Writing for and Engaging Reluctant Middle-Grade Readers

Laura Martin — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 13:48:21 GMT

Current Revision posted to Age Groups by Laura Martin on 9/28/2018 1:48:21 PM

As a former seventh grade English teacher, middle-grade author Laura Martin received the best possible training to write for her target reader. Her daily interactions with the students and seeing which books grabbed their attention and which didn't provided very valuable insights and ideas. Martin became passionate about finding books that would appeal to her reluctant readers, especially the boys. In her own classroom, Martin introduced book challenges and reading lists to keep her students interested and engaged, which required researching the market and competition. The challenge of writing effectively for this age group, she says, is having the necessary action in the story to keep them reading, without introducing inappropriate content. Many books that are intended for the 8-12 year-old age bracket include content that is more suitable for young adults. Middle-grade readers don't know the difference between the so-so books and the great books, so they require some guidance on what they should be reading.

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../Writing-for_2C00_-and-Engaging-Reluctant-Middle_2D00_Grade-Readers.mp4

Tags: Children’s Books, fiction, video