Young Adult Literature: Middle Grade Literature

Titles Discussed

Better Nate Than Ever (2013) by Tim Federle

Mockingbird (2010) by Kathryn Erskine

The Thing about Luck (2013) by Cynthia Kadohata

Genre Overview

Books written for readers between eight and twelve years of age fall into a unique genre classification. While children's literature and young adult literature are both well-defined categories, up until the end of the twentieth century, many librarians, educators, and booksellers had a difficult time classifying what is now referred to as “middle-grade” literature, or, less commonly, “younger young adult” literature. While these books are often too advanced to be rightfully considered children's literature, they also largely shy away from the length, literary ambiguity, and mature subject matter that define young adult literature.

This confusion of genre classification does not mean that middle-grade novels are new. Perennial favorites such as Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (1962), Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy (1964), and Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993) speak to the diversity of successful books that have targeted this age range. However, they did pose a unique problem in that middle-grade readers often rely on adults—mainly parents, educators, and librarians—to acquire books for them. As the classification of middle-grade literature did not become common in libraries and bookstores until roughly around the turn of the twenty-first century, this made it unnecessarily difficult for young readers to connect with appropriate books for many decades, resulting in fewer middle-grade novels being published.

This scenario was compounded by the rapidity of the changes that preadolescents and adolescents experience, which also illustrates the importance of understanding middle-grade literature as its own genre. While young adult literature typically features protagonists with developed or developing self-identities who are learning to navigate a complex world, middle-grade literature is more often concerned with the somewhat limited world of home life and school, with protagonists just beginning to define their self-identities rather than testing how those identities might play out in the broader world. Similarly, middle-grade literature favors lighter, more optimistic views of the world; characters might navigate their first crush, for instance, but are unlikely to encounter the complexities of a first sexual relationship. When trauma is present, it is almost always overcome. These distinctions might only last for a few years before middle-grade readers shift their attention to young adult novels. Still, they are crucial years in the development of literacy and self-identity.

In the twenty-first century, middle-grade books have continued to demonstrate that although considerations of appropriateness and literary complexity must be considered when writing for younger readers, such novels can nonetheless employ clever literary techniques in confronting a broad range of subject matters. Kathryn Erskine's Mockingbird (2010) deals with a school shooting, while Cynthia Kadohata's The Thing about Luck (2013) addresses death and poverty. Yet, both are accessible to and appropriate for middle-grade readers (and both won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature). Similarly, Tim Federle's Better Nate Than Ever (2013) achieved critical and popular success with a decidedly lighthearted and optimistic narrative. While middle-grade literature as a genre has a unique set of expectations and boundaries attached to it, the novels themselves are as diverse as young adult novels in general.

Works

Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine, covers some of the bleakest material readers are likely to find in middle-grade literature. However, it does so with the same attention to sensitivity and accessibility that defines the genre as a whole. The novel is told in the present tense from the perspective of Caitlin, a fifth-grade girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Caitlin's brother Devon has recently been killed in a school shooting, and her mother died of cancer two years prior, leaving her father emotionally devastated and distant. In part because of her condition, Caitlin struggles to cope with her losses and the attendant social and family interactions, and she focuses much of her energy on her obsession with dictionaries and black-and-white drawings of birds. With the assistance of a school counselor, Caitlin spends the novel learning to process her feelings and form friendships with others affected by the shooting.

While her withdrawn father, the violent death of her brother, and the social ostracism Caitlin faces are all difficult subject matter for a middle-grade novel, Mockingbird portrays Caitlin as an empowered and healing individual rather than a girl disempowered by trauma. In part, this shift in focus is accomplished through the narration style. Caitlin's voice is influenced by her ASD, and she renders her world in simple and often blunt sentences, explaining exactly how she sees these tragedies without sentimentality or melodrama. Discussing the fact that she is no longer allowed in her brother's room, for instance, she states, “So I can't go to my hidey-hole in Devon's room anymore and I miss it.” Her loss is acknowledged, but it is treated more factually than emotionally—it is the place she hides, not Devon himself, that she mentions missing—which creates some distance for younger readers to process the trauma.

Similarly, the book takes place after the immediate losses of mother and brother; combined with the present-tense narration, this places readers firmly in the healing process rather than in the moments of death. As the novel progresses and readers become more familiar with Caitlin's unique voice and perspective, the narrative develops a strong sense of empathy with her, and it becomes easier to understand the world as she experiences it. It is not unrealistic to assume that some younger readers will experience traumas similar to those Caitlin experiences. By presenting the traumas in this arc, from loss rendered at a remove to healing and closure found through other people, the subject matter is portrayed in a way that is both honest and accessible for its target audience while still ensuring a happy ending.

Difficult topics, including death, also permeate Cynthia Kadohata's The Thing about Luck. Still, here they are placed at a much greater distance, allowing the twelve-year-old narrator, Summer, to understand them without the sense of trauma present in Mockingbird. Summer's family experiences a year of “bad luck,” with Summer almost dying of malaria, her parents returning to Japan to care for older relatives, and her grandparents taking her and her socially stunted younger brother to help them work the wheat harvest to make ends meet, as they are in danger of losing their home. While working the harvest, Summer increasingly takes on adult responsibilities, especially as her grandparents face their own health challenges that make physical labor impossible. Summer's first crush on a young boy and obsessions with mosquitoes and the harvesting process is tied in with this narrative. When her grandfather ultimately finds himself unable to work, Summer uses her acquired knowledge to sneak out in the evening and drive the combine herself, saving the family from losing their home.

In large part, Summer's difficulties are potential tragedies that she and her family manage to avoid, with the writing style further emphasizing the distance between her happy life and the dangers of the adult world. Her family struggles financially and risks losing their house, but they manage to earn enough through the harvest to avoid defaulting on their mortgage. Likewise, although malaria almost takes Summer's life before the novel begins, she lives without suffering any long-term effects. Summer displaces her engagement with these disasters, becoming obsessed with mosquitoes and the wheat-harvesting process rather than death and bankruptcy. She explains this displacement to the reader (ensuring that the text does not become too ambiguous in its meaning), saying of the mosquitoes, “I mean, if I saw one on my arm, I wouldn't hesitate to smash it or even run screaming down the highway. They terrified me. But still, we were inseparable.” Her tone when discussing her near death from malaria is casual, even humorous. At the same time, she constantly writes about mosquitoes in her journal, allowing her to obsess over death without confronting the reality of it directly. These obsessions are revealed to have inherent worth when Summer operates the combine and secretly saves her family, transforming the risk of bankruptcy into a moment of self-empowerment. While a young adult novel might require Summer to fully mature and face not only the loss of the family home and the impending deaths of her grandparents but also her eventual death, she only begins to explore these topics in a middle-grade novel. There is still room for fun and optimism here, and it is a levity that Summer is learning to apply toward more complex, mature issues in her life.

Compared to Summer and Caitlin, the titular protagonist of Tim Federle's Better Nate Than Ever faces relatively mild challenges. Nate's friends and family tease him for his weight, his acne, his height, his effeminate qualities, and especially his obsession with musical theater. In the face of this teasing, however, Nate's sense of self-confidence begins to take shape, bolstered by his quick wit. When Nate learns there is an open call in New York City for a musical based on the movie E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), he decides to run away from his Pennsylvania home for the afternoon and audition. Nate fumbles in navigating his adventure, with all the other young actors clearly more trained and professional than he is, and he must constantly fend off his furious parents at home. His unique charm, however, captures the attention of the casting team, and he gets pulled in for multiple callbacks. He also manages to connect with a long-lost aunt, and by the end of the novel, he has reunited his aunt and his mother and is waiting anxiously to find out if he has a part in a Broadway play.

While Nate's difficulty as a social outcast will be familiar to many middle-grade readers, his determination and sarcastic sense of humor, rendered through the first-person narration, allow him to transcend both his home and school life. When some bullies tell him that he cannot leave the gym until he makes three three-point basketball shots in a row, he asks if he can make “one nine-pointer and be done with it.” He still faces bullying, but rather than experiencing it as deeply traumatic as some middle-grade students will, his humor and narrative voice let readers know he will be okay. These same skills apply in New York; when Nate finds himself cold and wandering the streets alone, he does not fall into physical danger; instead, he finds a giant coat on the street and muses, “If I get sent back to General Thomas Junior High, I should just wear this all day long: a padded bruise protector.” In this way, young readers can experience Nate's physical and social risks while remaining in the safe bubble of his charmingly defiant narrative. Notably, the sarcastic nature of Nate's defiance also allows space for his own uncertainties and wounds. Regarding his sexuality, he states, “I am undecided. I am a freshman at the College of Sexuality and I have undecided my major.” This is a uniquely middle-grade position to assume. While Nate is not ready to explicitly engage with any sexual orientation, he still faces teasing because of his perceived sexuality—presaging some challenges he might face in coming years—but can delay addressing the topic while simultaneously expressing defiance against the teasing through his humorous narrative voice.

Protagonists in middle-grade novels occupy a unique space. While their worlds are still largely defined by the social space of the school and the private space of home life, their experiences are also being shaped in a new way by the adult, outside world. These novels allow their main characters to encounter the complexity of that outside world while maintaining an important distance. Nate's sarcasm, Summer's obsessions, and Caitlin's emotional resolve serve them well in this regard. Just as important, they serve the middle-grade reader, providing a comfortable safety even as mature or even hostile forces begin to influence their lives.

The availability of these valuable literary works has only increased as the twenty-first century has progressed, and “tweens”—the group of young adults no longer considered children butt not yet teenagers—has become a distinct demographic. The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams (2023) by Daniel Nayeri follows the story of one boy traveling along the Silk Road trade route and describes how his adventures teach him life-long lessons. Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy (2023) by Angie Thomas and Hamra and the Jungle of Memories (2023) by Hanna Alkaf are middle-grade novels that also fall into the popular fantasy genre. 

Conclusions

Like young adult literature in general, middle-grade literature in the twenty-first century has increasingly incorporated more mature themes and language, with readers in their target demographic prepared for subject matter that would have seemed out of place in the genre in previous decades. Publishing companies and educational organizations have turned their attention to understanding the unique properties and opportunities of the middle-grade novel, a trend driven in part by the reality that young people between the ages of eight and twelve are emerging as a demographic that spends considerable money on entertainment.

These factors have all resulted in an upswing of high-quality middle-grade literature, with authors crafting works that lack the heightened literary ambiguity of young adult novels (which is often too difficult for middle-grade readers to process) but still embrace the challenges and complexities of middle-grade life in the twenty-first century. Some critics do take issue with the influence of realistic fiction on the middle-grade genre, arguing that the social realities finding their way into these books might be too much for their intended readers and preferring the style of twentieth-century literature aimed at this age group in which topics such as school shootings would have been inappropriate. These critics argue that although readers might be more likely to buy such novels, the maturing narratives rob them of their childhood innocence and optimism prematurely.

In contrast, those who praise these new, realistic novels point to the strength and success of the main characters. Middle-grade students, they argue, are encountering the adult world at younger ages than ever before, especially with ever-increasing access to social media and other communication technology. These critics believe that the solution is not to shield the readers from the world they are entering but rather to provide them with characters who not only survive in that world but thrive in it. The best of the middle-grade novels do just that, with the protagonists relying on the same optimism that has always characterized the genre to navigate their challenges, emerging by the novel's end as characters who have gained confidence without sacrificing the joy of their youth.

Bibliography

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Rosen, Judith. “Middle Grade and YA: Where to Draw the Line?” Publishers Weekly, 21 July 2014, pp. 24–25. Literary Reference Center, . Accessed 14 May 2015.

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Woodson, Michael. “Why We Should Read Middle Grade Fiction as Adults.” Writer's Digest, 22 Oct. 2021, www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/why-we-should-read-middle-grade-fiction-as-adults. Accessed 16 Aug. 2024.