Those of you considering Middle Grade writing (like I sometimes do) will enjoy these highlights from the panel "A Blues for
Middle Grade" at the Brooklyn Book Festival. The authors offered a great introduction to
the middle grade audience. Here are some
of my favorite tidbits:
R.J. Palacio (Wonder)
had this to say about middle graders:
they are "toddling back and forth between being little kids and
believing everything they are told and being a teenager and being
skeptical."
Wendy Mass (The Candymakers) shared middle graders "spend so much time thinking about what
others think of you - you forget to figure out who you are."
Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark & Grimm) remembers "how difficult it was to be who you wanted
to be." He could identify what it
meant to be cool, but he couldn't control his actions enough to develop into
that person.
Sheela Chari (Vanished) said
during middle grade "You really start to come up with your own
solutions."
R.J. noted that
starting "In middle school you get known for stuff." She discussed how her MC needed to get a new
duffel bag before the class trip so he wasn't the kid who liked Star Wars.
Sheela remembered
in middle school there were "ways to measure your social value - like the
friendship pins on Keds."
Paul, Adam, Wendy, R.J., Sheela |
The moderator Paul Acampora (Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face) asked: Children
have such limited experiences - why talk about them?
Adam: Kids want
to talk about issues that are serious.
They aren't jaded yet like their parents. You can address the deepest issues straight
up with them.
Sheela: When
things happen, adults look at it through the lens of experience. Kids are living in the now. Books can help them figure out what's going
on right now.
R.J.: Kids share these universal experiences of
feeling like an outsider or having kids laughing at you behind your backs.
The questions from the middle graders in the audience were
amazing - each child was poised, spoke clearly in the microphone and addressed their
question to a particular author.
A young lady in the audience asked the tough question: why do
books always come out hard cover before paperback? Adam
covered the fact that lots of people are involved in the process and those
costs have to be recouped. Wendy added the hard covers are necessary
for libraries.
From this experience I learned to never underestimate the
middle grader. Why do you think it's important to write about middle grade?