When I first started Ink Spells a year ago, I drew upon many years of searching for appropriate reads for my advanced-reading sons, ages 6, 8 and 10 at the time. Well, Dark Omen will be turning twelve this week, and while he still enjoys middle grade books, he is quickly gravitating toward (and able to handle) books with darker themes, more violence, and even the occasional love interest interaction (which he mostly just tolerates). The difference between the maturity of an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old is dramatic, but the difference between a ten-year-old and a twelve-year-old is even more so. And yet, he is not really ready for adult books – either in content or maturity level – or even many of the teen books to be found on the YA shelves at the book store.
Fortunately, the publishing industry has begun to recognize the need for books targeting kids ages 12-14. These books generally feature younger teens ages 14-16, and are almost clean enough to be considered middle grade reads – except that they generally have darker, more mature themes, often more sophisticated subject matter, and have some kind of underlying (yet not heavily explored) romance themes.
While boys may not be generally interested in the romance themes, I have two minds about this: 1) I don’t want my twelve year old reading a lot of the mature material found in some YA books, and 2) I think even boys should have some exposure to the complex emotional dance with the opposite sex that starts in the teen years and will continue throughout their lives. For heavy readers, such as my children, the books they read have a significant influence on their world experience, and so I continue to want to guide their reading towards books that will have a positive effect on them.
I’m giving away lots of steampunk goodies in the Steampunk Prize Pack of Awesome Giveaway. Click here to enter!
Tomorrow: Ink Spells reviews its first Young Teens novel, so be sure to stop back!
I'm looking forward to this series, Susan. My oldest is turning 11 yo next month. He's in grade five but reads at a grade nine level. Mostly he reads non fiction books and some of my YA books (the ones I consider appropriate for him and which don't have a lot of romance).
hi miss susan! the stuff youre doing for boys is a really big help for me. mostly im not real sure what book is good for my age and youre helping me know more about that. i could like youre idea for a rating so i could just go look at it and know if a book is for me. im a pretty good reader so i could sometimes want a book thats for those 12-14 guys. thanks for helping.
…hugs from lenny
@Stina Whenever I find an issue like this in my own family(trying to find appropriate YA books for young teens), I invariably find others in the same situation. I'm looking forward to it too!
@Lenny It warms my heart that you'll find these 12-14 age Young Teens books good for you! Connecting kids and books is one of the most rewarding things I do. 🙂
There are so many different age ranges, and stages, of teens. It's nice to see publishing addressing this with specific age-genres. Giving kids relevant reading material keeps them reading!
Yay! My oldest is 13 and I have been experiencing very similar difficulties when it comes to satisfying his voracious reading appetite. #1, I have difficulty keeping up with him. #2, he wants the older look/feel but doesn't want anything "girlish" (he refuses to read Shiver or Paranormalcy). I'm looking forward to your reviews, Susan! 🙂
I TOTALLY agree that books could benefit from a rating system that would give parents an idea of the content. I also suspect that this might help with the whole 'book banning' issue in that librarians could use ratings to appropriately place books and parents could ask that books with certain ratings be accessible to only older kids. Just a thought!
Great post, Susan, and so so true. Looking forward to your review. Make sure you share it with the Lairs. I'm sure they'd love to read it.
@Joanne Exactly!
@Shannon I just read Paranormalcy – and I can see your son's problem. It's very girly, even with the rad powers and not-too-much-kissing. (I enjoyed it though!)
@Sierra That's a great thought! But you'd be surprised how many people don't want a rating system (which I really don't understand – we do it all the time for movies/games/etc). You don't see anyone getting excited that a movie has been "banned" just because it gets an R rating.
@Sherie I'll def share with my Lair-buddies! 🙂
I was in a bookstore the other day and overheard a parent talking with the store owner. He was asking about the language and content of the book his daughter was thinking of buying. Luckily this store owner actually reads the books and was able to guide the parent. Something on the book about language and content would be a great help for people who shop in the big stores where you're fortunate to find someone who's familiar with the books, but often only have a check out clerk with no interest in more than ringing you up. Maybe the YALITCHAT folks could lead a campaign for a rating system.
@CLee I would think the YAlitchat community would be the perfect group to create some kind of rating system – with authors, agents and publishers weighing in (as well as readers!). 🙂
Can't wait to see what book you picked. I'm guessing The Hunchback Chronicles – or it's something like that! 🙂 It's the only steampunk book I could think of for that age range!
@Laura This was an old post, and you were absolutely right! It was Hunchback Assignments. 🙂