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This is a question about book series that cross over from MG to YA. There aren't that many examples I can think of, and it's generally discouraged to move from one age group to another. Well, my WIP is currently an 8-book space fantasy series. It starts out as upper MG for the first 3 books with the MC aged 13-14, and then crosser over to YA. My question is, just how YA-ish are you allowed to get when you make the transition? We know that YA vary in terms of edginess and violence. Will the fact that my series started out as MG compel me to remain on the younger side of YA after book 4? If we look at Harry Potter, one of the few examples I can think of to transition from MG to YA, it nevertheless abstained from violence even in the last couple of books which were firmly YA. Even as far as the Deathly Hallows, there was no mauling, eye-stabbing, or throat-tearing, or pregnancy like in Twilight and Hunger Games. So can an upper MG transitioning into YA go all the way to upper YA? Or does it have to remain within the confines of younger YA (Ranger's Apprentice, Eragon, False Prince...etc. Stuff with 15 yo protagonists)?
Here's a breakdown of all mature content I can think of:
- Book 1-3, Middle-grade. MC is 13-14. Clean content.
- Book 4, Young adult. MC is 15. There's mention of a major character who once devoured another human. This is never shown. That character is deeply remorseful, and is never tempted to, nor does he commit that act again. This book is also where the MC develops feelings for a girl.
- Book 5, MC is 16, officially lovesick. Lots of romance, but no sex, not even implied.
- Book 6, MC is 16-17. Here things darken a bit. There's pregnancy, but the child is stillborn. A bit of grief on the 17 yo mother's part and for a while she has nightmares and wakes up screaming for her baby. There's also another scene where the MC is so remorseful that for a brief instant he tries to shoot himself, but he immediately comes to his senses. It's a quick scene. Kinda like how Bruce Banner said in the first Avengers movie: "I got low, put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out." The Avengers is rated 13+ and yet there was talk of committing suicide, though I found the way Banner spoke of it to be relatively tame (definitely tamer than, say, that bulky guy who throws himself off a building in the first Divergent book and they recover his corpse). Unlike Banner, however, my attempted suicide scene will be in real-time, but the MC barely points the gun at himself before tossing it away.
- Book 7-8, MC is 17-18. There will be one, perhaps two, violent deaths. Nothing worse than the Hunger Games.
Here's a breakdown of all mature content I can think of:
- Book 1-3, Middle-grade. MC is 13-14. Clean content.
- Book 4, Young adult. MC is 15. There's mention of a major character who once devoured another human. This is never shown. That character is deeply remorseful, and is never tempted to, nor does he commit that act again. This book is also where the MC develops feelings for a girl.
- Book 5, MC is 16, officially lovesick. Lots of romance, but no sex, not even implied.
- Book 6, MC is 16-17. Here things darken a bit. There's pregnancy, but the child is stillborn. A bit of grief on the 17 yo mother's part and for a while she has nightmares and wakes up screaming for her baby. There's also another scene where the MC is so remorseful that for a brief instant he tries to shoot himself, but he immediately comes to his senses. It's a quick scene. Kinda like how Bruce Banner said in the first Avengers movie: "I got low, put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out." The Avengers is rated 13+ and yet there was talk of committing suicide, though I found the way Banner spoke of it to be relatively tame (definitely tamer than, say, that bulky guy who throws himself off a building in the first Divergent book and they recover his corpse). Unlike Banner, however, my attempted suicide scene will be in real-time, but the MC barely points the gun at himself before tossing it away.
- Book 7-8, MC is 17-18. There will be one, perhaps two, violent deaths. Nothing worse than the Hunger Games.
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