Cover Reveal: The Wild Lands by Paul Greci

I know this is a blog about all things middle grade but I’ve got my first young adult novel coming out and am really excited to share the cover!! The Wild Lands hits the shelves on January 29, 2019 but you can pre-order it now.

Book Information:

Publisher: Imprint (Macmillan)

Publication Date: 01/29/2019

ISBN: 9781250183583

384 Pages, Ages 14 and up

Here’s the blurb from the cover:

When a collapsing U.S. government abandoned an Alaska ravaged by earthquakes and wildfires, Travis’s family chose not to evacuate. But now they realize their mistake—as food stores collapse and the few people who stayed turn on each other.

Travis and his younger sister Jess now must cross hundreds of miles in search of what remains of civilization. The wilderness they’re crossing is filled with ravenous animals, strangers competing for dwindling resources, and petty dictators fighting for control.

They’ll make a few friends and a lot of enemies on their terrifying journey across the ruins of today’s world. Travis and his fellow travelers will fight for what they believe in as they see how far people will go to survive.

This pulse-pounding thriller, full of shocking plot twists, is the ultimate survival tale of humanity’s fight against society’s collapse.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to be sharing some information about the Sequel to Surviving Bear Island in the near future.

Paul Greci is the author of Surviving Bear Island, a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection. Forthcoming in October 2018 is Follow the River, a sequel to Surviving Bear Island published by Move Books. In January 2019, Paul's first young adult novel, The Wild Lands will be published by Macmillan.

Growing With Middle Grade -- or Out of It? by Kell Andrews

Sometimes a series outgrows the middle-grade category, but more often, readers do.

I finally read Megan Whalen Turner's Thick as Thieves, the fifth book in the Queen's Thief series. Immediately upon finishing, I ran to the library to check out the rest of the series and begin again.

My library shelves the first book, The Thief, in the middle-grade section. Written in 1996, Turner's twisty tour de force won a Newbery honor, forever anchoring the series as a work of children's literature. The rest of the series is shelved in YA.

Before the American Library Association launched the Printz Award for young adult literature in 2000 (concurrent with the flowering of the YA genre), the Newbery Awards more frequently recognized YA books. In the 21 years since The Thief was published, the series has grown, not just into YA, but to an adult series in terms of complexity, theme, and the age of the characters. The Thief's Gen is recognizably a teen boy, but he's the only character in the series who is. The age of Kamet, the main character of Thick as Thieves, is unspecified, but could easily be over 30. He is no boy. And with the series' publication spanning than two decades, neither are Turner's original fans. A 10-year-old who read The Thief is 31 now.

Not many writers have the luxury of taking five years to write a sequel and finding themselves still with a publisher and fans, but even if authors match the book-a-year pace publishers prefer, readers may age out of a series before the last book is published, even for relatively short series.

Middle-grade readers love series. Series drive the industry, but a flaw in the publishing model is that kids want the whole series now. But while they figuratively "can't wait" for it, often they literally won't. But writers can only write so fast, and publishers have only so much patience for series that shed readers with each concurrent title -- something they tend to do in all age categories, and may do even faster as those readers move on to other interests. Middle-grade may be intended for ages 9 to 12, but readers who start a series in 4th grade may put it behind them before it concludes in 7th.

When do they outgrow it? When do maturing young readers follow a series? JK Rowling's readers assuredly did, following wide-eyed 11-year-old Harry from his middle-grade debut to his grimmer YA conclusion. More often the durability of reader interest depends not just on the progression and maturation of the series, but the orientation of the reader. My 7th grader is still salivating for the next book in Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities series, but a 12-going-on-20 friend who started the series with her can't be bothered.

An advantage of reading middle grade and YA as an adult is that I'll never grow out of it. If it hasn't happened yet, it won't. When Thick as Thieves comes out in paperback, I'm planning to buy the whole set with matching covers. And then I'll read it again. 

A WORD FROM THE READER: Guest post by Lyric Unger Bowditch

As we drive down from a weekend in NY, talk turns to books. Actually, my daughter and I began to discuss books we love. This happens a lot. Right now, my youngest is busy with his nose deep in one and my husband is driving. We left my eldest back in NY so the conversation was between Lyric and me. Lyric, who is now 15, has often been my sounding board, my first reader, first editor, first critic. She taught me a lot about writing for kids. First and foremost, don’t do it. That is, don’t ever write down to kids because they are smarter than most adults.

So I asked her to write her own thoughts about YA/MG literature. She is an excellent writer, reader, critic, poet, and I am so glad to invite her here today.

Welcome, Lyric.

•

In the words of Le Petit Prince, “grown-ups like numbers . . . You have to tell them, ‘I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs.’ Then they exclaim, ‘What a pretty house!’” If a novel has a 4.5-out-of-5-star rating, in the eyes of such adults, it must be a good book. Too often, adults feel a societal obligation to bear through literature that may not truly interest them because of its social or intellectual prestige. Books written for adults don’t always require the same attention-to-reader that young adult literature does.

As a young adult, I can attest that if a novel doesn’t engage me, I don’t care how highly it was rated— I’m going to put it down. If the writer doesn’t paint a world so visceral that my own world disappears as I read, then, regardless of the writer’s esteem in literary circles across the nation, I won’t keep reading. You authors of young adult literature have the difficult task of writing wholly captivating stories, as the story is all that your audience cares about. Accordingly, young adult literature makes up some of the best literature on the whole planet (and the whole universe, for that matter).

As far as I’m concerned, the labels “young adult” and “middle-grade” are largely misleading. Young adult novels aren’t too callow or adolescent to be liked only by young adults. Rather, they’re exciting and enthralling enough to be liked by young adults. Any adult that claims to be too sophisticated to be interested by Harry Potter or too refined to enjoy Percy Jackson and the Olympians is, in fact, too uncultured to appreciate fine literature on its own merit and the pleasure of being lost in a good book.

-Lyric Unger Bowditch

 •

I thought I’d include a photo of Lyric. Hers is beautiful face that shines from the cover of The Ravens of Solemano… so I’ve included that.

Thank you, my wonderful daughter! – eden unger bowditch

WORDS on LITERARY PUBLICTY from JULIA DRAKE (eden unger bowditch)

 As we head into the new year, many of us have books out there or plan to get books out into the world. Perhaps it might be helpful to get some words of wisdom from someone in the publicity business. Whether a writer has published her twentieth novel or he's wondering how to get published, it is good to know how to get your book out there and into the hands of readers.

Today, we have the lovely and talented Julia Drake, CEO of Julia Drake PR in Los Angeles. She has worked with many authors and has a wonderful reputation as an honest, devoted, hardworking, and tireless promoter of the writers she works with and loves. I speak from experience. Julia and her team were hired by my publisher to work on The Ravens of Solemano... and I have only glowing things to report. I thought it might be fun to have her as a guest.

 Welcome, Julia!

What can an author do to help with PR? To maximize publicity for your book, a good publicist will try to leverage your entire author platform to gain media coverage instead of merely focusing on publicizing your book. But often authors are not aware of the many resources that are part of their author platform and that could be vital for the success of a PR campaign. An author platform includes an author’s web presence (website, blog, social networks, etc.), previous public speaking engagements/readings, teaching credentials and awards, published stories and articles and any previous media coverage or media connections––anything that's related to an author’s built-in readership.

In addition, an author’s education and professional background, principal and previous occupations other than writing, travel experiences, inspiration for his/her book, and any hobbies aside from writing might offer a wonderful human interest hook for media coverage.

Last but not least, I highly encourage authors to spend some time to compile an email list for their potential audience, including family, friends, colleagues and co-workers, acquaintances, and anyone they have come in contact with during their professional and private life that might be interested in learning about their book. The more comprehensive and detailed that list is, the more firepower a publicist has to orchestrate a successful launch which will build legs for the author’s book, future books, and overall platform.

What are the three most important things to let the world know about a new MG/YA book?

1.    Mom/Dad Bloggers: Once a book takes hold in this community, it can spread like wildfire, so make sure to incorporate a blog tour or PR outreach to blogs into your PR plan. Make sure to study each blog beforehand to get a sense for their review preferences and website/blog traffic to maximize positive coverage.

2.    School librarians and bookstore event coordinators: School librarians and bookstore event coordinators work in tandem to orchestrate school book fairs, book festivals, and author events and will be your biggest advocate if your book fits into their school demographic and offers viable educational themes. Often, school librarians and bookstore program coordinators also maintain their own blogs.

3.    Pre-publication trades and top middle-grade/YA media:

3.1 Pre-publication trades:

·      School Library Journal

• ALA BookList
• Publishers Weekly
• Foreword Magazine

    3.2 Top Middlegrade/YA Media: There are literally hundreds of publications for YA/middle-grade books, with new ones emerging and old ones folding every day, but here are some of the most important ones:

• The Horn Book Magazine
• The Children’s Book Council
• Shelf Awareness
• YALSA
• NPR Books
• Bookpage
• Girls Life
• KidsGuide
• Scholastic Parent & Child
• Teen Ink
• The Kids News Network
• The Reading Life
• American Girl
• USA Book News

What is different about promoting MG/YA books? The main challenge, especially for middle grade books, is that to get to your target reader, you have to go through their parents. So in essence, you are marketing your book to the parents, and have to convince them first that your book is a good fit for their child. Although times are changing and more young people are using the Internet at home and in school, parents are still the gatekeepers, so keep that in mind when presenting your book and its benefits to your audience and to media contacts writing for that audience. Make sure to point out any themes/features that speak to national school curriculums and any educational benefits and timely themes (bullying, sexuality, violence, diversity, etc.) aside from pure entertainment value. Also be sure to submit your book for consideration for the Accelerated Reader Program. Accelerated Reader (AR) is a computer-based system for tracking reading in schools. Students earn points for reading AR books, so they are motivated to read AR approved titles and forego titles that are not listed in the program. Demand controls supply, so libraries and bookstores also prefer to carry AR listed books.

How important is having a PR person behind you instead of going the road alone? Publicizing your book is a full time job, so if you are a fulltime writer and have another book you are working on, or maintain another full time job or have family to care for, going this road by yourself can quickly become overwhelming. A good publicist can help you develop your message, brand and platform and advise you on how to position yourself with media and consumers. Your publicist can help you define a targeted list of print, online and broadcast media in local, regional and national markets and will be able to leverage his/her relationships with media in these markets to help get your book through the door and have a better chance at coverage, especially when it comes to high tier media. A good publicist will also help you prep for media interviews and build your brand to work toward a sustainable platform that will continue to create future opportunities for your book and future writing endeavors.

Can you share a funny story? Share something that stands out to you as particularly inventive.

The reason I love what I do is because stories are still what brings us together. There is a magic in this connection. And I feel very fortunate that I see this magic happening right before my eyes. One of my clients, Derek Taylor Kent, is the author of The Scary School Series. He celebrated the launch party for his first book at a small indie bookstore in the Pacific Palisades in CA (which soon after closed its doors). The Scary School series is purportedly penned by Derek, a nine-year-old ghost, so Derek, the author, put an empty chair in the middle of the room, and explained to the attending kids and parents that Derek The Ghost was here to answer questions about the book and what it’s like to be a ghost. Derek, the author, then relayed the ghost’s answers to the kids in some funny way. It was such a simple idea, but it caught like wildfire with the kids, and soon, families formed a line all the way along the bookstore’s storefront, waiting to ask Derek The Ghost a question. It was such a wonderful experience to listen to the kids come up with the most specific and imaginative questions, and watch both kids and adults, anticipating the ghost’s answer. A simple idea brought everyone together in an afternoon that left everyone with the feeling that they had just participated in something magic. 

THANK YOU, JULIA!!!

High Concept in Middle Grade

Okay, confession time: while I’ve always been a huge lover of middle grade, for many years I never had that much interest in YA. I had nothing against it, of course. It just wasn’t what I was personally interested in reading. But a little over a year ago, my book club, which is usually dedicated to adult literature, decided to start a YA subset, and suddenly I was poring over YA bestsellers like Hunger Games, Divergent, The Fifth Wave, etc., etc. And I have to admit, I love them! Really love them. Yeah, I’m hooked.

Most of the books we end up reading in my YA book club seem to fall into the “high concept” category. I’ve heard “high concept” defined a number of ways, but it all seems to boil down to this: high concept is a story with a hook. Not a quiet, coming-of-age type story, but a story where the premise is key. It can usually be summed up in one sentence in which the often blockbuster nature of the story is evident. For example, I just finished reading the YA time-travel All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill. (Loved it!!) I can easily come up with a summary that conveys the intrigue of the plot in one sentence: Girl in 2013 tries to keep her best friend alive after an attempt on his life, not realizing that an older version of herself from the future is the one trying to kill him.

Reading all this YA lately has me comparing it to the world of middle grade, and I can’t help but notice that the stories often seem “bigger” in YA. I’ve heard many people in the industry describe the difference between middle grade and YA (besides the age of the protagonist) this way: middle grade is closer to home and more inwardly based. The protagonist usually faces conflict that has to do with their everyday lives, such as conflict with their parents, siblings, and friends or problems at school. In YA, on the other hand, external events typically play a much larger role in triggering the internal change experienced by the protagonist. The scope is larger. Often the main character is starting to step outside the world of his or her childhood, and conflicts and consequences are more substantial and wide-reaching.

So lately I’ve found myself wondering: does the “larger” nature of YA lend itself better to high-concept storylines? Certainly we see high concept in middle grade. Look at books like Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter. Nathan Bransford points out that even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is high concept: kid wins a golden ticket to a mysterious candy factory.

Still, is it me, or does YA often seem a lot more "blockbuster-y" than middle grade? Of course, as I’ve confessed, I’m still pretty new to YA, and these are largely the musings of sleep-deprived mind after midnight. But I’m curious what others think. Does YA lend itself better to high concept than middle grade? And is that good or bad for the world of middle grade?

-Dawn Lairamore

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc

FACE TIME and the YA/MG READER by Eden Unger Bowditch

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING YOUR NEXT YA/MG BOOK RELEASE

Let’s be honest with ourselves- kids don’t care what the critics say. We can cheer ourselves and pat ourselves on the back, but getting a fabulous review from a critic simply does not impress a kid reader.

Unlike adult fiction (a world where the readers read the reviews and buy accordingly and, thus, books impossible to get through become best sellers because they are the books in vogue to buy) where you can send your book off into the world and visit occasionally, YA books demand full-time attention, loving care, focus, engagement, and presence. Kids want to read, well, a good book, and they will like a book whether a critic tells them to or not. That’s why it can be more of a challenge to write for kids than adults. It is important to tour for any book, but it seems more so with YA/MG. Being out there on the road,speaking to kids, connecting with kids, is truly vital in the world of YA and MG. It is the life’s blood of the YA/MG book. As The Ravens of Solemano (Young Inventors Guild, Book 2) is poised for release in September, my publisher has basically kicked me out of the house and sent me packing. Well, that is not exactly… no, wait…that is exactly true! They have said the spikes in sales and attention on the web were shocking, every time I was on the road for the last book. But last time, I sauntered back to the US months after the release of The Atomic Weight of Secrets to an audience that had to reread the book to remember what to ask. Word of mouth is so important for all books, but more so for kids books. This means kids need to know you’re there. You need to make introductions for your literary baby. Loving care and attention are needed. While The Atomic Weight of Secrets held its own, it was really a neglected child. This time, I am ready to go. ARCs went out last month and events have already been planned. And, unlike with adult books, the long haul is not a fast delivery. A great review can shoot an adult book through the roof, but kids need time to get to know the book. My publisher told me to expect to work hard a lot longer than with books for adults. This was meant to encourage, as well as demand pavement pounding.It means they will stand behind the book much longer than one might expect. They believe that it simply can take longer and that the second book sells the first.

 

So I am ready. After what seems like ages carrying this baby inside of me, Ravens is kicking. I am taking deep breaths and doing yoga stretches. I feel like an expectant mother with a suitcase packed, waiting for labour to begin.

Vertical by Janet Eoff Berend

Janet Eoff Berend’s debut novel, Vertical, is a fast paced story that offers an inside view of the teenage skateboarding world. Knowing very little about the specifics of skateboarding, I appreciated the easy-to-use glossary of the terms, which helped me to better visualize some of the skate scenes. I think Vertical would be an excellent addition to classroom libraries because it will reach readers, reluctant or otherwise, who have an interest in skateboarding.

From the backcover: Skateboarder Josh Lowman witnesses one of the best skateboarders in town (the local bully) commit a crime. For days he agonizes over whether to tell anyone. Meanwhile, his friendships with a fellow skater, a girl in his English class, and a cool math tutor (a college student who skates) slowly steer him toward a new kind of courage.

One of the strengths of Vertical was the ongoing metaphor of skating compared to life in general. Another strength was the authenticity of the voice. And, without any spoilers, the climax of the story was surprising and intense.

 A little bit about the Publisher: BreakawayBooks: (from their website) Breakaway Books publishes literary and thoughtful writing on sports — fiction, poetry, and essays on the athletic experience. We are interested in the emotional and metaphysical side of sports, the inner life of the athlete. We also celebrate the many ways sport can serve as muse for excellent writing — both serious and playful.

The Book Trailer below does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of the book.

Congrats, Janet!!!

Writing for Different Ages

From The Simpson's, hosted at Librarified

So, ever since I was asked to join Project Mayhem (was it over a year ago? wow) I always wondered: why me? No, I'm kidding. I know I'm awesome, of course they'd love me.

But there is that thing. It's about content. I'm not published. I'm not agented. And the only two manuscripts I've completed are both (I think, I'm no marketing guru) Young Adult Literature.

So why am I part of a Middle Grade blog?

Well the good news is that I do have a project in the works. It's an ambitious one. I'm happy to say it will be a Middle Grade book (or hopefully a series of them), but unfortunately, it's a bit of a secret, and that's all I can say.

However, the whole question has got me thinking: how many authors are there out there who write both YA and MG, and are not only commercially successful at it, but artistically as well?

I use the Neil Gaiman picture from the Simpson's episode, because I know I have personally enjoyed not only his adult novels, but also at least one Middle Grade novel he's written: The Graveyard Book. Yet, there are obviously very few writers out there who have his level of success.

Of course, you have series like Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling, or Percy Jackson, by Rick Riordan, which I think can both be successfully argued evolve from MG into YA by the time they end, but again, such a thing is rare.

There are some friends and darlings of the blogosphere who write both, like Laura Pauling, and Shannon Messenger, and then there are some more famous authors who I've never met, like Scott Westerfield, and Patrick Ness, but I guess my point is (more a question than a point, but bear with me here) do you think it's a viable aspiration to hope to write both?

And whether or not you do (or don't) do you know of any writers who are thriving at it that I haven't mentioned?

Either way, you never know. I haven't had success with my YA work yet, so maybe it turns out that it was never my thing, and I'll only have to worry about MG, but for the time being, I am definitely curious to hear what all our readers think.

And if you're not sure what you think, that's okay. Here are some resources of other people's opinions.

Shannon's agent Laura Rennert on writing blockbuster MG and YA fiction.

Michele Acker interviews some agents about MG and YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

Claire Legrand muses on the differences between the two for WriteOnCon.

Sally Apokedak covers the basic differences on Vonda Skelton's blog.

C. Lee McKenzie writes about how the line can be blurred at Carrie Butler's blog.

Otherwise, that's all I have for now. What do you all think?

When Do You Start Reading Up?

That's my kid, Madi. She's in sixth grade now. I'm pretty sure she's reading Rick Riordan there. She's been going strong on MG books for a while now, probably since ... well, at least second grade. Sometimes it's hard to remember, life moves so fast. But anyway, I recently noticed that she was reading Eighth Grade Bites (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Book 1), by Heather Brewer. Her sister read it years ago, but I think she was in eighth grade at the time.

Now, I'm not the kind of dad who controls what his kids read. My opinion is that if a kid has a curiosity about a certain book, there is good reason they might be interested in it. Now, if she were wanting to read Lolita or Mein Kampf, I might be a little concerned, but in this instance, with her wanting to read what my understanding is a YA novel that is not too particularly dark or edgy, I can simply ask her sister, "do you think this is appropriate for her?" If her sister hadn't read it, I would probably just read it myself.

But this post isn't really about what we should allow our kids to read, I more so wanted to pose a question to our readers: when did you start reading up?

Personally, The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings were the first two (four) books I read, so while The Hobbit is somewhat a children's book, LOTR certainly is not, so I guess I started reading up right away. I did not get into the likes of Roald Dahl, Gary Paulsen, or Jack London until fifth or sixth grade. Then in middle school, I moved back to adult fantasy, and started reading spy and espionage books like Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre.

So what about you all? Were you aware of literary age distinctions when you were younger? Did you ever read above or below your supposed level by choice? Did you ever read adult novels as a kid? If so, what did your parents think of it? Did they know?

When Did You First Fall in Love, with Books?

I feel a little silly sharing this video and writing this post after all the great, deeply researched, and courageously shared posts by my fellow Mayhemers lately, but this has been on my mind, and the video is fun! So I'm writing it anyway.

First things first, I love this parody, because this guy, whoever he is, is so fearless in his love of Harry Potter, and is not the least bit uncomfortable rocking his nerd card - hard. That's inspiring to me, because when I was young, and especially in middle school and as a teen, I was often ashamed of my passion for things like books, dungeons and dragons, and imagination in general. It just wasn't considered cool to be into those things, and I often got called nerd - or worse.

This guys has no such fear, and I really love it, because now that I'm old, I feel the same way. Books are cool. Imagination is cool. Expressing yourself is cool. I'm so glad that culture has changed enough (many thanks to Jo Rowling for being a huge part of that) that my kids are very popular, and yet also very bookish.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about falling in love with books, and poll our readers to hear their stories too. Before I get to mine, I just want to talk about the part of this video that really inspired this post. The nerdy singer guy is cool, but it was something else that made me write this post.

The wand battles are very cool, and look like so much fun, but there is this scene at the end, after 3:30, where the little kids leave some books on the porch of an even littler kid, and it's like he's discovering this amazing new world of fantasy and adventure, and you just know his life is going to change forever - for the better. I'm not ashamed to admit watching that kid pick up that book and fall into it's pages makes me cry, just a little bit, every single time.

I think Jo Rowling gave the world a beautiful gift when she gave Harry Potter to our children, but it became even greater than the sum of its parts when our children gave it to us. I have a very cool, and slightly embarrassing story about how I came to love Harry Potter, but it's not for this post.

Today I want to share with you about how I first fell in love with books. I was the middle of three children, with two sisters. My dad was the stage manager for the Seattle Opera, so he was rarely home, but when he was, he often shared his love of books. He and my mom had this huge California king-sized bed, and it was so big our whole family could fit on it. My sisters and I would snuggle between mom and dad, and dad would read to us - from The Lord of the Rings. I remember like it was yesterday the first time I met Frodo and attended Bilbo's birthday party, and to tell you the truth, my heart has never really left Hobbiton. Like George R.R. Martin, I'd forsake heaven, as long as I could end up in Middle Earth.

The first book I read by myself (that I can recall after picture books and early readers) was the Hobbit, a natural progression after falling so in love with Tolkien's work. I was absolutely engrossed. I got the read along illustrated books, the Rankin-Bass production on betamax, everything I could get my hands on that would allow me to continue the dream. Technically, I was a bit below middle grade reading level at the time, probably about 7 or 8, but the point is, once I fell in love with books, I never turned back. Making that connection between a book and a young person is what it's all about. It's why we write for children, I believe.

When did you first fall in love with books?

On Loss, Grief, and Young Readers

I am currently reading this wonderfully imagined novel, A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd. I'm not done with it yet, so it may be a bit presumptuous for me to write this post, but I think I know where the story is going. I could be wrong, but that's not really the point.

I'm the father of a young adult, and a middle grader (well, technically Madison is only 10, and not in middle school yet, but she reads above her level). Luckily my children have not had to endure much loss, but loss doesn't always have to be a death in the family. Loss can be moving away from friends, divorce, heck, even summer camp can feel like a temporary loss.

The loss in my own life almost all occurred in those middle grade years. My dad was out of the picture when I was ten. My mom died when I was eleven. Then, just to make things worse, my aunts and uncles decided to separate me from my older sister when they determined our living situations, in their infinite wisdom. Yeah, needless to say, I was a messed up, angry kid.

But I managed to survive. Loss hurts like salt in an open wound at first, but eventually it simply becomes part of who you are. The trick is getting through that first part. One of the best ways to get through the hard part is to escape into stories. Storytelling has a magical ability to heal, or at least to give you solace from the storm, when things are at their worst. Movies, TV, theater, all these venues for telling stories are great, but none of them really compare to books.

Books can take you anywhere, and sometimes where you need to be is very far away from where you are. Middle Earth. Narnia. Krynn. Westeros. There are so many places full of so much wonder and beauty in books, it can make the pain of real life seem less ... sharp, for a time.

But then there are also books that face the harsh truth of this topic head on. Books like A Monster Calls, that deftly look the pain of suffering dead in the face, and show with courage that life goes on.

I'm glad my children haven't had to endure much loss in their lives, but if they did, I'd be sure to share books like this with them. Or books like Danny, Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl, or Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, or Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Story, by Greg Neri, or The Deathday Letter, by Shaun David Hutchinson, or even, Marley and Me, by John Grogan.

What books about loss and grief, or even just to help one through loss and grief, would you recommend for young readers?

Sports, Kids, and Books

I have to apologize for these terrible photos, but I only recently upgraded to a phone with a decent camera, and I don't have the steadiest hand. Anyway, this is my daughter, Madison, and my nephew, Bryce, at their very first NFL game.

We live in Atlanta, so it's a Falcons game, but we're from Minnesota (well, sort of) so we're Vikings fans. It was a pretty good game, but that's not really my point.

The point I want to make, is that I think sports, whether professional, collegiate, intramural, or just community organized, are a great way for kids to get exposed to many important things in life. Things like teamwork, respect, sportsmanship, pushing ourselves to succeed in spite of pain and/or fatigue. There are a lot of great lessons to be had from sports.

And the great thing is that sports, especially if the kids are participating, but even if they're just watching a game, don't beat you over the head with those lessons like ... some other venues for education.

I love that sports give kids an opportunity to learn things for themselves, without someone having to tell them anything. Showing is always better, right?

So anyway, after the game, it got me to thinking: what are some great young adult and middle grade books about or with sports in them, that maybe aren't exactly sports books?

I suppose I'm not the most widely read when it comes to these kind of books, but I couldn't think of many, so I figured I'd come to you guys. I mean I really enjoyed My Dog Skip (both the book and the film) and I suppose there is some mention of sports in both, but it's not really the kind of book I'm thinking of. The film The Sandlot would be a great example, but I don't think that story is also a novel, or at least I've never read it.

I did find a decent list, which you can read: here, but I was hoping our wonderful Project Mayhem readers would be able to recommend some books they'd actually read. Do any of you have a young adult or middle grave novel you can recommend that has sports in it?

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Here's one more photo, just for fun:

Absent Parents in Children's Literature

That's my big sister Em and I when I was ... very little. I guess my parents figured: "Baby Matthew wants an ice cream cone? Sure. Slap him in a rubber diaper and put him in the bath tub."

Then I guess they left the room.

Who knows? I don't, but I want to talk about parents (or the lack thereof) in the books we read and write. I'm sure most of you have noticed that most MG and YA literature consists of protagonists whose parents are either dead, missing, abusive, distant, incarcerated, abducted by aliens, or sometimes just plain not even mentioned.

I'm not saying it doesn't make sense. I mean these books are about young people, and young people are much more interesting if they can get into adventures. It's hard to have adventures if mom is going to start blowing up your phone when curfew rolls around. But lately I've been thinking about why this is. I mean personally, it feels natural to write about young people with parents who are out of the picture. All my writing is at least partially autobiographical, and my mom died when I was 11 years old. My dad was out of my life even a year before that, for reasons we don't need to get into. Is that really why I write stories the way I do, though?

I don't know.

I'm trying to think of a scenario in which normal, healthy, present parents could be a part of a YA or MG novel. I can't think of a single one I've read myself. I think I may have to write one.

Harry Potter has a lot of awesome adults, even an amazing godfather, but Harry's real parents are dead before the first word. Charlie was there in Twilight, and he seemed like a decent dad, but he'd been out of Bella's life for so long he didn't have much authority over her. Another Charlie, from that story about the chocolate factory, had some pretty decent (albeit extremely poor) parents, but it was his grandpa who came along to take part in the story.

What do you guys think? Have you read any children's books lately that had normal, present, healthy parents in them?

If not, do you think there is some other underlying reason behind this phenomenon? Something other, perhaps darker, than just freeing the characters up to go on adventures?

The Character Should Make the Name, by Matthew MacNish

Not the other way around.

I know that may sound counter-intuitive, but think about it. Think about some of the best loved characters in middle-grade literature. In all literature, really.

Let's talk about a few of them.

Harry Potter, and Hermoine Granger too, for example.

They are two of the best named characters I've ever read, and you might think, well they were named perfectly. The names fit them so well. And they do, it's true. I mean being American I personally had never heard the name Hermoine before reading Rowling, and it is absolutely perfect, matching the heart of her character to a tea.

And Potter? I mean Potterwatch? Potter stinks? I'm sure there are other examples of how awesome his name is, but the point is I can't think of a better name for a young wizard trying to discover who he really is, find his power, and discover what he can do with it.

But would these names mean what they mean to us if we hadn't followed their stories through seven volumes and over a million words?

No. Even the best names don't mean anything unless we are compelled by, and feel a connection to, the character who owns them.

Let's discuss some other well known characters in books for young people. Let's try to cover both sides of the coin.

Artemis Fowl.

Here's a name that could almost disprove my point. This is such a wonderful, apt, clever, and all around amazing name for a character, that it almost defines him for you before you read his story. But what if Artemis had been someone else? What if Artemis hadn't been the world's youngest crime-lord genius with an interest in the environment and a soft place in his heart for Captain Holly Short?

Yes, I think we should recognize the fact the sometimes a name can be so great that it plays a major role in characterizing a ... well, character, but even in this case it is not the name the defines the character. Not even close.

What about Percy Jackson?

His named is borrowed from Perseus, the legendary founder of Mycenae, and a mythic Greek hero who took part in the slaying of various monsters. Percy is certainly a clever nickname, but borrowing from a famous legend for a character name isn't exactly original (Artemis also comes from Greek Mythology), and though it does help identify him a bit if you know the source of the nickname, it does not define him.

If you mention the name Percy to any person who's read the books, they know immediately who you are talking about, and they connect with all the amazing things he somehow managed to survive in spite of his ADHD and dyslexia. It's the character they remember. How he made them feel, why they cared about whether or not he succeeded, and what kind of person he was.

So, my point (however foggy and rambling it might be) is that it isn't their names that make these characters great, it's who they are, what they go through, how they handle it, and the choices they make to overcome it that define them for us as readers. I'm not trying to say that names mean nothing, I mean after all, if Harry Potter had been James Wilson it probably wouldn't have felt quite right, but I know that I, for one, could have lived with it.

I'm not saying you should name the protagonist Bob, and his love interest Mary-Sue, in your next novel, but if you make them flawed, compelling, exciting, and true, then whatever you name them will fit, because they'll be known for who they are, not what they're named.

What do you guys think? Got any other examples of greatly (or poorly) named characters in books for young people? Or do you think I'm wrong (you are allowed to disagree)?

Young Adult vs. Middle Grade

The Wikipedia definition of Young Adult Fiction is, fiction marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The vast majority of YA stories portray an adolescent as the protagonist, rather than an adult or a child. The subject matter and story lines are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character, but beyond that YA stories span the entire spectrum of fiction genres. If you look for the Wikipedia definition for Middle Grade fiction, you won’t find one.

Some of the defining points between MG and YA are the age of the protagonist, intended audience, subject matter, and word count.

Age of the protagonist and intended audience:  Typically, middle grade is intended for readers ages 8-12, with the protagonist at the higher end of the age range.  The reason for this:  while an 8-year-old would have no problem reading about a 12-year-old protagonist, a 12-year-old may be reluctant to read a book about an 8-year-old.

Subject Matter: MG readers are learning about who they are, what they think, and where they fit in. They do well with books they can relate to. They are still focused inward and the conflicts in MG books usually reflect this. The themes can range from school situations, friendships, relationships with peers and siblings, and daily difficulties that may seem ordinary to the rest of us. The parents are usually seen and have some sort of an influence. Kids at this age are also easily distracted,  so you want a faster pace and short chapters.
Young Adult novels deals with underlying themes and more complicated plots. It allows teens to examine deeper issues, what their role in life is, the differences a person can make, the importance of relationships, coping with tragedy, etc.  Protagonists are usually searching for their identity, figuring out who they are as an individual and where they fit in. These books generally are more gritty and realistic and the teens choices and actions drive the story. You see less parental influence.

Word Count:  Middle Grade used to be 20,000-40,000 words, some say around 50,000 words.
Young Adult is generally more around 55,000 to 80,000 words.

Exceptions:  So while there are defining differences, there are also exceptions.
Harry Potter and the Twilight series definitely exceeded the word count. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold has a fourteen-year-old protagonist in what is considered a higher end YA or even adult novel.

Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, although intended for a much younger audience, the protagonist is an adult, a literal –minded housekeeper, and it definitely works for this series, making it a fun classic!

And what about those hybrid graphic novels that are so hot right now? I’m betting those fall under the normal word count, making room for all the illustrations.

With so many cross-over genre books for these age-ranges, there’s something for everyone to read and write. What differences do you notice most in MG and YA?