The 90s saw tons of ‘darker’ middle-grade series, Animorphs and Goosebumps to name a few. Neither of these series were so mature that they became inaccessible to their target readers but their stories were grounded in themes or tropes that could still appeal to all ages. Discuss the middle-grade demographic and whether it has more potential to experiment and mix genres and exist outside of the common publication conventions than other demographics such as children’s, YA, or adult.
Thoughts on middle-grade? Thoughts on defining books by their demographic rather than genre? Anyone have any good recommendations for more recent ‘all-ages’ novels or series?
