5 year old MC for MG?

thelittleprince · Feb 16, 2014

So the MC (and MC's best friend) in my contemporary MG WIP are only 5 years old. Which I know is unusual for MG fiction. Someone once told me that kids only like to read about kids who are their age or older.

Here's the thing - I want my characters to be just starting school (plot point). Secondly, the story is told in third person, and the narrative voice is mature enough to be classified as MG fiction both vocabulary-wise and in tone (it is rather sarcastic, and at times explains the characters to be taking certain actions because they are 'only 5').

My WIP also addresses serious topics (such as racism and divorce) which my characters approach in a way that reflects their age. They are sweet and often quite ignorant, which adds humour to what could otherwise be quite a heavy book. There is nothing that annoys me more in MG fiction than a 9 year old character who acts like they're 5 - sometimes I think we really underestimate how much kids understand.

But anyway...I know the standard advice will be to finish the story! But I'm nearly there, and would love some advice ahead of time. Has anyone read good MG fiction in which the MC is younger than the book's intended readers? (Roald Dahl's Matilda comes to mind - any others?) And do you think the age of the two main kids would be a turn off for potential agents/publishers when (if?) the time comes for me to go down that path?

Aislinn · Feb 16, 2014

Reading your thread title, I thought to myself "Nah, that's never going to work," but your description actually sounds really good. So I'll just throw myself into the camp of 'finish it off and see how it goes.' My only other suggestion would be to use a MG-aged narrator, e.g. older sibling of your MC, but I wouldn't rule out that it could work simply the way you've described it.

alleycat · Feb 16, 2014

Just an idea: you could have the narrator be one of the younger characters who is now at least MG age--telling the story of what happened when he or she was five. That might also give you a chance to contrast what the character thought and felt then, and what the character thinks now.

Thuro · Feb 16, 2014

I really agree with Alleycat. That would free you up to interpret things in a more adult light if you choose to at certain parts of the book.

cornflake · Feb 16, 2014

thelittleprince said:
So the MC (and MC's best friend) in my contemporary MG WIP are only 5 years old. Which I know is unusual for MG fiction. Someone once told me that kids only like to read about kids who are their age or older.

Here's the thing - I want my characters to be just starting school (plot point). Secondly, the story is told in third person, and the narrative voice is mature enough to be classified as MG fiction both vocabulary-wise and in tone (it is rather sarcastic, and at times explains the characters to be taking certain actions because they are 'only 5').

My WIP also addresses serious topics (such as racism and divorce) which my characters approach in a way that reflects their age. They are sweet and often quite ignorant, which adds humour to what could otherwise be quite a heavy book. There is nothing that annoys me more in MG fiction than a 9 year old character who acts like they're 5 - sometimes I think we really underestimate how much kids understand.

But anyway...I know the standard advice will be to finish the story! But I'm nearly there, and would love some advice ahead of time. Has anyone read good MG fiction in which the MC is younger than the book's intended readers? (Roald Dahl's Matilda comes to mind - any others?) And do you think the age of the two main kids would be a turn off for potential agents/publishers when (if?) the time comes for me to go down that path?

Do the characters age up quickly?

I think I'm missing the point somehow. You dislike nine-year-old characters who act younger, so your book for nine- + year-olds has a younger protagonist who acts his age?

Why? How will prospective readers relate to a five-year-old? Why will they be interested? Kids do read up, and I can see the reaction being that it's a baby book, unless there's a specific thing to either relate to or that makes the age superfluous (like they're magical mice, or whatever, but it sounds like they're regular kids).

When you say it deals with serious topics, that's where I especially wonder about readers relating.

Aislinn · Feb 16, 2014

Kids do read up, but I think it's sometimes missed that kids are very interested in what babies (or kids younger than them) are like, and what they might have been like at that age, and how they have changed.

That was why I thought the original description sounded intriguing.

thelittleprince · Feb 16, 2014

Thanks alleycat, I really love your idea. It's funny because I usually jump straight into first person narration but I wanted to try something different with this story. I guess I'll have to assess if it is any good in third or if I should stick to what I know! I might give Ailsinn's idea a crack actually. My MC's best friend's brother is 11 and would be a fun lens to tell the story through. And since he is not present for quite a bit of the action he could tell the story with a mix of first and third person narration (when he is just recounting what he has been told)...interesting. It might be a fun exercise at least!

cornflake said:
Do the characters age up quickly?

I think I'm missing the point somehow. You dislike nine-year-old characters who act younger, so your book for nine- + year-olds has a younger protagonist who acts his age?

Why? How will prospective readers relate to a five-year-old? Why will they be interested? Kids do read up, and I can see the reaction being that it's a baby book, unless there's a specific thing to either relate to or that makes the age superfluous (like they're magical mice, or whatever, but it sounds like they're regular kids).

When you say it deals with serious topics, that's where I especially wonder about readers relating.

I know, it's confusing why I've done it like I have. I guess I just had an idea, and it was tied with beginning school, and it ran from there. But hey, I haven't even finished my first draft so I guess everything is allowed to be a little crazy

I see your point regarding readers relating - I'm trying to work out how to deal with that. I don't quite understand however what you mean by your last sentence. Surely kids find something to relate to in serious topics? My MC has parents who fight a lot (which lots of kids experience). And the theme of racism comes in because my MC's new best friend is black and my MC is white. It is him learning what racism is and trying to get his head around why adults act (and feel) the way they do about certain things.

cornflake · Feb 16, 2014

thelittleprince said:
Thanks alleycat, I really love your idea. It's funny because I usually jump straight into first person narration but I wanted to try something different with this story. I guess I'll have to assess if it is any good in third or if I should stick to what I know! I might give Ailsinn's idea a crack actually. My MC's best friend's brother is 11 and would be a fun lens to tell the story through. And since he is not present for quite a bit of the action he could tell the story with a mix of first and third person narration (when he is just recounting what he has been told)...interesting. It might be a fun exercise at least!

I know, it's confusing why I've done it like I have. I guess I just had an idea, and it was tied with beginning school, and it ran from there. But hey, I haven't even finished my first draft so I guess everything is allowed to be a little crazy

I see your point regarding readers relating - I'm trying to work out how to deal with that. I don't quite understand however what you mean by your last sentence. Surely kids find something to relate to in serious topics? My MC has parents who fight a lot (which lots of kids experience). And the theme of racism comes in because my MC's new best friend is black and my MC is white. It is him learning what racism is and trying to get his head around why adults act (and feel) the way they do about certain things.

With regards to the last sentence of that post, I meant I felt like, given they were more serious topics, I thought it might be harder to relate to a younger kid.

Like if it were about, I dunno, liking Halloween, I could see a kid relating to that. If it's about divorce or something in which there'd be a difference in the way you'd explain it to a five-year-old vs. a 10-year-old, I think having the 10-year-old relate to the five-year-old's feelings, experience, outlook, whatever, would be harder. Like if you were writing about the death of a grandparent, the way they'd experience/understand it would be very different. Does that make more sense? It may be me.

thelittleprince · Feb 16, 2014

Cornflake - I do understand you (I think?) This age thing has been at the back of my mind during this whole writing process - I'm kind of tempted to just finish the book then assess it after that, but I don't think I'll be able to.

So I've opened a new word document and am trying alleycat's idea of having the older MC recount his past experiences as a 5 year old. Only a few pages in, I think this works a lot better. But I'll see how I go.

Thanks again everyone for your invaluable advice

Stylo · Mar 2, 2014

Just chipping in, Dorothy Edwards' 'My Naughty Little Sister' books do the same sort of thing, and were (and still are) hugely successful. IMO as long as you inject warmth and humour it'll be fine

Fullon_v4.0 · Mar 2, 2014

Very different, indeed!

I would say MG depending on the intensity of the conflicts. Often what separates MG from other genres is that the characters have strong situations going on around them, be it drug abuse, racism, sex etc... as apposed to the characters actually engaging in the acts.

Are there going to be racial slurs? Any cursing? Those are things that often form the line between Children and Teen

suki · Mar 2, 2014

The "Fudge" books by Judy Blume came to mind in reading your post. Little brother Fudge's antics are hysterical, and on full-display, but the narrative POV is reader-age-appropriate older brother Peter. So, third-fifth grade readers can commiserate (and feel comfortable) reading the books since Peter is the "main character," but younger brother Fudge's antics are on display.

~suki

thelittleprince · Mar 3, 2014

More good ideas!

suki I have read the Fudge books, and loved them. I haven't read 'My Naughty Little Sister' but will get on it!

I have just completed my rough first draft and think it is a much better story told from the perspective of a 10 year old about his 5 year old self, recounting the story to someone important to (but absent from) the story. Not only do I think it is more suited to the MG age group this way but it also seems to give the story more character. And the story flowed so much easier in first person - maybe I just have to accept I'm not so great at telling stories in third person. Ah well, I'll practice on another book

As to your observation Fullen, on treading the line between children and teen - I'll have to be careful of that, as I really want this to be MG. There are a few racial slurs but nothing too intense.

Thanks everyone - now onto the editing, and sorting out this story I have poured out with absolutely no planning! :/

thelittleprince · Apr 20, 2014

So I'm reviving this thread because folks on here were so helpful to me last time, and I need a bit more help with this project re age.

So now my MC is looking back on his experiences when he was six years old. It is clear he is looking back, but he never mentions his current age. Do you think it is necessary he mention it? Or should my character's voice be strong enough that the reader can guess his approximate age?

Morrell · Apr 20, 2014

It's not the optimum set-up. Say I'm an eleven-year-old looking for a good read. I'd rather identify with someone my age or a bit older. Why would I be captivated by a story about a little kid?

Also, telling the story in flashback makes it hard to sustain tension. 'Looking back' is passive, not active. The story is finished; clearly the character survived. Much better if we are living through it as it happens, so to speak, without the frame of older person looking back.

That said, if you write it well enough, it can work. I just saw Grand Budapest Hotel, and... wow. It starts with a girl visiting a writer's grave, holding a copy of his book. Then we move back to the 1980s from the writer's POV ... then we move back to the 1930s to a story that was told to him. I was completely entranced throughout. Wes Anderson is brilliant.

But that wasn't what you asked. If you're going to do it that way, find a way to work in his age. It's kind of expected in MG.

suki · Apr 20, 2014

To be honest, I'm dubious. Children are not generally nostalgic. They don't generally want to read about their younger selves. But if that is the path you have chosen, then do it the best way you can.

In MG it is generally important to establish the character's age up front.

Good luck!

~suki

Debbie V · Apr 21, 2014

You ask about agents in the OP. I think the idea is a hard sell either way, with or without the frame story. It's still a middle grade about a five year old. I can't think of a single modern example - Matilda isn't modern.

The Fudge books were also begun a long time ago. Peter's voice makes them, and they aren't about Fudge. He's just one component of Peter's life.

Morrell · Apr 21, 2014

Debbie V said:
The Fudge books were also begun a long time ago. Peter's voice makes them, and they aren't about Fudge. He's just one component of Peter's life.

Exactly. They're about how Peter copes with the trials and tribulations of being a fourth-grader, including having a crazy little brother who swallows turtles. Also, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was published over 40 years ago, so you can't generalize to the current market.

5 year old MC for MG?

thelittleprince

Aislinn

Head down

alleycat

Still around

Thuro

I'm Batman

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Aislinn

Head down

thelittleprince

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

thelittleprince

Stylo

wall gazer extraordinaire

Fullon_v4.0

Shard Knight

suki

Opinionated

thelittleprince

thelittleprince

Morrell

suki

Opinionated

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others

Morrell