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For this reason, aim to have your protagonist's age be on the older side of your readership age range. So: Upper middle grade should generally have a protagonist around 12-13 years of age, though the character can be younger for general middle grade (Auggie in Wonder by R. J. Palacio is 10 years old, for example).
Adults and children often confuse the two categories of text, yet they target very different age ranges. Middle grade books are generally written for students aged 8 to 12, while young adult fiction targets students 12+ …but that’s not the only difference. Here are few more characteristics of middle grade versus young adult literature.
Many publishers have created a new young adult category for ages 10-14, for books that bridge the gap between middle grade and young adult, and have designated novels with older themes as ages 15 and up. The story, rather than the character’s age, delineates the audience, as in Carolyn Coman’s What Jamie Saw (a 1996 Newbery Honor Book).
Mar 4, 2024 · Classically, the age of middle grade readers spans from age 8 to age 12, roughly grades 3 through 7. The readership of young adult books is usually defined as 12+, or grades 7+. So many middle-school readers will, in fact, be reading young adult books.
- Check the word count. How long should your story be? Word count is important when it comes to figuring out what type of book you’re writing. Most middle-grade books run between 30,000 and 50,000 words since they’re geared for kids on a lower reading level (normally eight- to 12-year-olds).
- Check the prose level. A 10-year-old is on a different reading level than a 17-year-old, so the prose needs to be adjusted accordingly. Middle-grade books are written in simple, clear language; however, they can’t sound dumbed-down, which is why the middle-grade voice is so hard to nail.
- Check the character. In YA, the protagonist typically leaves home while in MG they’re connected to home. To put this another way, in a middle grade book the protagonist will discover who they are in relation to home.
- Check the content. Violence, language and sex — how much of these components does your manuscript have? Let’s look at these one-by-one and figure out where the line is drawn.
Jan 12, 2014 · Many publishers have created a new young adult category for ages 10-14, for books that bridge the gap between middle grade and young adult, and have designated novels with older themes as ages 15 and up. The story, rather than the character’s age, delineates the audience, as in Carolyn Coman’s What Jamie Saw (a 1996 Newbery Honor Book). The ...
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Jun 28, 2017 · However, one thing that amazes me is how expansive the YA age spectrum is. I’d say it starts with around 12/13 year olds and then goes up through post-high school (in terms of both readers and protagonist. There is a HUGE difference between a 13 year old reader and a 19 year old reader, and at times it can become sort of a disaster of a ...
