A question from my Q&A last week was just too long for me to include in my answers. So it's getting a whole post to itself!
Pen asked: I'm really interested in the difference between children's MG and YA novels. How can you be sure you are querying your book in the right age bracket?
I'm writing a fantasy series, everything I have read suggests to me it is YA but when I compare my work with other writers in the same genre they are writers whose series seem to cross from children's to YA (Christopher Paolini and John Flannagan).
So where do these writers really fit? How can I be sure where I fit?
First off, I want to make sure everyone knows that I'm not an expert in MG novels. Actually, I would consider myself more like a novice. If you're an MG writer, please feel free to correct me at any point.
The most obvious difference between MG and YA novels is age. MG is, as far as I know, written for children ages 8–12. YA is written for ages 13–18. Though I have seen older MCs in MG novels, you will most likely not see a 10-year-old MC in a YA novel. Unless, of course, an MG is being marketed as as YA to take advantage of the massive YA trend that's currently going on (Example:
The Graveyard Book and
Coraline I've seen in the YA section, though they feel more MG to me.).
How I See Middle Grade:Just like I hate when people look down on YA, I don't think MG is defined by "simpler, dumbed-down" writing or stories. I sure hope there aren't people out there calling
Harry Potter or
The Giver simple-minded. Can you see how ridiculous that'd be? They are great books geared to their audience.
Because I write YA, I'll be honest and say I kind of think of MG in terms of things a writer "can't do." The audience is younger—I would assume there are some topics that you have to approach with great care or not at all. Like, for instance, kissing. I imagine there's not a lot of kissing or making out in MG. Or swearing. Or some of the grittier topics that YA somehow can handle (like sex, suicide, drugs, alcohol, abuse, addiction, etc.). That doesn't mean no awful or hard things happen in MG, but I'm guessing they aren't approached in the same way as YA.
Of course, Middle Grade is so much more than the "can't do's." Here's a list of what I think of when I think MG:
• Imagination. MG readers are open to any crazy thing. They have no problem accepting that a wardrobe leads to a magical land full of talking animals.
• Adventure.
MG readers, to me, love good old fashioned adventure. The wonders of the outside world are still new and exciting and waiting to be explored.
• Discovery. MG readers are still learning about the world around them and how they fit into it. They are trying to figure out The Rules of Life—what's fair, what isn't, and how you're supposed to deal with that.
• Growing up. MG readers are on the brink of Big Changes. I always feel like MG stories build the bridge between childhood and adolescence. Sometimes they're a last hurrah before adulthood calls (Peter Pan). And sometimes they're more coming-of-age (The Giver).
• Family and Friends. Where there's more romance in YA, I always picture MG focusing more on family and friend relationships (though that's not to say these are non-existent in YA or that there is no romance in MG).
• Hope. The future is still bright in MG books, I think. Anything can happen. Characters can become whatever they want when they grow up. No fences.
• The Future. Nothing ever "ends." There's still so much life to live after an MG book is done. I imagine there's often a "looking forward" feel, a chance to imagine what will happen next.
Basically, when I think of MG I think of my adorable 10-year-old sister—what she would like to read about and what she's facing in her life right now. It's such a fascinating age—an age where you still don't mind a game of hide-and-seek, where you probably would die if your friends knew you still sucked your thumb, and where boys still have cooties but then kind of not. I admire anyone who can write MG, because it's HARD.
And then there's Young Adult. I've written about
How To and
How Not To write YA before, but I'll condense it for people who don't want to read that much ranting.
How I See Young Adult:To put it bluntly, YA is the aftermath (or process) of puberty. I don't know how it went down for all of you, but I remember feeling like I suddenly had no clue who I was. As a kid, everything is black and white. You think you know where you belong and with whom.
But then everything
changes.I woke up one day and just stared into the mirror thinking, "Who AM I?" I didn't even recognize myself or the things I was feeling. It was like I had to figure out life all over again. And it was terrifying as hell—but I couldn't run to my mommy because I wasn't supposed to be a kid any more. Then I just felt...alone. If I only realized I was surrounded by a bunch of other kids trying to figure it all out too, but I couldn't because that's just not how being a teen works.
Some things I think of when I think YA:
• Self-discovery. I really think this is at the heart of most YA stories. Teens have to figure out who they are, who they want to be, where they belong.
• Independence. Maybe not complete freedom, but teens answer to themselves first. That's why it's so hard for their parents to get them to do anything.
• Inner-conflict. Teens think about stuff. A lot. (Which is why it's ridiculous to say YA is "dumbed-down.") They question everything they ever learned because they hunt for truth, crave it. Which often leads to a lot of:
• Disillusionment. Where there's a rosy feel (in general) to MG, often YA is about realizing the world isn't as wonderful as you once thought it was. It's often about
reality, not
idealism. (But that doesn't mean fantasy isn't a big seller, obviously. Fantasy can speak of reality without being so raw.)
• Hard Things. Because of that disillusionment, YA is allowed to touch subjects that MG most likely wouldn't. Teens want to know—they want to understand not what the world can be, but what it
is.• Firsts. Ah, firsts. It's such a new time of life. First loves. First losses. First betrayals. First kisses. The emotions are raw, acute (which is why I think first person does so well in YA).
• Lines. Pushing them. Drawing them. Figuring out which side you stand on...if you believe in lines at all.
• Hope. Ultimately, I've still never read a YA book where there isn't some shred of hope at the end, be it just a little tiny smithereen. Youth is still about hoping the future will be better. You're not allowed to be hopeless until you're an adult;)
When I think of YA, I think of my own teen years, which I seem to remember better than anything else. Seriously, college is a blur. But I can recall books worth of stories from my four-year stint in high school. Weird how that works.
So that's how I see MG vs. YA. For the most part, it should be clear where your writing fits in. It does get a little muddled when you hit that Older MG/Younger YA line, but that's just kind of how it goes.
If you want a better lesson, I really think
Harry Potter is a great study in the transition from MG to YA. Each book is like a snapshot example. The fun, magical world of book 1 is classic MG. Then it gets progessively Older MG until the turning point at book 4, where it jumps to YA. The "darkness" of the later books is really just Harry growing up and facing the reality of a world that was always dark. Brilliant, that J.K. Rowling is.
Of course there are things that overlap, too. It's not a hard line. There is still ample room for Imagination, Adventure, and Discovery in YA. And it's not like there are no Firsts or Self-discovery in MG. I think it's approach and mood that make the biggest difference in your work being MG or YA, and hopefully I've made that semi-clear in this post.
I hope at some point I can fill in the other eye. I also hope that all your wishes for 2010 come true! Have a very Happy New Year!
