Trixie's post got me back on a subject that I've been toying with for quite some time, and I didn't want to hijack it.
Long story short, I have had two different beta readers tell me that with some minor tweaking they thought my plot could work very well with a MG audience as opposed to YA (for various reasons - not complex subplots, the characters' internal motivations, not much romance, only a few obscenities [that could be deleted], how they grow, etc.). I personally think the voice would have to be a little younger for the MC, but it's really not a huge stretch.
But now I'm not sure about this. My biggest concern is that my book has a lot of science lingo in it. I talk about bacteria and viruses and clinical research and whatnot (the antagonist is a doctor and there are some chapters in his POV). I think it's complicated. I've had one other beta tell me I should make it an ADULT book even (?!) ... though she mainly said that because they drink blood (not vampire related) and I'm just taking that to mean she's never read any YA (because that totally shouldn't matter).
Now I'm getting my agent list together and I'm really second guessing myself (might just be lack of self confidence, but whatever). So just to appease my curiosity: How smart ARE kids these days? Can technical stuff ever work in a (upper) MG book?
Long story short, I have had two different beta readers tell me that with some minor tweaking they thought my plot could work very well with a MG audience as opposed to YA (for various reasons - not complex subplots, the characters' internal motivations, not much romance, only a few obscenities [that could be deleted], how they grow, etc.). I personally think the voice would have to be a little younger for the MC, but it's really not a huge stretch.
But now I'm not sure about this. My biggest concern is that my book has a lot of science lingo in it. I talk about bacteria and viruses and clinical research and whatnot (the antagonist is a doctor and there are some chapters in his POV). I think it's complicated. I've had one other beta tell me I should make it an ADULT book even (?!) ... though she mainly said that because they drink blood (not vampire related) and I'm just taking that to mean she's never read any YA (because that totally shouldn't matter).
Now I'm getting my agent list together and I'm really second guessing myself (might just be lack of self confidence, but whatever). So just to appease my curiosity: How smart ARE kids these days? Can technical stuff ever work in a (upper) MG book?
Last edited: