Is age thirteen too young of a protagonist?

Grayson Moon · Jan 3, 2017

So yes, generally speaking, you have your protagonist's age the same as the targeted age of the reader (or higher, but not by too much). Since this is YA, the age range for a MC is roughly 14-18. The younger the protagonist, the younger the content (usually). My story calls for a thirteen-year-old, and this isn't necessarily a "younger content" YA novel. Violent (detailed) action scenes. Even if there are no prominent sex themes, drugs are a reality, and this novel is set in Newark. Now, the environment in which this boy grew up had him mature faster than your usual kid, added to the fact that he had to grow up surround in a world of "superheroes" (I use the term loosely). He definitely doesn't act like the average immature thirteen-year-old boy, but he's not the genius protege with no flaws, either. What I've been wondering is whether a novel of violent conflict, both physically and mentally, will be downplayed by the young age. I could always play it safe and make him older, but if that was what the plot required, then I would have done that to begin with. His sister is closer to the targeted age (17) and is heavily involved in the plot, yet the boy is the one narrating from his POV. Having a dual POV would be anticlimactic, since the sister is an unwitting antagonist. Do you think readers could still relate to a MC this young? Or am I overthinking it?

Testome · Jan 3, 2017

I've been told YA is restrictive on the age of YA characters, and 13 seems really close to MG. However, I would probably skip YA book with aged 13-15 characters unless a friend recommended it.

Toothpaste · Jan 3, 2017

Would you say your content is more violent than the first three Harry Potter books?

And what do you mean by "drugs are a reality"? How does that manifest in the book?

NightMaster · Jan 4, 2017

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is YA but has an MC who is 13/14. I think it totally depends on the content and themes.

CJSimone · Jan 4, 2017

Grayson Moon said:
So yes, generally speaking, you have your protagonist's age the same as the targeted age of the reader (or higher, but not by too much). Since this is YA, the age range for a MC is roughly 14-18. The younger the protagonist, the younger the content (usually). My story calls for a thirteen-year-old, and this isn't necessarily a "younger content" YA novel. Violent (detailed) action scenes. Even if there are no prominent sex themes, drugs are a reality, and this novel is set in Newark. Now, the environment in which this boy grew up had him mature faster than your usual kid, added to the fact that he had to grow up surround in a world of "superheroes" (I use the term loosely). He definitely doesn't act like the average immature thirteen-year-old boy, but he's not the genius protege with no flaws, either. What I've been wondering is whether a novel of violent conflict, both physically and mentally, will be downplayed by the young age. I could always play it safe and make him older, but if that was what the plot required, then I would have done that to begin with. His sister is closer to the targeted age (17) and is heavily involved in the plot, yet the boy is the one narrating from his POV. Having a dual POV would be anticlimactic, since the sister is an unwitting antagonist. Do you think readers could still relate to a MC this young? Or am I overthinking it?

Hi Grayson Moon. It will likely be a hard sell as YA with a 13-year-old MC. Just going a year up to 14 could help a lot if you really want this to be YA. Otherwise you probably will want to market it as MG, which might mean editing out some of the graphic details, but keeping the essential story. Hope it works out!

Edit: Maybe you could post a very brief excerpt with the kind of graphic violence you're talking about, so we could see if it feels like it's too much for MG or not.

EMaree · Jan 4, 2017

My first instinct was that if the story truly needs a 13 year old protag, as you say, to go ahead and write it.

However I'm concerned that you say "his sister is closer to the targeted age (17) and is heavily involved in the plot" -- if your true audience is 17-year-old readers, having a 13-year-old protag lead the story is really going to muddy the waters. Asking a target 17-year-old to emphasis with a 13-year-old boy's POV is a difficult ask and will turn off a lot of those target readers.

Some possible creative solutions would be dual sister/brother POVs (start the book with the sister to establish 17 yr olds as the core audience). Or you could make the sister the main POV character instead. That can work when the narrator is observing the true hero, as a sort of Sherlock-and-Watson-style grounding narrative, but I wouldn't recommend it for YA usually because YA readers usually prefer the most active and interesting character's POV.

Grayson Moon · Jan 4, 2017

Thank you all for the advice! To Toothpaste's question about the drugs, it's never used by the protagonist, and is more of the usual criminal activity dealt with, such as illegal cocaine distribution (I say illegal, because cocaine is now medically legal in the United States). Drugs aren't a constant theme, but it's not skirted around, either.

I did consider a brother/sister POV at one point. And I might be able to pull it off since she is unaware of how much she affects the plot. That might even add more conflict, since one sibling is convinced their actions are justified, while the other doesn't. Although, this story is not only targeted at 17-year-olds (when I said the sister was more the targeted age, I meant the readers would relate to her more). I don't want to label anything as specific, since that narrows down the potential audience. That brings us to the excerpt CJSimone suggested:

Eros goes from pinning me against a car to crushing me into the pavement with a crack.

There go my ribs.

Static blotches my vision, and something warm trickles into my lungs. The only thing keeping me from coughing up blood is the hand crushing my throat.

Of course, cutting down on the description might make it suitable for MG in that respect, MG doesn't usually require the deep emotional conflict involved in the plot like this story does. While a MG novel would be driven by the action and the adventure, this story revolves around the complicated relationship between the brother and sister. This being the case, dual POVs might work better. I do agree that the young protagonist issue can be solved by simply making him 14, and I'm taking that into serious consideration.

Toothpaste · Jan 4, 2017

I think you could make this MG and likely without too many changes, people make assumptions about MG a lot (like how it doesn't require deep emotional conflict - I guess it doesn't require it but it's okay if it also has that, in fact it's rather good if it does). But if you want to make your two characters co-leads, then maybe it might work for YA. With that said, why not age him up to 14 if you do that?

CJSimone · Jan 4, 2017

Toothpaste said:
I think you could make this MG and likely without too many changes, people make assumptions about MG a lot (like how it doesn't require deep emotional conflict - I guess it doesn't require it but it's okay if it also has that, in fact it's rather good if it does). But if you want to make your two characters co-leads, then maybe it might work for YA. With that said, why not age him up to 14 if you do that?

+ 1

Some MG readers might really appreciate a book with deep emotional conflict, especially one that combines that with adventure.

remister · Jan 4, 2017

Grayson Moon said:
Of course, cutting down on the description might make it suitable for MG in that respect, MG doesn't usually require the deep emotional conflict involved in the plot like this story does. While a MG novel would be driven by the action and the adventure, this story revolves around the complicated relationship between the brother and sister. This being the case, dual POVs might work better. I do agree that the young protagonist issue can be solved by simply making him 14, and I'm taking that into serious consideration.

Hmm... Some MG novels/plots are very centered on emotions and complicated r/s. I see that more in contemporary MG, though, Eg) The Thing About Jellyfish.

13 is generally considered too young for YA but there are exceptions. Ender's Game has a young protag (can't remember, maybe he was 10) but it's YA (right?).

So I guess it's hard to tell if 13 is too young until one has read your book.

*OK I'm not helping. Slinks away*

Claudia Gray · Jan 8, 2017

I think 13 is going to be too young for YA generally. If the content of your book is such that it won't work as MG, then you might consider going the other direction and make this more literary, and target it as much at adults as teen readers. Life of Pi, The Secret Life of Bees, The Kite Runner, It, the Goldfinch: Very different books, but each written for older readers with younger protagonists. Heck, Room has a five-year-old narrator and is a very adult book.

Nonicks · Jan 11, 2017

An agent told me that 14 is hard to sell, so no matter what don't age him to 14. 15 is okay and 13 for MG. If your character feels mature, then it should be YA. This is the difference between YA and MG, not the sex and drugs.

Tromboli · Jan 11, 2017

My first thought was that yes, YA can have a 13year old protagonist in the right circumstances but I mean with really dark and gritty themes. More than just content, but tone.

But based on your description I think it would likely work better as a MG. You can push the lines much farther in MG than a lot of people think. Hard to say for sure but your best bet is to read a lot of upper MG to get a feel for if your book could fit there.

cmtruesd · Jan 16, 2017

As a middle school teacher, I can tell you that the jump from 13 to 14 is HUGE. That summer before high school is an important year, and huge emotional/physical/social growth occurs. Therefore, I'd say you need a 14yo MC for it to be considered YA.

Cekrit · Jul 5, 2017

Age is one thing, I feel as though most YA is targeted between 12-18 years old, however it also depends on the content of the story. A 13 year old main character, or even a 12 year old that is going through some heady experiences would still be YA over a children's novel in my opinion.

Is age thirteen too young of a protagonist?

Grayson Moon

Testome

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

NightMaster

CJSimone

EMaree

a demon for tea

Grayson Moon

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

CJSimone

remister

Claudia Gray

Nonicks

Tromboli

Hopelessly Hopeful

cmtruesd

practical experience, FTW

Cekrit