This story begins with two middle school librarians, miles and miles apart, who both feel passionately that what publishers call middle grade literature is not what their students need or want.
Little did they know that their calls for action would ignite social media or that they would eventually end up on the same podcast and meet to start a movement based on the premise that to year-olds need books written specifically for them. You can read our Manifesto and Open Letter for a detailed rationale for our discontent, but we will summarize here.
What the industry dubs middle grade is almost exclusively reviewed for grades 3 or 4 and up, while titles labeled young adult tend to be recommended for grades 9 or 10 and up. Where, we ask, are the books for our middle school and junior high students who range from years old? In a sea of books with and year old protagonists, where are the books with eighth or ninth grade characters?
When we had our first conversation, we immediately clicked. Here were two librarians ready to take on an issue that means so much to both of us.
We believe in the power of reading, and we want children of all ages to be nurtured and challenged by books that will shape their lives and lead them to become better humans. We established from the get-go that we are asking for something new. We do not believe that to year old readers just need a few more books aimed at their interests and developmental level. We submit that young teens need their own publishing category and we propose to call this category Young Teen Lit. We know these books would sell both to libraries and in bookstores around the country.
