All Things Middle Grade

MsJudy

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Trolls are deliberately horrible. Douchebags are just awful people who can't seem to help it.

BTW, Rachel Maddow called Supreme Court Justice Scalia a troll on the Daily Show this week. Never thought I'd hear that one...
 

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue
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I picked a few books from the library's kids' new release shelf, and they were published by Holiday House. They are an old kid lit-only publisher. Their guidelines say they publish books 'geared to the trade market' and not 'geared to the mass market'. What does that mean?
 

krashnburn

I've gone to pink!
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I just wanted to say thanks to RuthD for the link to the MG vs YA article on the previous page of posts. I entered a short for the last back to school kidlit contest on here and it's been banging around in my head since. I want to make it a MG novel. That's not what I normally write, so I started researching what's good for that age group, and that article was a great asset. Thanks!
 

Smish

Reads more than she writes.
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I just wanted to say thanks to RuthD for the link to the MG vs YA article on the previous page of posts. I entered a short for the last back to school kidlit contest on here and it's been banging around in my head since. I want to make it a MG novel. That's not what I normally write, so I started researching what's good for that age group, and that article was a great asset. Thanks!

Yay! Have fun. :D
 

DavidBrett

Alas, poor Yorick, he fed me 'nanas
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Robert L.B.

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Hi everyone. I'm new to these parts of the AW forums. Basically decided recently to give MG a try over YA after seeing how my shelves have a bit of YA and a whole lot of MG in the form of Percy Jackson series, Artemis Fowl, Seventh Tower, etc. Plus I like writing MG a lot more than YA, since it seems to focus more on the action/adventure than the romance.

So I guess I'll be hanging out here a bit more often.
 

tinker

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Hey everybody,
I just joined up yesterday and am slowly learning to navigate my way around... (technologically challenged but learning slowly) I just completed my first upper middle grade fantasy and am now working on its sequel.
Tinker
 

thelittleprince

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Hey everyone!
Yep, 'yolo' is definitely a thing. I actually find it kind of funny (picked it up from a kid) and now I say it sarcastically occasionally. Don't judge me!!!
 

JQ377

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I just got my account validated today and I'm really excited to start learning my way around.
Most of my favorite books growing up have been Middle Grade books so that's what I write now. My four biggest projects, including the one I'm working on right now all fall under this category.
 

jvc

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I just got my account validated today and I'm really excited to start learning my way around.
Most of my favorite books growing up have been Middle Grade books so that's what I write now. My four biggest projects, including the one I'm working on right now all fall under this category.
:hi: Hi, JQ, welcome to the watercooler and to the kidlet gang.
 

Tromboli

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Hey guys. I'm working on a MG dystopian in the realm of The City Of Ember (but with Goblins!). I have 3 questions, if you wonderful people would be so kind, 1. I asked about word counts for upper MG in a separate thread- I'm mostly wondering what other people are writing. Seems WC is trending up for MG. (thread is here for the full question http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8172744#post8172744) 2. recommendations for good dystopian MG? 3. Is dystopian as dead in MG as YA right now? I didn't think so but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks :)
 

Mud Mamba

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I don't think dystopian is dead at all, just saturated. As for recommendations, I guess The Giver (and the other books in that sequence) are a must read.
 

heza

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On word counts: I've got an upper MG fantasy. I'm shooting for 60K in the first draft, with a goal to edit down to somewhere from 40-50K.
 

SheilaJG

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I've read that dystopian is a really tough sell right now, so lots of agents are avoiding it.

Some dystopians that I've enjoyed -
Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi.
The Maze Runner by James Dasher
Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
The Knife of Never Letting Go (trilogy) by Patrick Ness.
Divergent is a popular book (series), but I couldn't read past the first book.
Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
 

profen4

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I'm working on revisions on a MG adventure right now, and my finishing goal is 70K words. The books in my sig are upper MG and they're all between 47K and 60K words.