Okay so I joined this site literally moments ago and I have no idea if anyone else on here writes this stuff but I’m writing a middle grade/younger young adult fantasy. The main character is 13/ later on turns 14. And it’s basically giving me a lot of problems because first of all, it doesn’t fit into a typical fantasy subgenre. At all. And second of all, it went into far deeper and darker places than I ever expected. For starters, in a flashback, the MC remembers his older sister (who is considered “mentally crazy” and unstable by a lot of people) going through a time when she raked her fingernails down her arm as a “habit” (Basically self-harm). It only lasted a little while and the MC was so young at the time, he was just confused by it and didn’t understand what she was doing. That’s as far as I venture into it. It's literally like two seconds of the book. The sister also has a scar on her face and the boy, looking back on it at a slightly older age, wonders if she gave herself that scar, too. I never answer the scar question. I have my own answer to that, but I left it open to the reader’s interpretation. This all does serve a plot purpose to show readers what’s going on with this character who is so unstable. But I’m wondering if it’s too much for a 10-12 year old audience. I’m wondering if it will affect a publisher’s decision. Secondly, the story involves three main races. The northern part of the country has people with pale skin and light hair, and the people there are wealthier because they were explorers and dominated the shipping and trading routes long ago. The southern portion is described as a “darker” race (think native Americans—the ancient culture of these people very obviously mirrors Native Americans.) Across the ocean is another country of dark-skinned people. In the trade age, there was an issue with both the northern and southern people taking this third race as slaves. Slavery was outlawed as a result of a war several hundred years ago, slavery is now considered despicable and people try to forget that portion of history, but intense bitterness still exists. The other country (now with a more powerful military) frequently provokes and attacks this country as revenge. POV MC is from a mixed-race family so he deals with both sides of this issue. I just am opening this to any suggestions on how to handle this subject especially with the things going on in current events. I don’t want to accidentally come out like I’m saying the wrong thing. Also this story has action but I’d classify it as more of a “road trip” story so to speak, because they go around this fantasy country and their preconceived notions of certain people and places start to change, and I still want it to be a fun adventure, and the heart of the story is supposed to be the complex relationship between siblings. And basically it’s a nightmarish mess right now but I’m focusing on the two issues above for now.
If your MC is 13/14 it's young adult, not middle grade. Self-harm is a pretty common feature of young adult books, in much more graphic detail than you've indicated. For the last six months, the #1 bestselling YA book has been all about race relations - I haven't read it but understand the protagonist sees her (black) best friend murdered by a policeman. Maybe check that out. It's called THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas (I think).
Okay make him 12. Now what? Thanks for answering by the way. I'll check out that book definitely, thanks.
Yeah but do you think I could still have those themes in MG. It's honestly not the kids I'm concerned about. Kids know all this stuff already. I'm just wondering what a publisher would think.
Yes, you can have those themes in upper MG. It worries me that you're writing in a genre you don't know very well. Long before you submit to publishers, you should become really really familiar with the conventions of MG and YA. It's not just theme - there's a distinct type of 'voice' used in these genres that you have to get right.
I work in the children's section of a library. I've read ten times more MG and YA than anything else. My own is just a jumbled mess right now. I'm slowly working it out. Starting with those issues you just helped me with.
