Sisters Three Press

Hi folks! This post is a little outside our normal topics, but Jaidie and Kayti got into a discussion about it yesterday when Jaidie finished an Middle-Grade book that then spilled into this morning as Kayti saw an author talking about how hard MG was to write because it didn’t deal with hard problems. There was nothing much to tackle or sort out, were her words…so…

We’re here to tell you differently. To lay out why MG should tackle hard topics, should be hard to write in a sense, and overall…where were failing Middle-Grade readers within the genre (and maybe in the way we look at a book when rating them).

The thing is…kids can handle more than we think. They understand more than we think and some of them have been through more than some of us can imagine and they need stories that don’t lie to them. Stories that tell them yes, life is hard, but God never abandons us.

We need more MG delivering truth instead of sugar coated words that coddle…anyway, we get into it more in the post. We hope you enjoy!

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There seems to be this assumption that Middle-Grade books shouldn’t handle hard topics. That they should shelter the readers from the real world and create a fun world of sunshine and rainbows. We can occasionally hover over a hard topic, but never really dig into it and find answers.

Why is this?

Why do we feel the need to coddle children from the realities of the world? Sure, we should protect them to an extent, but by hiding the hard reality of the world from them, we only cause future harm. Middle-Grade readers are often thrown from this world of sunshine and rainbows where if we wish, or pray, or try really hard everything will turn out great—into the Young Adult genre where mental health, gore/violence, abuse, and/or smut and spice are all too prevalent.

It is a jarring change.

One that we’re afraid causes more damage than touching darkness in a MG book would. As C.S. Lewis said…

Why then are we writing books that water down the truth? The world is hard. We don’t get everything we wish for. Not all prayers are answered in the way we expect. Sometimes we work really hard at something and it seems nothing comes of it. These are realities. These are things that children need to be taught because without them it is like sending sheep to be slaughtered.

In fact, one might argue that is exactly what we are doing with the dumbing down of children.

Our parents were never one to shy from hard topics with us as children. We grew up without cable or satellite TV, only DVDs, carefully selected by our parents. Movies and shows that have shaped us. Some were your typical children’s movies, and some were not. We often watched Star Wars, BBC Robin Hood, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Miserables, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with our parents. Shows and movies with hard truths.

There were many times when our dad would pause movies and talk to us about the scene, explain the hardship, the realities, but also the hope that we have in Jesus. He tutored us, so to speak, in hope amid hardship. Grief and darkness were a reality we cannot escape here on earth. Evil is something we cannot ignore, no matter how much we wish it. As C.S. Lewis also said…

The truth is…we need more stories that many might consider dangerous. Stories that are unafraid to touch the darkness and then spill hope into the chasm. Stories like The Green Ember series, The Wingfeather Saga, and Eight Cousins.

The Green Ember is a great example of clearly showing that life is not all sunshine and rainbows, that hard times come, that often we have no control of the situation, but we do have control over how we perceive it. Over how we look at it…and if we can remember that:

“It is what it is, but it is not what it shall be.”

S.D. Smith

Because in the end, all shall be well in Christ. God wins ultimately in the end, but there is much danger and darkness ahead.

We do not write this post to say that you should fill your MG books with depressing things…but rather that you should not be afraid to explore hard topics. That is the beauty of MG…figuring out how to present a complex, difficult topic in a way that a 7-8-year-old can understand and giving them the hope and the tools needed to fight it. So that when they turn 12—when they step into the Young Adult genre—they can recognize evil for what it is and not fall into the trap of so many others.

Innocence is bliss…yes, but ignorance will be our downfall.

We know those words are not our own, we’ve seen them somewhere…but they are true. MG is about innocence, not ignorance. One can present dragons and wolves in sheep’s clothing, without ever ruining a child’s innocence, you will, however, slay their ignorance.

That is the true foe.

 What we write to counter.

So, we challenge you to write deep themes in MG, slay the dragons, expose the evil, but maintain the innocence of childhood. Show them that life may not all be sunshine and rainbows, but nor is it all storms and darkness.

“There is some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Hooroo!
Kayti & Jaidie