March 04, 2016 
Stacey 
Since I have two middle grade readers in my house, and two teetering on the brink, I was intrigued by this article from an editor at The Booklist Reader suggesting that middle grade novels have gotten longer over the last 40 years, and not just longer, but 173% longer (!), in large part because of Harry Potter. It’s pretty cool research.
I have a 5th grader who is pretty obsessed with Harry Potter, having read the entire series three times over. Not to mention we all just finished reading the beautiful illustrated edition of Book 1 that released last year. So, I get it. Sort of. Harry Potter changed the book world, for the better without question (having just seen Hamilton, I feel like that show changes the theater world the way Potter changed books, but I digress. Just go see it. It really is that good). The thing is that culturally we’ve gone in the complete opposite direction. We have shorter attention spans, want immediate gratification, and live on tidbits and snippets of news and entertainment (i.e. twitter, as one good example!). So, it seems a bit of an oxymoron that books are getting longer.
I see the challenges in my own kids. My oldest, the Potterhead, is ok with longer books although she certainly doesn’t seek them out. And honestly, while she does tons of reading for school, it’s been hard to find a book or series that has excited her the way Potter did. We’ve tried all the usual suspects and nothing has captivated her imagination in the same way.
My middle daughter who’s in third grade is more of a grazer when it comes to reading. She doesn’t like fantasy and prefers more contemporary books, often with humor. She’s very visual and likes books that have illustrations so she likes series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Personally I feel like there is a great deal of diversity in middle grade fiction now and from what I’m seeing on the selling side, much more to come over the next few years. The books that are selling are full of a broad range of characters, plots and, yes, lengths. The fantasies tend to be longer and run through more than one book, usually a trilogy to start. And the realistic stories tend to be shorter and can be contained in one book. I suspect the majority of books will continue to be published this way.
I’d also like to see the industry shift more to even shorter form fiction. Short stories and novellas for kids who like to read but might feel overwhelmed or intimidated by a book as long as Harry Potter. Something for everyone.
What do you think of this change in the middle grade category? Yay, nay, want to see more or less? Shorter or longer?
Hi Stacey,
I’ve wondered about this myself. I have a daughter who was reading Harry Potter in 2nd grade, and a daughter in 4th who loves to read but struggles. I have an MG that’s 36K that I’m starting to shop around to agents. My idea is to do something like Harry Potter where the series grows with the kids. Each book could add complexity and maturity. Other than Harry Potter, I’m not sure that’s been done. Do you think that would be a good middle ground?
Hi Lisa. Thanks for your note. I think that sounds like a good idea. The Potter books varied in length but the characters definitely grew with the series. Send it my way when it’s ready!
Hi Stacey! I wasn’t sure who was the best person to query at Drexel, so I sent a query to John last week because your website said he was looking for middle grade fiction specifically. I’d love to share it with you as well, but I’m guessing simultaneous queries are a bad idea. Please let me know how to proceed, and thank you for your interest!
I really enjoyed this post – thanks! My general take is that word count should depend on the story – good editing cuts the fat / anything unnecessary or gratuitous, but gives broad stories with rich worlds the space to enchant readers.
When you consider the age range of middle grade and the leaps in development occurring every year during childhood, a narrow view of word count (and topic matter) sort of limits the reader. Throw in diverse reading levels, and stringent rules don’t really serve the spectrum of the audience.
I’ve been researching this a bit as I have a lengthy upper MG fantasy in its last stages of revision. Do you think most agents will turn away a robust story due to word count? It’s mentally hard to justify 80k words, even if more established authors are breaking the mold – like Tehereh Mafi’s Furthermore, Colin Meloy’s Wildwood, and Shannon Messenger’s Keeper of the Lost Cities series.