tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post8154998328841918360..comments2024-03-25T13:09:43.054-05:00Comments on Charlotte's Library: What makes a middle grade book one grown-ups will like?Charlottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-49308818794773127282017-05-09T19:23:51.473-05:002017-05-09T19:23:51.473-05:00Love this post - I found myself thinking "Yes...Love this post - I found myself thinking "Yes! EXACTLY!" through the whole thing! ...finding the mind of the adult fiction reader incomprehensible... except Sayers and Austen... because characters in grown-up fiction aren't likable and the plots aren't held together crisply... <br />The only additional point I can think of is that some books are fine for kids but seem derivative to adults, because the kids haven't seen something like it before, but adults have. For example, I loved Prydain Chronicles as a kid, but when I came back to them after Tolkien, they didn't seem to hold up so well to adult reading. <br />But the bottom line is that everyone's taste is different and yours is the only taste you can trust! As A.A. Milne wrote, "Is it a children's book? Well, what do we mean by that? … [There] are masterpieces which we read with pleasure as children, but with how much more pleasure when we are grown-up. … And is a book "suitable for a boy of twelve" any more likely to please a boy of twelve than a modern novel is likely to please a man of thirty-seven; even if the novel be described truly as "suitable for a man of thirty-seven"? I confess that I cannot grapple with these difficult problems. But I am very sure of this: that no one can write a book which children will like, unless he write it for himself first."Anne E.G. Nydamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02406524149458743460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-17583214401887912752017-04-27T21:28:10.473-05:002017-04-27T21:28:10.473-05:00Yes, that might be interesting!Yes, that might be interesting!Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-15615870470494304402017-04-26T18:43:43.211-05:002017-04-26T18:43:43.211-05:00This is really interesting, Charlotte. Perhaps a p...This is really interesting, Charlotte. Perhaps a panel topic for #KidLitCon?Jen Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10343476550309656223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-73530046440290191352017-04-26T18:40:53.706-05:002017-04-26T18:40:53.706-05:00Yes, Brenda! I was just thinking about that this m...Yes, Brenda! I was just thinking about that this morning. I think I am more sensitive to books that are heavy-handed in messaging than kids are, because I notice it more. There are authors who I know mean very, very well, but who I can no longer read. <br /><br />I agree with you and Sage about stakes, too. As I approach 50 (!), I just can't care all that much about popularity or sibling rivalry or whatever. Jen Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10343476550309656223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-67319581514203959002017-04-25T23:54:28.392-05:002017-04-25T23:54:28.392-05:00Interesting dilemma. I agree that the stakes have ...Interesting dilemma. I agree that the stakes have to be high and that humor is a great help. For humor the Clayton Stone books come to mind. Character is sooooo important. For stakes and character, any of Gary D. Schmidt's books. But I haven't read anything recently that pops to mind. I will be interested to see what you come up with.Rosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01294774973863802821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-66302233847336615372017-04-25T20:16:05.699-05:002017-04-25T20:16:05.699-05:00I find myself asking Protagonist Me that question ...I find myself asking Protagonist Me that question a lot at about 3 o'clock at work on a spring afternoon.Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-84720099528697755262017-04-25T18:31:03.818-05:002017-04-25T18:31:03.818-05:00Thank you! That is helful. I am vexed that R.W.G....Thank you! That is helful. I am vexed that R.W.G.'s new one isn't out in time....but I have Armstrong and Charlie on my stack, and maybe it will work. And I was actually thinking of Ursula Vernon's Hamster Princess books--why shouldn't bored restless grownups not get to enjoy those? <br />Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-44555410372469602252017-04-25T15:08:48.261-05:002017-04-25T15:08:48.261-05:00OH, dear. I kind of hate when I come up with a tit...OH, dear. I kind of hate when I come up with a title for a thing, and then it... doesn't pan out. This happens to me far too frequently. And, I, too, am the wrong person for this: I read far fewer adult novels, and certainly none of the ones "everyone" is talking about - <i>Girl on the Train</i>? Nope. <i>Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest</i>? Nope, and why was she that dumb? - etc.<br /><br />True crossover books - which is what I call YA which adults like - real, true crossovers are pretty rare. I think the narrative arc has to be pretty full of things for readers of both age groups to discover, yet also leave room for humor, intrigue, twists, etc -- Books like Hilary McKay's Exiles or Ursula Vernon's amusing lizard graphic novels work, or there's a touch of historical stuff you can react to as an adult while enjoying the kid's-eye-view of a thing (Rita Williams Garcia's ONE CRAZY SUMMER series or Wendy Mass' EVERY SOUL A STAR - those interstitial spaces in the narrative for the adult or the child to discover things make room for the crossover effect to happen. Those books are rarer than hen's teeth, though, and I haven't read a whole bunch recently published that struck me like that. Be on the look out for Sara Lewis Holmes' MG coming out this autumn, though. She's left the perfect adult/tween space.tanita✿davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01671822274852087499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-66272155797123313342017-04-25T07:11:45.248-05:002017-04-25T07:11:45.248-05:00Amina's Voice is in my pile....And it is true ...Amina's Voice is in my pile....And it is true indeed that being independent is not a new and exciting thing to many of us....Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-63173535741952284552017-04-25T07:10:42.027-05:002017-04-25T07:10:42.027-05:00yeah, I totally agree that Messaging is a big turn...yeah, I totally agree that Messaging is a big turn off!Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11835101886202235868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-28686899269077293962017-04-25T05:33:30.174-05:002017-04-25T05:33:30.174-05:00Ooh. I'm probably not the person to make recom...Ooh. I'm probably not the person to make recommendations either, since Sayers is one of the few adult authors I like as well! Train I Ride was interesting to me as well. One of the big themes in MG lit is striking out on one's own... and since adulting requires that every day, we don't necessarily want to read about it. I think more adults would like survival books, actually. Books about other cultures are interesting for many reasons, so maybe some of those titles. Amina's Voice would be a good one. Have to think about this!Ms. Yinglinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805324364289597178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-71729559302837896392017-04-24T21:27:55.787-05:002017-04-24T21:27:55.787-05:00It's funny but I don't like a book for MG ...It's funny but I don't like a book for MG that comes off as one that adults should like, or is to heavy handed in its messaging. I also agree with Sage about the stakes and humor being important, I just want a book that we can share enjoyment in reading together. Something we can discuss. Brendahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13260139292374478327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-18291407765964246332017-04-24T20:23:11.928-05:002017-04-24T20:23:11.928-05:00I typed a reply to this but blogger ate it.
A ques...I typed a reply to this but blogger ate it.<br />A question I find myself asking with many MGs is "Why can't the protagonist just go home?"Sage Blackwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10847897945969895906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-73069617182273920122017-04-24T20:14:06.674-05:002017-04-24T20:14:06.674-05:00I like your point about stakes! I am especially no...I like your point about stakes! I am especially not interesting in a MG book in the stake being whether the main character's crush will turn into a relationships. I'm not interested in little kids (though at 13 they would bristle at that) thinking they are in love. And I do not like the kind of humor you describe either, and would be suspicious of the adult who did.....<br />Charlottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15750715350958105088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1265120169320473011.post-7623391155384003582017-04-24T20:06:42.796-05:002017-04-24T20:06:42.796-05:00Two things come to mind. One is stakes. It's v...Two things come to mind. One is stakes. It's very hard for me, at least, to get absorbed in a MG novel that doesn't have life-or-death stakes. I think that winning an awesome prize, or being the coolest kid in the school, are perfectly acceptable stakes for a child reader, but as an adult my attention will drift.<br /><br />Another is that there's a kind of humor in some MG that I call silly-billy-willy. Everything is played for laughs-- which is great! Humor is important, and humor that appeals to kids is of course very appropriate to MG. But if the humor is silly enough and persistent enough that no threat can be taken seriously, then I have a hard time taking the protagonist, the villain or the stakes seriously.<br /><br />Both of these may just be me, but I put them out there for what they're worth. In order to appeal to an adult (at least if the adult is me) a MG novel must have stakes that include a threat, and humor that doesn't negate the stakes.<br />Sage Blackwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10847897945969895906noreply@blogger.com