to get there obviously. They're just not there yet mentally). So we have controversial content as well as romantic storylines. Similar to controversial content, romantic storylines are meant for older readers. This is really meant for at least young adults as it is literally called YA. This is not meant for younger readers and may not be suitable or appropriate for younger readers because they're not mature enough yet. They're not there yet mentally. Which is perfectly fine and ok, but it will take them some time to get there. One of the readings also mentions that MG readers read to understand or escape. To understand means to literally understand the basic world around them. I think a great example of this was a novel series I used to read as a kid called Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. It was just about this kid going through life. And he was a wimp. He had an older brother that gave him a hard time, and it was just about him going through life and seeing and understanding his perspective going through life. So when I read that (and I can also look back and reflect on it now) something to really think about would be what was the significance of this? What can I really learn from reading this? What did I really learn from reading (and I read like all of them. At the time up to seven were published). And I think overall the lesson learned was life is about ups and downs. That’s the meaning of life. That there’s good times and there’s bad times. There’s good moments and there’s bad moments. In literally whatever you’re doing everyday. It could be anything. That’s just life. That’s the meaning of life. So if when I was reading that as a kid I could see this other kid just going through life and seeing how he had good and bad times, I could understand this and understand the world around me. So to understand this and to understand life overall. It wasn’t meant to specifically be negative and focus on how there’s not so great times. But that was moreover basically mixed in with the entire meaning. The ultimate meaning of it. There were also multiple funny parts to it. Another reason MG readers read is to escape. This is another reason to read this novel and a great reason to read it. To escape your own life and immerse yourself in someone else’s life (even though the novel series is fictional). This is also called just getting out of your own head which is definitely good to do and I think you need to do
From reading each article, most authors don't have a textbook definition of the difference between YA and MG. Instead, they give a spectrum of these genres and the readers. The middle or high schooler could have a range of likes and dislikes regarding a genre and a certain level of maturity that decides whether the topics in a book they're reading are tolerable.
For example, in the last blog, one of the authors separated YA into two different columns; one side of YA has a teen protagonist, but there aren't as many darker themes, or at least the darker themes are watered down. While the other side of YA is more "edgier" and touches upon more explicit topics without sugarcoating them.
The same goes for MG books; some, like "Dork Diaries" or "Big Nate," are very slice-of-life and can provide a relatable experience to readers of the same age or younger. Then there are other MG books, such as "Warrior Cats" or "Percy Jackson," which have been stated as MG books but play with pretty dark themes. Of course, these darker themes are less upfront than a YA novel, but they can still affect a young reader. Ultimately, it all depends on the reader and what they can handle.
I think this an interesting and valuable observation you made about Middle Grade novels. About how the ones that have always had the most impact on you are the ones that have interesting characters rather than an interesting plot. So going back to what the articles were saying about this though, this level of reading is really more focused on character identity rather than bigger things like the plot as well as things like controversial topics and romantic storylines. I think the reason why for this is because at this reading level and stage of development it's more about character identity and just understanding yourself and others around you. And that you need to understand this first before you jump into more advanced categories like controversial or complex topics as well as romantic storylines
That's a great point you made "they're incredibly special in their ability to immerse young minds into the reading world." This is the focus of these novels. If they were to deviate from this and introduce complex topics, these younger readers would get bored and lose interest. In addition to they would have a difficult time understanding
It seems like all of the articles brought up age in this debate, and I agree that the age of the protagonist has a large part to do with the classification of middle grade vs. young adult. If you try to write a young adult novel, a 13-year-old protagonist could make your book too juvenile, and a 17-year-old reader will most likely be uninterested. If that protagonist is too old for the audience, maybe as soon as they hit 20, then they may be too old for a YA reader to relate, and now you’ve written a “New Adult” book. I think this is especially true if you’re writing a realistic fiction novel rather than a fantasy, where the ages are a little easier to push and play with. Content is another large part of this, as a battle that is really gore-y is probably more appropriate for YA rather than MG, and a romance that is too explicit in nature belongs in neither. Sarah J. Maas learned the limits of content when her series A Court of Thorns and Roses, originally a YA series, was moved to the adult shelves due to the high volume of extremely explicit content that first appeared in the second book.
I also think that, if your book seems to be on the border and could fall into the MG or YA categories, then it is better for the book to be marketed as YA to find a wider readership. I know that when I was in the usual age range for a middle-grade reader I would read up, such as the later Harry Potter books and The Princess Diaries. When I got to high school and was solidly in the demographics of young adult literature, I didn’t read down (or when I did I found the books to be disappointing, knowing that I would have liked them better if I had read them a few years earlier). The easiest genres to blur these lines, once again, is science fiction and fantasy. The best example that comes to mind for me is The List by Patricia Forde, which is marketed as MG, but has just enough hints of romance, just enough battle and violence, and just the right age in the protagonist that it could have passed as a YA book, and when I try to recommend it to people they seem to dismiss it because its cover and marketing are designed around a middle-grade audience.
When I read these articles, the question that circulated my brain, which is obvious, but, what really is a middle grade and young adult. What would really be considered books in these two specific genres? Brooklyn Arden states that young adult literature focuses on the development of a teenager and is something that teenagers tend to relate to. Molly O’Neil, refers to middle grade literature to be less complex, and short focusing on younger viewers. My opinion circulates between these two articles, where I believe middle grade books tend to carry a theme that would really relate to younger readers[8-12]. I feel like they mainly focus on problems of family, or friend relationships and avoid more intense themes such as romance and trauma. These books also include wording that isn’t complex and more humor in the story in order to make sure it's holding on the reader's attention. It includes straightforward writing with a lesson after every book, a lesson that could help shape their not fully developed personalities. Young adults are typically 13-18 year olds, and they are teens who have a good understanding of the real world. The young adult books are more mature, more complex and they tend to include hidden messages in the books. Some themes that are focused would be more romance, adult trauma and focuses on emotional depth to keep the readers thinking. They also can come as wordy and more descriptive to give a sense of imagery. To conclude the difference between the two genres is that young adult books tend to have more complex themes while middle grade literature focuses on the childhood allowing them to relate to problems they would experience as a child. Middle grade is also more simpler in terms of the writing and word language than adulthood, while young adult is more wordy and complex. I believe that the authors of the middle grade books tend to protect their audience from real life problems cause their minds are like babies, they don’t know what to expect, what's going on, what's going to happen, they are in a bubble that I believe the authors are keeping them in until they become more developed
Purely in terms of the "Do we need a distinction?" argument, I am in favor of the distinction. There are things we deal with at ages 8-12 that are different from when we're 12-18. Of course there's the obvious stuff like sex, drugs, and foul language, but that, to me, is less important than the larger themes. The blog by Dystel touches on this very well. Middle school-aged kids want to know more about their external world than themselves because that's where they are in life. Like Molly O'Neill said, escapists -- exploring other worlds -- and understanders -- figuring out this one. YA novels tend to focus more on the inner world of characters as high school-aged kids go through the later stages of puberty and start to develop a more advanced sense of self. In my own experience, they need space to safe place to explore the thrills and potential dangers of becoming your own person away from your parents, and literature can give them that. A middle schooler will probably find fighting dragons more interesting than watching a teenager brood to themselves, no matter how fantastical the setting is.
I can see why some people might disagree with me. The biggest argument I saw was that kids are, like all demographics, not a monolith, and some may be more advanced than others. This is a fair argument and it is absolutely true, I do not disagree. But I don't think it captures the whole picture. The Publishers Weekly article said something very interesting about exposing young kids to things they're not ready for. Sex, violence, and drugs, notably. There's the 'clean teen' stuff mentioned in the article, but I personally feel that taking the edge off of stories that are, in my humble opinion, supposed to have that edge to them takes away something vital. It's a weird balance to maintain between keeping kids in their lane and letting them run wild, but I don't think sterilized fiction is the answer, but neither is telling impressionable children the details of crack cocaine usage. To answer the question of advanced readers, I think guiding them towards more mature books in their age category is the correct answer.
Firstly, I think it would be wise to define these categories clearly, as their names are vague. Middle grade is for readers ages 8-12, while Young adult is for readers ages 13-18. Personally, I would consider 13 much too young to be considered a young adult. I’ve read a good amount of both middle-grade, young adult, and adult fiction, and when I think of the young adult books I’ve read, I would not recommend someone younger than the age of 15 or 16 to read a lot of them, while some would be perfectly suitable for a 13-year-old. I feel that even within young adult literature, there should be more delineation. While there are only three years between a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old, there are many things that, at least I believe, a 16-year-old could read that I wouldn’t suggest a 13-year-old reading. For example, romance within the young adult genre could vary from a simple ‘happily-ever-after’ kiss to mark the end of the story to doing just about everything except going all the way. Overall, I think grouping 13-18-year-olds into the same reading category is not wise since you develop so much just within those 5 years.
I submitted it by accident and can’t seem to edit it so I’ll just continue here. As far as themes go I know that typically middle grade focuses on teaching about the world while young adults focus more on internal conflicts and the inner self as you delve into your teenage years. While I understand why this is, I think that this distinction does not have to define middle-grade and young adult work. I think that reading about inner life and internal conflicts as a younger kid is important. Yes, many people start worrying about their identity as teenagers but there are aspects of internal conflicts that are quintessential to being a young child that I believe should be in more middle grade books. A simple example I can think of is reading about a character who feels they are annoying. Kids are often told that they are annoying by older kids or by their peers–sometimes deserved–by many times simply because they are a KID. I think reading about other kids that struggle between wanting to be themselves and have fun versus worrying about what people will say about them is important for younger kids to explore as well. There are other examples but this is one I could think of.
After reading all these, I feel like I actually missed the YA train. Not that I didn’t ever read them, or that I can’t read any now, but I feel like I jumped straight from middle grade to adult with the exception of a few books for school (like ‘Looking for Alaska’) and that feels weird to me. Like, I remember reading Dan Gutman and Avi one year, and then basically jumping straight into The Count of Monte Cristo and The Odyssey the next. Then I’d go back to more middle grade books, like Percy Jackson (though as the series went on, it leaned more YA, but it definitely started MG) or The Westing Game, because the YA I did read always felt off to me.
I feel like the delineation between them tends to (not always) be based on character’s age. Like one of them said, a 12 year old isn’t going to want to read about an 8 year old or an 80 year old. And then the writing style also tends to be pared down—not dumbed down, just usually shorter and a bit more digestible for younger audiences while still being complex enough to be interesting. Once the MC hits the 15-18 range, it’s safer to call it YA, especially if the contents are a bit more intense/written with an older audience in mind.
But, again, I didn’t usually like reading YA, even when I the target audience. Like, he seems like a fantastic guy, but I didn’t really care for Tom Green books. I read two out of the three Divergent books because my friends were, but I couldn’t bring myself to read the third one even if there was a gun to my head. I think it does have to do with narrative voice, like how one of the interviews talked abt. There’s something charming when a younger person (~12ish) is snarky and is going through the most, but when I read about a teenager (probably) acting snarky and going through the most—unless it’s done really well—it sort of annoyed me even when I was the same age as the character. Idk. Maybe it’s just the ones I did read, and I know a lot of YA doesn’t have characters that act like that, but I feel like when a middle grade book is done well, there’s something about it that makes me look back on it and go ‘hell yeah.’ But I think as a teenager I was already personally sick of being a teenager and didn’t really want to read stories about that. Once I became cognizant of characters’ ages, it always really threw me off for some reason. There are only so many stories about a 16 year old overthrowing the government or saving the world one can write, and I never really found them all that interesting in the first place. Anyway, could be rose tinted glasses bc I remember loving basically anything I read in elementary school, but I still prefer MG to YA.
I think what is particularly interesting about the discussion on “Middle Grade vs. Young Adult” as categories and where to draw the lines, is that in each article featured, there isn’t one clear answer—which reflects the fact that in reality, there isn’t one clearly and rigidly defined audience, either. The capabilities and tastes of one reader or another can vastly vary just in general, but when taking into account the age ranges typically encompassed by MG and YA—provided as 8-12 and 12-18 by Abigail Ranger in the SFWA article, for example—the gap can be significantly larger. I remember being one of those kids in the third or fourth grade being told I could read at a college level, and actively pursuing content geared for older audiences, thus not consuming much MG or YA at all, but for others the experience can (and often is) completely different. Therefore to establish clear boundaries between the two categories, when the concept of genre itself is fluid and ever-evolving, is in some ways problematic.
I do agree, however, that a good way to distinguish MG from YA is the way romance is handled. The characterization of that pure, innocent, “puppy love,” as Stacy Whitman puts it, is something I very much so associate with MG, as to encroach upon a more realistic and bodily experience of love errs on the grounds of YA—with puberty comes a jadedness and complication of interpersonal relationships like no other period in one’s life that shatters the simplicity and naive childhood perception of a universal purity and innocence.
That is not to say that MG is sanitized while YA is not; I think a great example of this is Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, as details within the first novel like the abusive relationship Percy’s mother has with his stepfather, or the Lotus Casino and its introduction of gambling and drugs, are all realistic and more gritty life experiences handled in a way that refrains from being too “adult” and/or inappropriate. There can, and often is, violence and real-world, complicated struggles incorporated into MG and YA, so to argue that either or is rooted in the mundanity of the everyday, the simplistic and the juvenile, is not an accurate assertion. However, the aforementioned themes are—not downplayed, but their weight and gritty gravitas—alleviated through humor; Percy’s abusive stepfather gets turned to stone by Medusa’s head and sold to a museum, while the boisterous and uncharacteristically excessive actions of Percy’s companions helps reveal the addictive and hypnotic nature of the Casino (ah, dear Grover, beloved comic-relief) in a way that one laughs at the absurdity of the situation, or laughs at one getting their just desserts. It is a hearty and deserved humor, while adult fiction, as well as some YA, leans more towards the dry and sarcastic, or the cynical and nihilistic—perspectives only achieved after having more life experience.
Overall, I think allowing young readers to determine for themselves what they want to and should read is most important. Some 10 year olds may be drawn to darker and more serious content of YA, while some 16 year olds may relish in the softness of MG—I think the idea of banning readers of certain ages from material that depicts violence, or uses profanities, or perhaps contains sexual content tends to be more harmful than helpful. A younger reader going through difficult situations in the home may find solace in reading about characters their age having similar experiences, or may even find understanding and the words to identify what they are going through. Therefore when it comes to dictating what children should and shouldn’t read, to do so simply based off of a numerical value, rather than their own individual experiences and interests as well as approval from the fair judgement of an adult (obviously one should not let a 9 year old walk out of the book store with a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey), can stifle the cultivation of literary interest in the youth, which is antithetical to this entire discussion.
I believe that YA and MG have a very stupid fine line between the two. The interview with editor Molly O’Neill illuminated how this line is very vague in its own definition. Age group can be considered, but then people older than the MG age demographic can and do read those books. Same goes for YA books, as kids younger and older than the ‘intended’ demographic. Content doesn’t necessarily work either, as dragons can be in stories that everyone reads. I read YA books with stories of dragons when I was 9 or 10. Molly acknowledges this herself, when she says “there’s not just one kind of story that appeals to them [Middle Grade readers], which means that middle grade books can be ABOUT anything.” She then introduces how perspective can come into play.
I believe that Cheryl Klein’s blogpost about the ‘definition’ of YA books really highlights this different perspective. She mentions how YA books are focused around the age of the character and how that relates to the reader. How the character navigates life is also a major aspect, because they are written to mimic how teens might navigate life in a similar situation plot-wise.
One thing I find interesting is that the topic of how love is portrayed keeps on reappearing. I don’t really find it as a main focus of either demographic and I find it a bit odd that it is constantly mentioned and framed. Yes, it is portrayed differently in MG from YA, but there are so many other human emotions that can be expounded upon that just aren’t mentioned. Kids and teenagers experience so many other emotions other than love that they usually are grappling with and that are usually more prominent in their minds.
There isn’t any one specific thing that differentiates MG from YA, as they have a lot of similar elements, but the closest difference is that YA books are more ‘developed’ than MG books. The fact that this is considered the separator is a little dumb in my opinion and I don’t think it should matter as much.
My first real introduction to thinking about Middle Grade as a type of book was at a signing for Colin Meloy's middle grade book The Stars Did Wander Darkling. In the small talk he gave before the signing, he was questioned by someone or other about the switch from writing books for all ages to one more narrowly targeted at the MG audience. I don't remember much of the response outside of him talking about how this is a growing audience and one that needs good works, but it got me thinking about these books and what they're able to.
Before starting college, I worked with children at a Martial Arts school back home in Georgia. This experience really exposed me to a large portion of youth culture from the ages of 4-15 or so and it was really fascinating to hear everything they say and do, and so I think that books that play to those audiences are strictly necessary.
When I was the target age for middle grade fiction, I didn't much take to it. Though I fondly remeber my copies of The Lightning Theif, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation, I never finished either one of them, while I simultaneously read through The Hobbit again and again. I think that, while those three books specifically have exciting events laid in an order and surrounding subjects I really enjoyed (greek mythology, superheroes) they lacked something that really captured me during grades 3-6. A big part of that, I believe, was some sort of compulsory gendering of the media I was taking in and wishing to perscribe to that. What I think I really needed was a book that pushed my boundaries and exposed me not just to cool and interesting ideas, but to learn more about the world as is brought up in the Conversation with Molly O'Neil. I wanted fiction that would expand my perspective, and I think that while the Hobbit only expanded my perspective of a fantasy world, there was so much there for me to dig into.
As I moved into the seventh grade at a new school, I finally started reading books that were targeted for my age group and truely enjoying them. The first I can really remember is my mother's copy of Carry On, the dust jacket of which is still tragically nowhere to be found. This book helped me with a lot, and was the first time I saw an experience totally foreign to mine in a novel. Modern books, to me, were about little boys being whisked away to magical worlds where they learn about X and Y. I distinctly remeber hating The Phantom Tollbooth. But with Rowell, I was able to read a book with both the engaging narrative and the exploration of queerness, albeit in a very simple form. I think this is a lot of what I was missing from the books from my later elementary school; books that introduced to me to new perspectives and made me excited. So while I tend to be attracted to reading and writing YA about queer experiences, I'd be very interested in taking the conventions of MG fiction and applying a lens of queerness and exploration of identity to it, something I would have loved to be exposed to earlier than I did.
I found many good points in these articles that appeal to me although they don’t really help me arrive at a definitive answer. The first point I saw is that a “good book is a good book” in the “Theory: A Definition of YA Literature” article. This I think is at the very core of the problem. Classifications I feel often lead to one thing being “bad” and another being “good”. This is not and should not be the case. Something that is fun to read and is engaging is simply that. I personally have a problem with many classifications in the world, which is why this quote stood out to me so much. For example, even though I tend to lean more in the direction of pop music, I also will occasionally listen to Mozart and have the classical music radio channel saved in my car because sometimes I’m just in that kind of mood. Also, and this one especially confuses people, ever since I was a child I have hated cheese, something about it makes me sick. This applies to most cheeses, which is why I generally say “I don’t eat cheese” so people get confused when I say I love pizza, and then I have to go into a whole explanation that I can really only tolerate mozzarella cheese and only in moderation. Point being, and I say this often, “I like what I like, and I don’t like what I don’t like”.
It was mentioned that MG books tend to have easier vocabulary compared to YA. Or that YA has more grown up topics and depictions/graphics compared to MG. I think that since everyone grows up at a different rate and reads at different levels within the same age group that this doesn’t really matter. I was constantly told when I was younger that I act much older than I was, like I was 12 and people, including myself, said my personality was more of an 80 year old man. But now that I’m an adult, I've been told in recent years that I act and seem younger than I actually am, it somehow took me attending college for people to think that I’m a highschooler. Point I’m making here is that age is different from mentality, and at the end of the day a person’s mentality is going to determine what they find interesting and what kind of books they want to read, and I don’t think that should be seen as someone “reading up” or “reading down”. With that said, however, I think an important distinction to make in MG vs YA books is sex. Even though we get taught about sex in middle school, I truly believe that people, even those who talk about sex casually from a young age, do not have the mental maturity to deal with topics like sex, especially graphic sex, until at least the age of 15.
I’m not much of a reader myself, but I found the example of Wonder as a MG book helpful in narrowing down the definition, especially in understanding what they mean about the protagonist’s life feeling world-ending and being highly dramatized as most people’s lives at that age are. Last point I want to make is about the “edgier” YA novels that Stacy Whitman mentions in one of the articles. She says that they contain graphic depictions of sex as well as strong language and violence. The only book I’ve ever read in school that I absolutely loved is The Shining. I think this book falls perfectly within this category of “Edgy YA Novel”.
hi
(Destroyer of Worlds)
I certainly agree with the idea that it's more important to classify books by content rather than age group. This is because the ages of a reader are hardly a determination for what kinds of books they will be reading. Any reader (particularly those in the typical middle grade and or YA age groups) can be more advanced or less advanced for the novels that are prescribed to them by the bookstore signs. For example, a student could have little to no interest in MG books though they fall under that category, and prefer YA. The reverse case could also happen. Therefore, I think it's really important that if we have to categorize books somehow, content should be the primary factor by which we sort.
I also agree with the article's idea that most middle grade readers pick up books to either escape boredom or understand something about the world. (I myself at the time was definitely escaping boredom, I didn't really care about understanding reality.) Middle grade readers, I feel, are just learning to harness the creativity that's run rampant in them since birth. As a result, at least in my own case, it created a lot of boredom. I knew I was thinking creatively, but I hadn't yet found my outlet for it. I think this is a common case for many at that age. And so, it makes sense for these kids to reach for books that ask them to make the most of the creativity and imagination. Not only as entertainment, but as endless prompts to see what they themselves can do with their creativity.
Differentiating between Middle Grade (MG) and Young Adult (YA) fiction is a difficult line to draw in my opinion --- one could take the standard route and draw a line between the two genres based on mature content in the books (violence, profanity, etc), but those alone don't dictate readership. People die in MG fiction. I think that drawing a line based on the complexity of plot is best. Typically, MG fiction features complex plot, but is lax on on the multitude of sublots that can be found underneath the main plot of many YA Fictions.
I thought it was interesting how much of an emphasis bookstores place on the parent’s responsibility when it comes to picking out which genre is better for their child. I think there are some implications of this that might be important to consider. Such as children who want to learn more about other cultures and ideas but have a very close-minded family. Typically it’s the most favorable to have people grow up to be open-minded and considerate of others and their circumstances which can be highlighted in subtle, yet important ways in a lot of books. But parent’s can purposely avoid their children developing a social understanding of the world in a generalized system like YA and MG.
It’s because of this that I think drawing the line between YA and MG shouldn’t be so much about age, but more on the reading level. All kids read at different levels and there are always going to be some kids who are better able to understand more concepts or vocabulary despite being in the same age group as others who aren’t as naturally able to connect and comprehend complex topics. Grouping everyone together by age can be discouraging to kids who are falling behind or to kids who are excelling past that age’s standard reading level.
I’ve seen this firsthand in local private schools and it seems to work much better than grouping kids up by age. It has allowed many kids to flourish with comprehending bigger ideas and topics while also allowing kids to get extra help when needed. Content of the book is also a big deciding factor, which is why diversity in topics and books is so important. I think that utilizing a reading-level based system would also allow for introduction of certain content only at certain reading levels rather than at specific ages. This would allow for bright readers to engage with more mature material that they are able to comprehend (if supported by the parents), but also having the option to have a higher-level reading experience on topics still for kids (if the parents didn’t want their children to have access to explicit content). This way, children can still read at their level while reading about less mature concepts if they have no interest in it. It’s heavily dependent on the individual and the current line between YA and MG is too general to suit the individual reader’s needs. In the current state of the world, reading and social comprehension are desperately needed and the YA and MG system is too general and needs to be improved on if the US is going to start helping kids have better reading comprehension rates.
Trying to find/create a difference between MG and YA is quite hard. You may go into a library and place a middle grade book in the young adult section vice versa. I think the main distinction between the two is the level of content in the book. Certain books are written in ways that may not be appealing to younger audiences or written about topics that younger audiences just won't care for. An interesting way I thought about it is similar to that of one of the articles said. That younger audience read books because of two reasons, to learn and to escape. This is true and in that sense, MG books may focus on simpler genres and subjects. YA may be just more expanded upon MG, making them similar. So a MG book may focus on the sci fi genre while YA has the room to be both sci fi and another genre on top of that. YA also can expand in other ways, the way they talk, the structure of the story, the main character being hate-able, and more “adult” content could be allowed in a more serious tone. I think the very difference between what is a YA book and what is a MG book is very hard to tell since they are very close to each other and intertwined but it may just be the very slight difference of being “more” or slightly being more “complex” in ideas or story telling.
I agree that prevalence of drugs, sex, and violence levels are an important distinction between YA and MG. However, overall plot complexity is also an important distinction.
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