[Dionna]

So here I am thinking about the ages of readers for middle-grade--8-12, right?

Here's the seeming conundrum for me:

Eight year-olds are in second or third grade, which is WAY before middle-school, and many second graders are still learning to read well. Twelve year-olds are in 5th grade, maybe part of 6th.  Big difference in emotional, physical and social development spans between second and fifth grade, right?

So, am I correct in saying that the term "middle-grade" is NOT synonymous with middle-school?   

And If a main character in a middle-grade is say 10, the readership would be aimed at second graders, since young readers like their protagonists to be older, right? And if that's the case, the subject matter should be devoid of "deep" or "dark" themes, but be light and silly? And if the age of the main character is say 13, the concerns and themes could be much more complex.

So...how important is it to determine the age of the reader, the tone and theme of your story and the age of your main character BEFORE crafting your middle-grade?

[Mrs. Jones Posts: 1,311 Status: Offline]

Dionna, yes, this is very confusing to a lot of people. Middle grade does NOT mean middle school.

In the situations you describe, a 10-year-old mc, would, in most cases, be appropriate for a younger middle grade story. The 13-year-old would be more appropriate for a more complex, older middle grade story. There is a huge range of complexity, length of manuscript, themes, but just because it's middle grade, doesn't mean the dark stuff doesn't exist. It's just not handled as brutally as it can be in YA. Middle grades explore issues like death and violence (for instance), but in a more careful way, I think. Definitely lighter in tone, perhaps, but the meaning is still present.

To answer your last question, I think you really need to know your character (and yourself), and fully realize the story he/you need to tell. That happens as you write it. I know PLENTY of people who start out thinking they are writing a young adult novel, and end up with a middle grade, and vice versa. Your "appropriate audience" is naturally born out of the truth of the character and that evolves over the course of many revisions.

I would suggest not to worry about your audience yet. Write, and as your character and story forms over time, it will be more apparent where it fits in the marketplace. EVEN THEN, your assessment could be off, and an editor may put it in a completely different category than you expect.

[Larissa Posts: 668 Status: Offline Larissa]

To answer your last question, I think you really need to know your character (and yourself), and fully realize the story he/you need to tell. That happens as you write it. I know PLENTY of people who start out thinking they are writing a young adult novel, and end up with a middle grade, and vice versa. Your "appropriate audience" is naturally born out of the truth of the character and that evolves over the course of many revisions.

I would suggest not to worry about your audience yet. Write, and as your character and story forms over time, it will be more apparent where it fits in the marketplace. EVEN THEN, your assessment could be off, and an editor may put it in a completely different category than you expect.

This.

But I'm right there with you. In my head, before I got into writing kidlit, Middle Grade and Middle School were synonymous. But they aren't. So weird, right?

[writg tchr Posts: 158 Status: Offline]

 I'll add that some MG are stories about kids in middle school- up to 8th grade. Some upper MG  deal with heavier subjects like racism, parents with alcohol problems, having a gay sibling, dealing with death. Or an upper MG might deal with middle school cliques and first romance. Protagonists can be 13 or 14, and if the book is fantasy then younger kids will be reading about older characters. However, if its contemporary and deals with some heavier issues, it's not going to appeal to an 8 or 9 year old even if they're advanced readers.

I agree with the others: write the story you were meant to write, then figure out where it fits in. Also, read as much MG as you can, in different genres and those stories aimed at younger as well as older readers.

[ruecole Posts: 400 Status: Offline MG Writer]

We don't even have middle school where I live!

As I recall, the middle grades are the grades between primary (1-3) and secondary (7-12). It was coined before middle schools became popular.

Hope that helps!

Rue

[rebecca-gomez Posts: 3 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

I don't think the subject matter for the lower end of MG readers necessarily needs to be "light and silly." People of all ages love light and silly stories. But there is no reason why kids who are 8 or 9 won't benefit from a book with a slightly darker theme. Of course, it depends on the reader, but that's why there should be a variety of themes in stories for every age range. Consider Number the Stars by Lowis Lowry. Definitely a darker theme, but at a level that is appropriate for plenty of 2nd or 3rd graders. There are older kids that have low reading levels, but want high interest stories. And there are young kids who have high reading levels that are only interested in light and/or funny reading. Or young kids that want to leap into YA, but aren't quite ready for it. We need to be considering all of those readers when we write.

When my daughter was seven, she jumped from picture books to MG practically overnight when she read T.A. Barron's THE LOST YEARS OF MERLIN. I wouldn't consider that book appropriate for most seven year olds based on its reading level. I'd say it is geared more toward the older MG crowd (10-12 year olds). But she devoured it! It's good that those books are there for readers like her.

I guess my point is that there really aren't any rules about this. There are so many great MG books that explore a variety of dark and light themes and are appropriate for a variety of ages. Just make sure that your story is true to the ages of the characters, and let the rest work itself out.

[Pons Posts: 2,482 Status: Offline]

It was coined before middle schools became popular.

This makes sense.

Back in the day, middle school was called junior high school, and elementary school was divided into kindergarten, the primary grades (1-3) and the upper grades (4-6). At least for us. I'm sure there were regional variations.

[Dionna]

Thanks for your input, all! Very balanced advice. 

[Jamie K Posts: 31 Status: Offline Rocket Science, Reading, and Writing!]

I think you are honing in on the difference between true middle grade and upper middle grade and yes the name is confusing. There's a big difference between 8-10 yr old readers and 10-13year old readers. most lit with MC's that are 12-13 tend to fall in that upper middle grade category. Stuff like percy jackson and parts of harry potter tend to fall more in that upper middle grade category. But the issues a grade schooler faces vs a middle schooler can be very different.

[literaticat Posts: 403 Status: Offline]

Another thing they used to call Middle Grade was "middle reader" -- the term has sort of fallen out of fashion, but you can still see it on signs in bookstores and such sometimes. Middle, ie, the bridge between babyish books and sophisticated books. Yep, nothing to do with middle school! Yep, confusing. ;-)

[Dionna]

Middle reader! That makes sense. Seems like I remember Hardy Boys being called middle-readers, and yes, those books made me feel so grown up! (Or maybe I'm just reminiscing about Shaun Cassidy.  )  But middle-grade, well, the term certainly seems to indicate what "grade" a kid is in. Why don't we all revolt and go back to the term middle-reader?! 

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,068 Status: Offline Language is so cool!]

My nine year old son has read all of the Hardy Boys - Middle Readers with 17 year old protagonists. Those were the days. Funny that no on thinks this age group would read them today.

He loves them and the graphic novel series based on them.

Lemmony Snicket is pretty dark too, but very middle grade. Oops, I meant middle reader.

[Pons Posts: 2,482 Status: Offline]

My nine year old son has read all of the Hardy Boys - Middle Readers with 17 year old protagonists. Those were the days. Funny that no on thinks this age group would read them today.

My sister and I read all the Nancy Drew books we could find when we were middle school age even though Nancy was much older than we were. I think maybe publishing has gotten a little too rigid about how old MC's should be for each age group. It's the voice that really matters. The Nancy Drew books definitely have an MG voice.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,068 Status: Offline Language is so cool!]

Pons, I agree.

[SarahW Posts: 304 Status: Offline The extraordinary in the ordinary.]

That's fascinating, I always wondered what middle reader meant.

[Marcia Posts: 475 Status: Offline Never Too Late To Be What You Were Meant to Be]

I have long thought there should be a tween level in between MG and YA. Especially to break up the YA section. What's good for a 17-year-old isn't necessarily good for a 12-year-old. And yes, let’s get rid of the term Middle Grade! Two highly-educated acquaintances of mine (who aren't authors and who don’t happen to work with, or have children) both had the same reaction when I told them what type of writing I do. They thought I was belittling my books when I called them middle-grade (as opposed to high-grade). 

[217mom Posts: 1,153 Status: Offline "Keep the child in view"- Charles Dickens]

I was probably nine or ten when I began reading "the classics" of children literature. I'm thinking of the sorts of books you read and re-read your whole life: Huckleberry Finn, The Wind in the Willows, Anne of Green Gables. (Real examples from the English-speaking world that I read in translation back then, in addition to  books from other cultures and my own, Hebrew.) My two kids followed the same, and no one made them.
So to me middle Grade novels are the heart and the meat of children's books. (Picture books are the art of it.)
I wrote a blog post on this, suggesting we re-name MG "pre-teen."
http://mirkabreen.blogspot.com/2014/03/lets-re-name-middle-grade-novels.html

But re-naming may not be my forte. Marketers guide these efforts, and writers do their best to understand. But we may be too understanding sometime. These market-categorizing terms should not be taken rigidly.

[Pons Posts: 2,482 Status: Offline]

I am writing what could be called a Tween now. It definitely has an MG voice, but the MC is 14. There is such a need for books for kids who want a taste of high school, but aren't ready for a YA voice - The Tweens. An agent once told me that Tween books were doomed to fail because no one knows where to shelve them in a book store. Really? That's the big issue?    If there's no Tween section (And there isn't right now.) put one copy in MG and one copy in YA. (Mods, I hope I haven't gone too snarky here.  )

Laurel

[Dionna]

Two highly-educated acquaintances of mine (who aren't authors and who don’t happen to work with, or have children) both had the same reaction when I told them what type of writing I do. They thought I was belittling my books when I called them middle-grade (as opposed to high-grade).

Wow, I can see how they figured that...like middle-grade fabric...INTERESTING!

[Dionna]

So to me middle Grade novels are the heart and the meat of children's books. (Picture books are the art of it.)

BEAUTIFULLY SAID!

I wrote a blog post on this, suggesting we re-name MG "pre-teen."
http://mirkabreen.blogspot.com/2014/03/lets-re-name-middle-grade-novels.html

I enjoyed your post! Very well-said. The term pre-teen does seem to fit, although I wouldn't consider 8 & 9 year-olds preteens.

[Dionna]

There is such a need for books for kids who want a taste of high school, but aren't ready for a YA voice - The Tweens. An agent once told me that Tween books were doomed to fail because no one knows where to shelve them in a book store. Really? That's the big issue?

I agree, Pons! Clothing stores have a junior section for girls and boys, right. I remember when they didn't. So maybe, someday!

How about these shelf labels: board books (0-3), picture books (3-8), early-readers (5-8), pre-tweens (8-10), tweens (10-12), teens (13-15), young adult (16-18), new adult (17-19)??? I lika!

 

[SarahW Posts: 304 Status: Offline The extraordinary in the ordinary.]

Yes I vote for a tween level. I don't really like how thirteen seems to be defaulted to YA no matter what. Now granted you can do more in YA, but I'm not wanting to do Outsiders or Winnie The Poo. Those are just way to the extreme to me.:/

But what makes middle grade has always confused me. I mean I know now, about three classics and one current later.

[Marcia Posts: 475 Status: Offline Never Too Late To Be What You Were Meant to Be]

Dionna, I love your shelf labels! And it would be easy to overlap audiences, by saying, for example: pre-tweens through teens, etc.

[Dionna]

Why, thank you, Marcia! Shall we gather address labels and Sharpies and hit the bookstores? I'm ready! (or not.)