Books for All

Did you see the Wall Street Journal article about grownup readers embracing Middle-Grade novels?

If not, take a minute and CLICK RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

(Clever title: "See Grownups Read." Wish I'd thought of that.)

Of course, most everybody knows about the Wonder phenom.  
I've recommended that book to plenty of friends who possibly haven't read a kids' book since they were or had kids. And they've been bowled over.


It sure makes my job easy, fun, and hardly like work that part of the requirement to write for kids is to read for them.

But I often feel a tad guilty when someone asks me for a recommendation and all I can give them is novels for ages "ten and up."
Or maybe ages 9-12.
Because that's what I'm mostly reading. 
And that ten and up, I'm usually quick to point out, means Way Up.


Recently I've read or am reading a ton of books that span the ages, so to speak.

Counting by 7s features a couple of adult characters that outshine any in a novel written for adults.

Even the decidedly child-friendly newest from Kate DiCamillo, Flora & Ulysses, I'd easily recommend to child-less adults. And by that I mean those with no current connections. You may not have taught, parented, or written for kids in the past ten years, but you'll love this novel.

Perhaps historical fiction falls into a category of its own here. But so much I've read truly defies age categorization. Check out these novels and I challenge you to say they are "only" written for middle-grade readers.

The Ballad of Jessie Pearl

Hattie Ever After 

Whistle in the Dark

What I Came to Tell You

CLICK HERE for an interview with the author, Tommy Hays
("I did set out to write a novel that my children would relate to, but I didn’t think to myself this is going to be a YA novel or a middle grade novel, which is actually how it’s technically classified.  I set out to write the best novel I could for whoever would like to read it.  I consider it a novel as much for adults as children.  I just met a wonderful author named Holly Sloan who has a wonderful middle grade novel out called Counting by 7s.  We presented together at the Southern Festival of the Book.  And she said she wrote her book the same way ..)

I could go on and on. But you get the drift.

I'm not saying this is a new development in the world of reading. And I'm not talking about the Young Adult crossover books that we know are being read by adults and "new adults."

But these days, aren't there are more older-than-Middle-Grade readers out there adding their names to the reserve lists at libraries, downloading them to their e-readers, or buying them as gifts but reading them first?

My humble opinion? Yes, there are. 

 

Counting by 7s, POV

I wrote about this book in a Christian Science Monitor Middle-Grade Roundup. You can see my short review HERE.

But I want to say a few things about it from a writer's perspective.

And especially that dratted multi-character POV thing.

In this book, I love it and think it works perfectly.

Willow Chase tells most of the story, in first person chapters. She's the "highly gifted" --she says this herself-- multi-racial, adopted child of somewhat older parents who don't really appear except as Willow shares her memories of them. That's no spoiler. It's obvious from the very beginning of this novel. We're shown the tragic event that sets the story in motion and upsets Willow's world.

I loved everything about this young woman. From her name, to her outsider-ish personality and that she knows she's not the average middle-schooler surrounded by friends. Her attempts to fit in at the new school her parents have chosen are failures. Despite someone (Mom, for sure) leaving a Teen Vogue magazine on her bed, featuring a teenager with "hair the color of a banana" and a wide smile, Willow chooses her gardening outfit for her first day at Sequoia Middle School. Without the binoculars around her neck. She does wear her new glasses, with "frames that looked like what Gandhi wore." They were perfect "because I was going forward in the brave new world in peace."
Or so Willow believes.

Then there's her school counselor. Dell Duke, whose chapters are 3rd person, and I think mostly past tense. Chapters often shared with Willow's new friend Mai. A few chapters are in the voice of the cab driver, Jairo Hernandez, who thinks Willow must be some kind of shaman, not to mention an Alberta Einstein.

Can you see how complicated this sounds? You know what- it's not!
The writing flows seamlessly and beautifully. The story moves quickly.

Having recently read quite a few books told by different characters, I'm beginning to zero in on the difficulty of reading and of writing one. I agree with a reviewer of a different book who they can take on a drive-by quality. The literary equivalent of speed-dating. You just get settled in with one character and another begins telling a completely different, though usually interwoven side of the story.

In the case of Counting by 7s, this just isn't the case. You hardly notice that it's not Willow's story to tell because every character has something to say about her, some connection, an emotional bond being forged.

If you google Multi POV or some such, you'll find a lot of hates. Dreads and drats.
But I think it's being used a lot more in kids' books. Some work. Some don't.

I happen to think COUNTING BY 7s works in all the right ways.

If you're still reading and hope to go away with some helpful writing info re: POV, a few links--

Linda Urban's discussion, via her NESCBWI presentation-
http://lindaurbanbooks.com/2013/05/05/point-of-view-handout-nescbwi/ 

Janice Hardy spells it out HERE: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/02/first-through-third.html

Darcy Pattison. Always trustworthy. Especially like that Seedfolk comment, re: community-
http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/multiple-pov-2/

Not specifically about writing for Middle Graders or Young Adults, here are some big Do's and Don'ts (Dos and/or Don't's just didn't look right...)-

http://maybegenius.blogspot.com/2011/08/dreaded-multiple-pov-novel.html