Thanks for this thought-proving discussion.

Another story I thought of that has really strong personal stakes is a TV show, not a book, but it's so well done that I've gone back to study it several times. (A Korean TV miniseries called Pinocchio.) It's about a guy who becomes a news reporter, fighting for accuracy and truth in reporting. What makes it really personal and what makes the stakes incredibly high is a clash between the main character's two most important personal values. First, due to sensational yellow journalism when he was a child, his father was falsely accused of something, and that inadvertently led to the main character losing his entire family. As a result, he has a great love for his family but also a great hole in his life because of this. So he's insanely committed to truth in reporting. However, while doing investigative reporting, he discovers that his brother may, in fact, be alive. And evidence points to his brother being the chief suspect in a crime. So now he has two massively strong values (truth and family) directly pitted against each other. The stakes are high no matter what he does, because whether he reports his findings or not, he will lose something big. The personal nature is what drives the whole show. Once the issue with the brother is resolved, there are still bad guys to fight, there is still reporting to do--but it slightly loses some steam because those incredibly high stakes have been lessened.

Not every story has to have this kind of double bind, but I do feel that it's one way to raise stakes even more. It's one thing if you're fighting against the world for what you want. It's even more if you have to fight against yourself.

Beautifully said, Olmue, and I agree completely!

Crista, winning the summer camp challenge can absolutely be a high-stakes issue for your character. It all depends on how much (and why) they want to win it. What do they stand to gain/lose if they do/don't?

I'm editing my first MG book (contemporary with light supernatural elements), and I'm questioning whether or not my "stakes" are high enough.
One of my beta readers suggested I up the stakes to something "bigger" that involves major supernatural chaos (FREX - Harry Potter vs Voldemort or "we literally need to save the world" kind of big). But I'm wondering if there's a place in MG for "smaller" stakes like winning the summer camp challenge. What are your thoughts?
TIA!

YAYAYAYAYYA