Writing for Kids
- Admin
- 3 days ago
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Volume XXVI, Issue Three | Sept 2025
Although I’ve written five middle-grade books, I’d never thought much about the categories for young readers, until I read a series of articles in Western Writers of America’s August Roundup. For a long time, I said I wrote children’s books, only vaguely aware that there are three categories of books for adolescents. They are Young Adult (YA), ages 12 to 18; Middle grade (MG), eight to 12; and then children’s books, seven and younger.
Of course, growing up, I’d read books in all three categories, never knowing I’d passed from one to another. I started with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, which gave me my first sense of western literature. When I was a little older, my teacher read Ralph Moody’s MG novel Little Britches to our class. I identified with that boy growing up on a farm near Denver. Later on, when I was YA age, I read my sister’s handed-down Nancy Drew Books. Nancy didn’t have anything to do with the West, but she was smart and independent and didn’t need a boy to help her solve mysteries. As a budding feminist, I saw her as a role model.
Today, all three categories are thriving, although YA seems to be outpacing the other two. According to Jennifer Bohnhoff, a writer and English teacher, YA is one of the fastest growing segments of the publishing industry, with some 35 million YA books sold each year. The books often feature “teen protagonists who are navigating their entry into the adult world. YA novels tackle mature and adult themes such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism and social issues. Generally, YA literature seeks to highlight the experiences and yearnings of adolescents,” she writes in Roundup.
MG books have been around for a long time, says Bohnhoff. Just think of The Secret Garden and Peter Pan, both published in 1911. Of course, they weren’t called middle grade books back then. The term came along sometime later. “Middle grade readers are looking for characters with whom they can relate…Middle grade readers want active and interesting characters who can solve their own problems. They don’t want an adult to come in and fix the situation,” writes Bohnhoff. Today’s MG readers want a variety of genres. They are old enough to understand complex plots, although not as jaundiced as YA readers.
Then there are children’s books, and I think we all know what they are. When I was a kid, we had a few books that had been passed down that I read over and over again, but it was the library that met my demand for children’s books. The library was the literary candy store. I couldn’t have been much more than six when I discovered our neighborhood Park Hill branch in Denver. In those days, nobody thought a thing of an unaccompanied young girl walking half-a-dozen blocks to the library. I spent my summers there, reading about young Laura Ingalls and other childhood heroines.
I don’t remember when I graduated to middle-grade books. I think I was in junior high when I discovered YA. By then, I’d started reading adult books, too.
Books weren’t broken down by categories back then. To many readers today, they’re still not, and I’m glad. I’ve had readers tell me they don’t care if my Tenmile and Someplace to Call Home are MG books. They read and enjoy them anyway.
Hearing My Words
I’m so excited that Books On Stage is presenting “Someplace to Call Home,” dramatic readings from three of my books, on Oct. 19, at Su Teatro in Denver. One of the readings will be from my upcoming book The Hired Man. The readings will be part of Stories Stage’s 25th year celebration.
Following the readings, I’ll participate in a question-and-answer session. I’ll be signing books there, too, thanks to West Side Books. I’m a little awed by this, because, while I’ve listened to audio recording of my books, I’ve never heard them read on stage. I can’t wait to see the audience reaction. I hope you’ll come.The information on times and tickets is below.Stories on Stage presents"Someplace to Call Home"New York Times best-selling author Sandra Dallas will be joining us for a performance of her stories.
Sunday, October 19th, 2:00 p.m.
Su Teatro Performing Arts Center
721 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
For more information, please go to storiesonstage.org or call 303-494-0523
Sandra’s Picks
I ought to have a list of children’s books to go with the above piece, but I don’t. As you know, I love mysteries, and these are by two of my favorite authors.
Apostle’s Cove
By William Kent Kruger
Atria Books
Former sheriff Cork O’Connor wasn’t sure an Ojibwe man, Alex Boshey, was guilty of a brutal murder 30 years ago. But the man confessed and was sent to prison. Author William Kent Kruger wasn’t so sure of Boshey’s guilt either. So decades later, the two revisit the crime in the latest Cocoran O’Conner mystery.
O’Connor’s son, Stephen, is working on an innocence project and is convinced Bosbey is not guilty. He claims Boshey confessed because he thought his pregnant girlfriend might have been the killer. Oddly enough, Boshey isn’t much help now, because he’s found his life’s work in prison. Others don’t want the guilty party found either, O’Connor discovers when he’s viciously attacked.
Kruger recaptures O’Connor’s earlier years as sheriff in a prelude to the current day hunt for the murderer. There’s a sense of nostalgia here, with the much younger O’Connor and his then wife, Jo. Kruger portrays today’s O’Connor as a still dogged investigator, but a wiser man who knows the importance of family. Going back to an earlier crime is an interesting twist for a mystery series. Kruger has another 20 crimes in the Cork O’Connor series that he can revisit.
We Are All Guilty Here
By Karen Slaughter
William Morrow
This mystery catches you from the first page. Two teenage girls are missing. One of them is the daughter of deputy Emmy Clifton’s best friend. In fact, just before she vanishes, the girl goes to Emmy for help, but Emmy turns her away. Now Emmy must face the consequences of her action, as she and her father, the sheriff, frantically search for the girls.
Just when you think you know where the story is going, author Karen Slaughter throws you a curve. “We Are All Guilty Here” is mystery writing at its most frightening.
