Agent Michael Bourret and Editor Molly O’Neill talk middle grade novels. Here’s a excerpt:
I think about middle grade being the time when a lot of readers discover “that book”—the one that turns them into a lifelong reader, or explodes their world open with new ideas, or shares exactly the right truth at exactly the right moment in a way they’ll never forget. You know, any time I tell people at a social event like a wedding or a party what I do for a living, there’s an odd compulsion—people simply HAVE to tell me what their favorite book was as a kid. And as an editor, those are the kind of books I want to publish—the ones that a reader of today will recall decades from now as being “that book.”
I have these conversations bookmarked and need to get reading them. I’m still discovering those middle grade books that are “that book.”
Me, too, Barbara!
“I think about middle grade being the time when a lot of readers discover “that book”—the one that turns them into a lifelong reader, or explodes their world open with new ideas, or shares exactly the right truth at exactly the right moment in a way they’ll never forget.”
Thanks for the reminder, Caroline.
When I was in seventh grade, I watched all my friends read Little House on the Prairie and other non-picture books. And eventhough I was an excellent reader, I had never read a novel. I was too intimidated by all those words and no pictures. Then one day I finally had the courage to pick up a book called “The Soul Brothers and Sister Lou”. And it was “that book”. I’ve been in love with novels ever since. 🙂
Oooh I like that!