- Joined
- May 21, 2016
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I'm trying my hand at writing an upper MG for the first time and was wondering about the wisdom of including pop culture references, for books set in contemporary settings. I gather that it's generally considered a no-no, but I have to admit that I feel the urge because I think references can add specificity to characters and make them more relatable. So in the first part that I just wrote, I mentioned that my MC loves The Sims, which I thought was a pretty safe bet because that computer game has been around for ages and probably will continue to be around in the foreseeable future. I'd like to mention some long-running reality TV shows as well (i.e. American Idol, The Voice, America's Next Top Model), but I don't know if that's wise.
The MG series I loved at that age, which is still one of my all-time favorite series, is Animorphs, which is particularly infamous for its cultural references. I personally love it and think it's written into the DNA of the series. They tried to make "updated" versions of the books five or six years ago, but it didn't really work. But I realize that the 90s cultural references in the books are probably a barrier to entry for the books, despite wonderful characters and universally relevant themes.
So I'm curious to hear what other people think of pop culture references in middle grade.
The MG series I loved at that age, which is still one of my all-time favorite series, is Animorphs, which is particularly infamous for its cultural references. I personally love it and think it's written into the DNA of the series. They tried to make "updated" versions of the books five or six years ago, but it didn't really work. But I realize that the 90s cultural references in the books are probably a barrier to entry for the books, despite wonderful characters and universally relevant themes.
So I'm curious to hear what other people think of pop culture references in middle grade.