10 too young for MC?

1970's--not a problem.

10-year-old MC--definitely potentially a problem. Is there a reason he/she needs to be so old, or something besides the wc and the swearing (which can both me edited) that makes the ms distinctly YA? I'm working on one right now with a 12 year old protag, but most of the book is talking about his 17 year old brother. So there's definitely that YA feel. What makes yours YA?

The problem is, teens don't want to read about 10-year-olds. To a teen, 10-year-olds just aren't real people so why should they care?

(Of course I'm generalizing, but if I'm not mistaken that's how an agent is going to see it.)

I started a book like this myself a long time ago. I originally intended for my somewhat-of-a-prodigee 9-year-old to be primarily the voice peace for an older character, but he took over and I've since abandoned it. I think teens would read it, but I don't know if they'd buy it. I'm thinking of making him a sort-of-simple teen now, instead of a 'younger brother'. It is a toughie.

Personally, I think 10 probably is too young for YA.

I know my MC is 12, almost 13, and I'm pushing the envelope of YA, but my theme is definately not an MG theme, so I consider it YA. (I just don't see 12/13 as being in the same league as 8-11 children's literature.) lol

The problem is, teens don't want to read about 10-year-olds.

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I think it really depends on what your 10 year old has to hook them in. If they are sufficiently different from the norm then older kids would find them interesting. It happens in real life, you often get the odd younger kid hanging round with a bunch of teens - usually for their entertainmnet, either the young kid is stupid enough to do what they tell them or has some other quality they want to exploit. So the question is, what does your MC have that appeals to teens? Swearing alone isn't enough to make it YA material, it really needs something that a teen audience can relate to. An alternative approach is having the 10 yr old MC as seen through the eyes of a teen character. That way you get a teen perspective on your situation and can use their voice to argue your corner of why this kid has got their attention.

Otherwise, consider rewriting it for a younger audience (either trim or serialise?) or an adult audience. But with the latter, you'll have the same problem - you'll need the adult perspective, either reminiscence (Wonder Years/Stand by Me) or observation (Sixth Sense)

Grey