What is MG Historical Fiction?

When people ask me what I write, most of the time I say middle grade historical fiction. Because that’s an answer not everyone understands, and it’s not completely true, I thought I’d explain it further.

Middle-grade (MG) fiction does not mean fiction that has been written for readers that are in middle school. Rather, they are books written for readers who are capable of reading more than simple chapter books, but not yet ready for more adult fare. Generally, these are readers between age 8 and 12. These books are often between 30,000 and 50,000 words long. While fantasy and not historical fiction, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is still considered a Middle-grade novel even though it contains close to 77,000 words. On Fledgling Wings, my novel about a boy who wants to become a knight during the Middle Ages, at under 50,000 words, is closer to the MG average, while Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a slim 25,000 words.

MG fiction usually has little or no profanity, graphic violence, or sexuality. If there is any romance in a Middle-grade novel, it is limited to a crush or a first kiss. That doesn’t mean that MG is all sweetness and light. Look at Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, a novel set in WWII Germany and narrated by death itself, or Fever 1793, Laurie Anderson’s tale about the yellow fever epidemic of 1973 in Philadelphia. When a class of fifth graders read The Bent Reed, my novel set during the battle of Gettysburg, the violence that most disturbed them was the death of the family cow.

Because middle-grade readers like to look ahead at what’s coming in their lives, protagonists in MG books are typically on the upper edge of the age range of their readers. The Eyes of the Pharaoh, Chris Eboch’s mystery set in ancient Egypt features a 13 year old, while Hattie Brooks, the heroine of Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson is 16. Jemmy and Raul, the two protagonists of Valverde, my novel set in New Mexico during the Civil War, are 14 and 13 years old.

Finally, Middle-grade novels tend to end happily. While Crispin, the protagonist in Avi’s MG novel Crispin: the Cross of Lead, becomes an orphan, is falsely accused of murder and theft, and must run away to escape execution, he become a free man in the end. Rodzina, the plucky heroine of Karen Cushman’s book on an orphan girl in the American West, finds a home after a long, arduous, and disheartening search. Eponine, the young French girl in my novel Code: Elephants on the Moon loses her horse, but is able to help with the Allied invasion on D-Day and learn some important secrets from her past.

 So why did I say that it’s not completely true that my novels are historical fiction for Middle-grade readers? I’ve written a few books that don’t quite fit the category. My two books in The Anderson Chronicles: Tweet Sarts and Jingle Night are the right size to be MG books, the protagonist is the right age, and they end on a happy note. However, they are not set in the past and are therefore not historical. And Swan Song, my novel based on Beowulf, is definitely not written for Middle-grade readers. At 75,000 words, it is too long. The two intertwined plots, one set in the modern era and the other in the Neolithic period but both based on a 5th century English saga, makes the book more complex than most young readers could tolerate. More important, the content includes two rapes, several violent deaths, and a primitive ritual to release the fecundity of spring. It is definitely too adult in nature for anyone younger than their upper teens.

So yes, I write Middle-grade historical fiction, but I am not limited to that genre. Nor are my books limited to Middle-grade readers. Many adults
have enjoyed my books, even the ones that are labeled as MG. It’s just another example of how you can’t judge a book by its label.

Jennifer Bohnhoff teaches 7th and 8th grade Language Arts in a rural school in central New Mexico. You can read more about her books on her website by clicking this link.