eBooks for middle graders: are they really reading them?

I know, three posts in a week, what's up? Apparently I have an opinion this week.

I was just reading a funny cartoon over at Smack Dab in the Middle about the differences and similarities between ebooks and regular books, and then...

I was over at Anita Miller's blog where her book is in the top 100 for kid mystery eBooks (congrats by the way), and then ...

I just blogged about ebooks over at The Writing Bug because Kindles can now check out ebooks from the library (super sweet) and the near future may include a Netflix-type system for getting ebooks (which means will anyone ever buy a new ebook?), and then ...

My neighbor, who just recently got a reader, tells me about all the pirated ebooks she's downloaded and I believe she will never buy a book again, so then...

I have all these thoughts and it's a swirl of ebook info and what I really wonder is:

Are middle graders even reading ebooks? (Because if they aren't, then I don't care about ebooks.)

The children's Kindle list is dominated by YA and bestselling MG by Riordan. So that just seems like adults who don't want to be caught reading YA or MG or just want it cheap on a reader and not actually for their kids.

What do you think? Are kids reading ebooks?

My husband has an iPad and my kids just play games...they're pretty good at Angry Birds. No one reads on it. But if I downloaded a book and gave it to Lore, she would probably read it.

So does that mean Early Adopter Parents are actually buying ebooks for their kids? And when they upgrade their readers, will they give their old readers to their MGers?

Does that mean in five years (according growth trends), it will be harder to sell your book because your ebook will be competing with loads of self-published? Or do you even need a publisher and jump in the self-published fray?

I know, too many thoughts. If you have an opinion on the matter, I would love to hear it.

Let's Talk Writing MG: When is it too dark?

There's been a bunch of media coverage on whether YA has become too dark for its audience. Is Middle Grade following this trend? I don't think so, but after a couple of middle grade books I've read recently, I find my inner-11-year-old at odds with the-mother-of-four-girls.

So what is too dark for middle grade? Is there a line? Should there be a line?

We live in a time where old Sesame Street episodes are considered bad for our children because they show children riding a bike without a helmet. This cracks me up but it is a commentary on how we raise our kids now.

Still, it surprises me that the middle grade genre, that doesn't want you to use the word butt nugget, is okay with large body counts, murder (did you say murder?), dark magic, and the likes.

Exhibit A

For example, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which won the Newberry Medal, opens with the murder of Nobody's family and Nobody only escapes the mass killing by waddling into a graveyard.

The inner 11 yr old: thinks sweet.

The mother of 4: thinks WHAT? I don't want my 9-year-old reading this yet. Even though the story isn't really scary, the themes are really mature.

Exhibit B

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Voldemort is brought back to life, that's some dark voodoo. (Not to mention the dead bodies that stack up in this and the following books.)

The inner 11 year old: thinks hells yes that's scary but sweet. Must read more.

The mother of 4: thinks hells no my daughters aren't reading this book till they are at least 12.

Yet scores of 7, 8, 9 year-olds have read this book. Lauren read the first 2 Harry Potter books when she was eight but stopped because the second was too scary for her. I figure she'll pick up the others when she's ready, and I'm glad because I'd prefer her to be older when she gets to book 4 and beyond.

Exhibit C

My last example comes from the book A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. For the record, I first have to say that I LOVE this book. LOVE. It's my MMGM for next week. Seriously, LOVE. But I feel it needs to come with a warning to parents because I feel parents should know what's in the book before they hand it to their kids.

The book has lots of blood, guts, gore, and a staggering body count--it's a fabulous retelling/reimagining of the Grimm fairytales. I have the complete works of Grimm in my library: good and dark. So I expected this from the book. And for the most part, actually the whole part but one chapter is done well for all middle grade kids (8-12). But it's that one chapter, or really just one page that inspired this whole blog post.

So here it is, read and then respond. Is this too dark for middle grade?

"He threw the girl on the oaken table, and from a nearby cupboard produced a filthy iron cage. Then he reached his hand into the girl's mouth until his arm was buried deep in her throat. Slowly, painfully, and with great struggle from the girl, he pulled forth a beautiful white dove. The dove fought the young man as he shoved it in the filthy cage and slammed the door shut.

The girl's body was still.

Now you might want to close your eyes.

He lifted an ax that hung on the wall, and Gretel, peering through a gap between a filthy pot and a filthier pan, watched her handsome, wonderful, funny friend hack the girl's body into bits and toss each piece into the boiling cauldron. His blunt butcher's knife rose and fell, rose and fell. He licked the blood from his hands and sent piece after piece sailing into the pot." (A Tale Dark and Grimm, page 102.)

What the butt nugget? This is middle grade? I can't let my girls read this. The dove was the girl's soul and when Gretel defeats the warlock, hundreds of doves (girls that he killed) become girls again. Horray, see no one was really chopped and eaten...Oh but wait they were.

The inner 11 year old: thinks um that's messed up but what happen's next? Still I'm sleeping with my light on.

The mother of 4: thinks we're done, my girls aren't reading this for a while.

Of course, I finished the book because I'm an adult and the book is well done. So then I struggle, because like the author points out in the beginning of the book, this is a big kid book about Grimm fairytales that are bloody and disturbing BUT AWESOME.

The first line of the book is: "Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome."

Which is true. Everything now seems to be bubble gum and safety helmets.

I'm actually okay with my 9-year-old reading all of the book but that page. Which frustrates me because I love the book... but I still want her to be at least 12 before she reads it. Serial killers is not something I need my daughter to think about right now in her life. BUT THE BOOK IS AMAZING. Love the story, love the Grimm woven in, love the moral.

Do you feel the conflict within me? I'm like Luke Skywalker trying to pick a side.

My compromise: I'll be doing a heads up to parents about said page in my MMGM on Monday and only recommending it to older MGers.

What do you think?

[Random sidebar: I'm making those bookmarks with my kids this weekend. Love.]

Let's Talk Writing MG: Who Comes to the Rescue?

Let's talk. In everything I've learned about writing for middle grade, a core characteristic is empowering the protagonist to save themselves and others. They are the hero. Not parents, automatons, teachers, older siblings, or monks. And sure, there are exceptions to the rule, I get that. But when I read it in middle grade fiction, it bothers me. I want the kids to figure it out, to save the day.

In We Are Not Eaten By Yaks by C. Alexander London, London does a great job of having the kids do most of the rescuing, but sometimes parents, monks, spirits, yaks swoop in to save the kids. He'd proven the kids could do it, empowered them and then had their mom show up and save them princess-in-a-tower style. I was frustrated, the kids were smart enough to do it themselves.

In The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby, the kids are empowered the whole book until in the very end, the automaton swoops in and saves Giuseppe. Giuseppe! I was mad. I'm verclipped.

In Harry Potter, Harry and friends always saved the day. No matter how frustrated you were with Harry that he didn't run to Dumbledore for help (seriously you would have thought he learned something at Hogwarts), Harry was left to figure it out even if it meant wandering way way way too long in the last book. But this is how it should be in the world of Middle Grade. (I guess if I think about it, even Harry had a bunch of adult team help. Is it impossible to empower the kids completely?)

When I pitched a MG story last year to an agent, my story had a magical element to it. The agent stopped me and said, "You have a great character why are you letting the magic save the day instead of him." At first I thought, well because the whole story is based on this magical realism. But the more I thought about it, I saw his point. I changed my story from magical realism to contemporary and I think it's loads stronger because the protagonist can't rely on what he believes will save him but must work to save himself.

These are my thoughts. Who do you think should save the day in a middle grade novel? And is it okay to have other people or things do some of the saving? What about working together with adults/things?