Books,  Thoughtful Friday

Faye’s Thoughtful Friday; Middle Grade Fiction

8 March, 2013

fayesthoughtfulfriday1

Hey All!
So today I am starting a new feature here at A Daydreamer’s Thoughts! At the moment this may not happen every friday, but they will always appear on Fridays. These posts will be all about my thoughts and opinions on bookish things and movie things. This week I am going to talk to you all about Middle Grade Fiction

When it comes to MG fiction, I used to be wary of it. Was I sure that reading a story aimed at 8-12 year olds was really for me? Was it not enough that I already read fiction aimed at 13-17 year olds? But then I decided to ignore all my instincts and to just go ahead and read some. If I didn’t like them, then I didn’t have to read them, did I? So, with an open mind I started reading The History Keepers. This was a story that I found to be incredibly entertaining, wholly compelling, and a book that I just really enjoyed. I liked it so much that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the series. Thus proving to me that there was more to MG fiction than I first thought.

Since then I haven’t read a lot of MG fiction, mostly because I have so many YA review books to read, but I have still read a few more MG novels that I really liked. Currently I am reading C. J. Busby’s Frogspell series and am finding myself really enjoying the stories and cannot wait to read more of them. These books have truly opened up my eyes to the category and has helped me to feel a little less wary of them. These books can be full of adventure, strong protagonists, interesting conflicts, and even sometimes a little bit fun here and there as well.

But what does this have to do with you?

Due to the fact that I found myself liking to read MG fiction, I felt I needed to work out why I was so afraid to pick it up in the first place. When I was younger I did read a lot of fiction aimed at my age group but I quickly moved onto adult fiction and it was a long time before I “stepped” backwards again. But when I started reading YA, I devoured it quickly and rapidly to the point where I now rarely read anything else. So why can’t I allow myself to slip further back by reading more MG fiction as well?

It was only when I sat down and watched How To Train Your Dragon that I realised why I should not only be reading more MG fiction but I believe you should be too. I love family-oriented films. I love characters who are still only children doing all that they can to get out of tricky situations, or to win over the love of their friends. In comparison, MG fiction is exactly the same. Just in book form and, as an avid reader, why wouldn’t I like them? So, now I know that I am going to try to read more MG fiction, because I know that it is likely to be a category of books that I’ll like, especially if they’re adventure books.

Do you agree? Do you think you’d ever try to read a MG book or would you rather stick to YA, NA, or AF? What do you think about my theory?

faye1

11 Comments

  • Lucy
    8 March, 2013 at 9:55 am Reply

    I’ve definitely held the same uncertainty at reading MG, which seems hypocritical given how much I hate people doing the same with YA. However after reading Sarwat Chadda’s Ash Mistry, I’ve been thinking the same as you. I do love the tweeny fiction and I’m dying to read Darcy Burdock.
    When I did my writing for kids module at uni, I had to read more MG, picture books and YA and I found some truly fantastic MG, but I haven’t really explored since then so maybe I should. One adventure MG I would heartily recommend is Shadow Forest by Matt Haig, I adored it and it had a lot of moments that transcended MG too.

    • Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
      10 March, 2013 at 3:34 pm Reply

      I know exactly what you mean! How hypocritical we are, especially as there are some MG gems out there. Like.. hello, Harry Potter!!

      I started Darcy and it’s good but then I had more pressing books to read… etc. ugh. Should finish it soon though! lol.

      Thanks for the recs, I have added them to my TBR pile! Thanks for commenting too. Hopefully we’ll add more MG to our reading so that when we have kids we can recommend them some good’uns ;) lol.

  • Lolita
    10 March, 2013 at 3:01 pm Reply

    I actually tended to avoid MG fiction too. Until one of my favourite authors David Estes wrote a MG series and I actually wanted to read it, I finally got it for review and have already read the first 2 books of the series. It is about a girl who becomes a superhero and it is so mcuh fun to read, my boyfriend actually wondered which book I was reading because I seemed to have so much fun reading it. Actually I have to admit I still don’t read many MG books, I prefer YA, NA and Adult, but sometimes a MG book can be really good for a change.

  • Cayce
    15 March, 2013 at 3:34 pm Reply

    I rarely read MG anymore, but How To Train Your Dragon? Loved that movie so much!! :)
    I also like Diana Wynne Jones, and I think her books are more MG than YA.

  • Clover
    25 March, 2013 at 10:59 am Reply

    I love MG fiction! I’m always a little bit reluctant to read it, because I always feel like because it’s aimed at a younger audience, that it will be less in some ways, and it never is. The ones I’ve read lately are funny and intelligent and exciting books. Must remember that the next time I’m hesitant to start a MG book!

  • Rachel Hamilton
    7 November, 2013 at 9:33 am Reply

    Hi Faye, I LOVE MG fiction and I am waaaaaaay past 13! Some of my favourites are Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, Neil Gaiman’s ‘Fortunately, The Milk…’ and ‘Coraline’, Jasper Fforde’s ‘Last Dragon Slayer’, and absolutely anything by David Walliams and Diana Wynne Jones.
    It’s a brilliant age to write for, because you can let your imagination and your sense of humour go wild.
    I review MG books for http://www.book-walrus.com and would love to hear your thoughts on our site as you are clearly a blogging pro :)

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