Shelving Tween Books

How old is a young adult?  According to some public libraries the answer is ELEVEN.

Our public libraries categorize books as Juniors (J) and Young Adult (YA). The age and grade of the book's main character determines how a book is labeled. Junior means the main character attends third through sixth grade. Young Adult means the main character attends seventh through twelfth grade. Libraries also consider whether a book discusses sensitive topics before labeling it.

Matching books with readers
As a writer, we keep both readers and publishers in mind.
According to publishers, middle grade books are geared for those children age 8 to 12. Young adult books are geared for teens age 14 to 17. And in the land of publishing 13-year-olds are in limbo. Some literary agents state that middle grade fiction means the main character attends middle school. While others in agent land treat age 13 like the 13th floor of a building, the missing floor.

LIAR & SPY by Rebecca Stead is a perfect middle grade novel. The main character's age, language and conflicts are geared to an 8 to 12- year- old reader. In our library, LIAR & SPY is labeled YA. Which means an elementary school age child needs to browse the young adult section to find LIAR & SPY.

About the book: When seventh grader Georges moves into a Brooklyn apartment building, 

he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy.

 As a parent, I'm concerned about challenging my children without introducing content they are not prepared to handle. Schools use programs such as Accelerated Reader (AR) to determine a student's reading level in order to challenge him or her to read slightly above.  

What's the take away?
Every library district has their own policy on shelving books. Ask your librarian. And if you consider yourself a middle grade writer, you may be surprised at your local library.

Autumn's Poem

 

 

Take a walk outside

to breathe in natures fresh scents

and clear your head of fear.

Picture taken on the grounds of the 

National Mall in Washington, D.C.

by Manju

Art of Storytelling

This week I'm responding to Editor Cheryl Klein’s blog. Ms. Klein has edited many children's books including THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ME by Karen Rivers. As a writer, I am amazed that Rivers structured her novel to follow the format of an encyclopedia from A to Z. The story is told through main character Tink's alphabetical entries which share humor and teenage angst.

From THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ME:

Aaron-Martin, Tink.  That's me, aged almost thirteen, the star of this encyclopedia.  I wrote it in my spare time, during the weirdest, most wonderful summer of my life.  I had a lot of spare time due to being grounded.  (But it wasn't my fault!  At least, not totally.)

Ms. Klein's challenged blog followers to write an encyclopedia entry for their main character. From my novel TRIPLE B: 

Samantha Springs (July 7, 2000 to present)

I'm a California girl who was born to messed up parents. When I was five, my father Pit (everyone uses his nickname, including me) decided to take another crack becoming an actor in Hollywood. He landed a small part and racked up lots of debt. So we had to sell everything and move into a mobile hole (and I mean hole). 

Pit's drinking got worse along with the daily bullying. So my older brother Brad joined the Army and moved out. Mom has moved out mentally but not physically. And I'm stuck here.

I found this artwork in a book called The Smithsonian's Collections which perfectly represents my life. Mr. Knightly, Mom's boss and lover, is gassing up her putt putt car so they can drive off into the sunset. Below the car, Pit is pushing from one side and my evil nemesis in eighth grade is pushing me from the other side. Her name is Tiffany Lane.

I'm trapped between them. I'm half drawn, half loved, half me.

Don't Give Up

“Things will get easier, people's minds will change, and you should be alive to see it.”

― Ellen DeGeneres

Bullying does not build character. Bullying builds fear.

For those bullied:
life is not easy
and life is not fair
to be yourself in a teenage group
has challenged most generations
have courage to see past today and
believe in a better tomorrow
please reach out for help
you are not alone in this world

For those bystanders:
It's up to you to stop standing by
and stand up
for the kids being treated like crap
you have to try
help a hurting kid to stand back up
bring them into your group of friends
or speak when their voice
can not be heard

For those bullying:
we are all different
different is neither good or bad
accept don't hate
understand don't belittle
if you're unhappy
then ask for help
putting others down
will not make you happy

We must end the abuse together.