Helloooo, fellow readers!! If you, like me, have been a fan of YA books for years upon years, or even just an aficionado recently, you may get frustrated with the incorrect classification of some Middle Grade books as Young Adult books. So, to clear some things up, first, here are the age distinctions (though you should also read my post about what YA is):
To recap, YA books, very generally speaking, are for 9th grade on up.
Some YA books say their age group starts at 12-years-old and are considered to be for the “lower end” of YA. Some MG books say they are for the “upper end” of MG. Of course, then to make things even more confusing we also have New Adult. But I digress.
On to the subject at hand! Middle Grade books, generally speaking are for ages 8 or 9 to 12-14. That means grade 2 or 3 through 6. Think about that age group for a minute (students who have taken my classes are going to recognize this!): what are kids in 2nd grade dealing with? 3rd? How about 4th,5th, or 6th? Seventh and 8th? Books for this age group tend to have protagonists around the ages of 9-14 and are dealing with those emotional issues that this age group tends to deal with. While YA is dealing with identity and “who am I in the larger context of the world?”, MG often deals with “who am I away from my parents and in my friend group?”
Take, for example, Anne Ursu’s brilliant book, BREADCRUMBS. In this book, which is structured very lightly around a retelling of the SNOW QUEEN, the main character (Hazel) tries to figure out what has happened to her friend.
Things have changed for Hazel and she doesn’t quite understand why. She only knows that her best friend, Jack, has grown distant and cold, and that the new normal for her age and grade are changing. And scary! The book is melancholy and fantastical, but hopeful and empowering at the same time--the exact mix of things happening to this age group. Friends become more complex, parents are not invincible, and the world changes. And in MG books, an important component—just like YA—is allowing the character to have agency and a chance to solve her own problems.
There are so many other examples of brilliant MG books that illustrate this. Kelly Barnhill’s, THE WITCH’S BOY; William Alexander’s, AMBASSADOR; Kate DiCamillo’s, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE or THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX; Jacqueline Woodson's BROWN GIRL DREAMING; Margi Preus’s, WEST OF THE MOON (which hits the upper end of MG). These all show kids navigating the world and finding out who they are while trying to negotiate an ever-changing landscape.
So why is it so hard to “age” these books? Well, because ages aren’t easy, are they? Issues don’t neatly fit into only one age group at a time and some “darker” themes may not fit happily into MG (or YA). Nor should they ever be avoided, in my humble opinion. These distinctions are largely put into place for booksellers for shelving. And so they both help determine meaning and simultaneously render the idea of age groups for books meaningless.
Take Philip Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS, for example. This is one of those series that is considered to be on the “upper end” of MG. However, many people choose to think of this trilogy as YA because the themes are so very expansive. Who is right? Well, everyone. And no one.
So it’s pretty understandable that people confuse YA and MG. And as frustrated as I get when people categorize A WRINKLE IN TIME as YA when it’s CLEARLY MG, I understand. Because who it comes down to it, we should all really read what we want and forget the age groups.
As an adult who loves YA books, I think this is the best advice one can take, don’t you?
Thanks for reading this as always! And if you have any comments for me, feel free to write me at mcatwoodwrites@gmail.com
In the meantime: Read on, Readers!
SHARE
