Given my current and future projects, I decided to attend Courtney Bongliolatti’s Boy MG Fiction 101 breakout session.
Her key pieces of advice for writers of boy MG fiction were:
- Know your genre
- Write the character your kids want to be like
- Observe MG boys to see how they act and interact; as readers, they’ll throw the book down if the littlest thing is off
- Write with the understanding that series potential in MG is huge
Courtney also provided a breakdown of the different areas of MG fiction.
- Action = nothing paranormal; just crazy, out-0f-this-world experience (ex: Alex Rider)
- Adventure = kid falls into situation, but based in reality (ex: Holes)
- Fantasy = call to adventure in a fantastical setting; MC often has destiny to fulfill for greater good (ex: Harry Potter)
- Mystery = classic mystery model with kid protagonist (ex: Encyclopedia Brown)
- Humorous Mystery = cross-genre of adventure and humor (ex: Belly Up)
- Sports = uncomplicated, classic plot involving sports (ex: Matt Christopher)
- School Stories = wide open genre that speaks to smarter kids, kids who want to rebel against authority (ex: Frindle)
- Historical Fiction = story involves historical event or time but with kid protagonist (ex: Al Capone Does My Shirts)
- Blended Genres = combination of pictures and text (ex: Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
- Relatable = story that appeals to the kid who doesn’t fit in, kids who get picked on (ex: Loser)
- Out of the Box = stories that address what’s missing in the other MG categories (ex: Fat Kid Rules the World)