"Gods" in Middle Grade

SkyeScribble

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I just started writing a magical realism book for kids around ten to twelve, maybe a little older. It's about a little girl whose town is invaded by strange things (think surrealist-painting strange: whales in the sky, an ocean behind the playground, roads covered in blinking eyeballs) and no one seems to notice but her.
The "strange things" are caused by bizarre creatures called Mad Gods, which are alien-like and some of them are massive and lovecraftian but not all.

What I'm wondering is if this is too weird for kids of that age and if the imagery will be too disturbing. I'm also worried about calling them "gods." Would this turn off religious parents?

Edit: Or am I just writing an adult book? That's the genre I usually write in.
 
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Brightdreamer

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I wouldn't worry about who isn't going to read your story. People dismiss books for all sorts of reasons: they don't like the idea of gods aside from their own, they only read about vegan MCs, they don't like books with blue on the cover. Worry instead about keeping hold of the ones who do pick up your story.

As for being "too weird"... well, write it and see. It might skew a little toward the upper end of MG, maybe, for more advanced readers, but if it's written well I'd think it could work.
 

C.bronco

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My son is finishing 6th grade; his history class covered Greek mythology, Gilgamesh and other ancient beliefs, many of which have been absorbed by video games. He loved the Percy Jackson stories. If you lean more towards Dali with your imagery, I see no issue as long as the plot is good.
 

SkyeScribble

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Thanks for your responses Brightdreamer and Bronco. I was thinking about how I can keep the imagery from being to gory while also giving a slightly scary vibe. I also want to balance humor in. I think a good start would be limiting the use of disembodied limbs and organs...

And your right Bright. No matter what we write about it's going to turn someone off.
 

SuperKate

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I think MG is a great spot for bizarre stories. Kids are usually pretty open-minded. I'm reading The True Meaning of Smekday right now, which is incredibly creative and off-kilter, and my 8YO devoured it.
 

kenpochick

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Some religious people don't let their kids read Harry Potter. It hasn't hurt J.K. Rowling any. Don't worry about it.

Rick Riordan has two series with lots of gods for the MG audience.
 

killdeer

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I just started writing a magical realism book for kids around ten to twelve, maybe a little older. It's about a little girl whose town is invaded by strange things (think surrealist-painting strange: whales in the sky, an ocean behind the playground, roads covered in blinking eyeballs) and no one seems to notice but her.
The "strange things" are caused by bizarre creatures called Mad Gods, which are alien-like and some of them are massive and lovecraftian but not all.

What I'm wondering is if this is too weird for kids of that age and if the imagery will be too disturbing. I'm also worried about calling them "gods." Would this turn off religious parents?

Edit: Or am I just writing an adult book? That's the genre I usually write in.

Middle grade fiction gets delightfully weird. Kids have a wonderful ability to appreciate the strange and surreal. Of course you need to write it at a kid's level of complexity, but you can do a lot at that level. Kids are inexperienced but they're also smart and imaginative. Try some of Daniel Pinkwater's work as an example.
 

SkyeScribble

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Thanks SuperKate, Kenpo, Ruth, and killdeer. I'm guess I don't have anything to worry about!

I always thought of the Riordan books (and the like) as being geared more toward older kids, lower YA maybe, but I suppose not. Besides it doesn't much matter what age group reads my stories. I'm writing the story as a sort of present for a class of 10-11 year olds I worked with this year, so I started it with them in mind, but we'll see how it turns out.

I should remember that kids are open to all kinds of things. I'll be interested to see just how much I can get away with in this story.
 

Tromboli

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I suggest picking up a few MG books to get a feel for the voice to see if yours fits there. I like the idea and think it sounds awesome but whether its MG completely depends on how its written.
 

Waldo

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I want to read your book.

It falls into the MG category. Scary Stories is a long standing series of short stories with incredible charcoal illustrations that you might want to look up.

As a horror/surrealist writer, you don't have to explain where these things come from and it is better to go alien rather than religious if you offer any explanation.
 
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I wouldn't think it's too weird. Children have great imaginations. Read a Wrinkle in Time. Now, that weird.