Unsure if this is YA, MG or something else

The Second Moon

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I'm writing a collection of short stories (followed by two squeals that are also short story collections) about the same characters: A 40-year old inventor (Thomas) and his 12-year old assistant (Barney). They are both equally the main character. But, they both deal with emotional problems that kind of fit their age group.

Let's start with Thomas (the inventor): His main problem is that he's afraid to love because he's broken people's hearts in the past. He allows himself to have friends, but never gets closer than that with people. He believes love doesn't result in a happy ending. He knows a lot about science. Things I don't think MG readers would know (but it has been years since I was in middle school). Like the shape of cells, how eyes see color, or how liquid nitrogen reacts in extreme heat. He also mentions an ex-girlfriend putting a gun to his head, after he broke up with her. Bottom line is that Thomas makes me lean more towards something older than MG

Now to Barney (the 12-year old assistant) He just started middle school (6th grade) after being home schooled by Thomas for years. He has a crush on a girl and some of the kids at school make fun of him. Oh, he can also turn into an alligator-creature when he gets stressed or angry. His backstory is that his parents-- who he doesn't remember-- mixed him with a prehistoric alligator and then abandoned him (this isn't reveled until the second collection, though) Barney is smart and kind of understands the science-y things I mentioned above that Thomas knows. Barney makes me lean more towards MG.

I asked someone and they said MG, but... I don't know. YA? MG? Or something else?

Thanks!
 

starrystorm

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I would have to go for MG, TBH.

A break down for characters:

THOMAS: I think Middle grade students could maybe understand a bit of Thomas like with their own parents. Try not to get too into adult problems, or you'll make MG's back away. Plus that science stuff sounds like a learning opportunity.

BARNEY: Barney on the other hand sounds like a regular middle school kid with regular middle school problems. Again, his learning the science from Thomas could be another learning opportunity for readers.

I don't read a lot of short story collections, but I do know of some MG novels that had viewpoints of adults mixed in. (I was looking at MG books while writing this post and now I want to go back to my middle school library).
 

The Second Moon

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Thanks. Good timing, too starystorm. I was about to write a really intense scene where Thomas' ex blows up a water tower with a bunch of grenade. :evil (trust me. That's important to the story) Now I'm thinking that's WAY too intense. Maybe she'll just use a metal-melting chemical (that I'll make up) to create a hole in the tower.
 

Brightdreamer

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Thanks. Good timing, too starystorm. I was about to write a really intense scene where Thomas' ex blows up a water tower with a bunch of grenade. :evil (trust me. That's important to the story) Now I'm thinking that's WAY too intense. Maybe she'll just use a metal-melting chemical (that I'll make up) to create a hole in the tower.

Don't underestimate the MG audience... intense is fine for them. (Now, if you got exceptionally graphic with gore, not so much.) Indeed, bubble-wrapping the edges is a likely way to turn off the audience.

And, IMHO, it depends on whose POV you stick closest to. For MG - which, TBH, this sounds most like - stick closest to Barney's viewpoint (first or third doesn't matter - just that he's the lens through which the story is mostly viewed. You can still do chapters from Thomas's view, of course, but for MG you're going to want the reader to connect most with the MG character, the presumed hero/MC.)
 

The Second Moon

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Don't underestimate the MG audience... intense is fine for them. (Now, if you got exceptionally graphic with gore, not so much.) Indeed, bubble-wrapping the edges is a likely way to turn off the audience.

And, IMHO, it depends on whose POV you stick closest to. For MG - which, TBH, this sounds most like - stick closest to Barney's viewpoint (first or third doesn't matter - just that he's the lens through which the story is mostly viewed. You can still do chapters from Thomas's view, of course, but for MG you're going to want the reader to connect most with the MG character, the presumed hero/MC.)

Well the collection starts off from Thomas' POV, but Barney's POV is added in quickly. In each short story, you see, it switches from one MC's POV to the next then back to the first.

And there's nothing gory. (so it's a go on the grenades :greenie)
 

sissybaby

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Sounds MG to me - and as I'm surfing through these posts I'm watching Guardians of the Galaxy (seems pretty gory to me at times) but a lot of my MGers love them.
 

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Hmm . . .

I'm going to disagree a little with everyone else in that I'm not sure if this is MG or not because of the adult POV. But first I need to clarify - is this lower or upper MG? If it's lower you have more potential with having adult characters as protagonists as long as they are goofy and more like children in their behaviour. But if it's upper, if it's in the wheelhouse of say the first three Harry Potters, A Series of Unfortunate Events etc, then no, this isn't MG. Because such books have kids as leads and only kids. It doesn't mean you can't have interesting adult characters who are important, but the action is driven by the kids.
 

The Second Moon

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Hmm . . .

I'm going to disagree a little with everyone else in that I'm not sure if this is MG or not because of the adult POV. But first I need to clarify - is this lower or upper MG? If it's lower you have more potential with having adult characters as protagonists as long as they are goofy and more like children in their behaviour. But if it's upper, if it's in the wheelhouse of say the first three Harry Potters, A Series of Unfortunate Events etc, then no, this isn't MG. Because such books have kids as leads and only kids. It doesn't mean you can't have interesting adult characters who are important, but the action is driven by the kids.

Well, I try to make Thomas (the adult) and Barney (the kid) have an equal share in being the POV character. And no, Thomas isn't goofy and child-like. He's serious and distant from people.

So if I made Barney older, let's say, 13 or 14, then what category would it be in? Because I can make him older, and it wouldn't change the story.
 

owlion

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It should be okay as MG, I think. Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones is one example of MG with an adult POV - it's more about how you handle it.
 

The Second Moon

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It should be okay as MG, I think. Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones is one example of MG with an adult POV - it's more about how you handle it.

It's been a while since I've read that, but you're right. And Howl's Moving Castle (my favorite book ever ) by Diana Wynne Jones was only told from an adult's perspective. So I guess it is how I handle it. I remember reading that in middle school and connecting with Sophie's feelings about being scared and trying to tackle a new world. So, what I think your saying,owlion is that if I can get my reader to connect with Thomas' feelings-- like being scared or happy-- then they won't mind that he's an adult.
 

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Making Barney older will make things more difficult because there is no way it can be YA with an adult protagonist. So if you make Barney older then you are heading into adult territory.

But yes, I agree, ultimately it's about the tone and voice of the book. I mean the voice of a MG is vastly different from a YA which is vastly different from adult. You can't just change the marketing category based on age of character and be done with it. It's about the writing itself. I'm still not as convinced as others though that the adult protag in your case will work because one example that you were offered was fantasy and the other lower MG. You might want to post a writing sample in Share Your Work because that will be the best way to truly answer your question.

(btw, we all as children read things that weren't as restrictive market wise as I'm saying - heck The Hobbit is about an adult after all. And most pre-teens were reading Jurassic Park back in my day. But I am being super pragmatic here, and when it comes to MG specifically there's a lot more to it beyond "Oh I read about adults as a kid")
 
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The Second Moon

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Making Barney older will make things more difficult because there is no way it can be YA with an adult protagonist. So if you make Barney older then you are heading into adult territory.

But yes, I agree, ultimately it's about the tone and voice of the book. I mean the voice of a MG is vastly different from a YA which is vastly different from adult. You can't just change the marketing category based on age of character and be done with it. It's about the writing itself. I'm still not as convinced as others though that the adult protag in your case will work because one example that you were offered was fantasy and the other lower MG. You might want to post a writing sample in Share Your Work because that will be the best way to truly answer your question.

(btw, we all as children read things that weren't as restrictive market wise as I'm saying - heck The Hobbit is about an adult after all. And most pre-teens were reading Jurassic Park back in my day. But I am being super pragmatic here, and when it comes to MG specifically there's a lot more to it beyond "Oh I read about adults as a kid")

Okay. I'll keep Barney 12. Thanks for your input. I might also share some of it in SYW, to see if people think it's MG.
 

KBooks

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They are both equally the main character. But, they both deal with emotional problems that kind of fit their age group.

This makes me wonder a little. Usually, YA and MG tend to be aimed towards issues of readers of THAT age group, for the most part and if there is an adult narrator, the focus would still be MG-centric. Reading your description of Thomas, I wonder how MG-centric this is.

Upping a character's age by a few years to YA isn't really a solution. YA comes with an entirely different focus than MG, an entirely different voice and pace of writing, and different themes that are typically addressed. It's far more than just adjusting age upwards, just like hitting google translate won't getting you a good, authentic translation from one language to another.

The best advice if you want to write in a genre? Read WIDELY in it so that you are aware of what new books are being published in that genre every month and are current on present-day styles and trends.