The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
This master class in writing children’s and young adult novels will teach you everything you need to know to write and publish a great book.
The best children’s and young adult novels take readers on wonderful outward adventures and stirring inward journeys. In The Magic Words, editor Cheryl B. Klein guides writers on an enjoyable and practical-minded voyage of their own, from developing a saleable premise for a novel to finding a dream agent. She delves deep into the major elements of fiction—intention, character, plot, and voice—while addressing important topics like diversity, world-building, and the differences between middle-grade and YA novels. In addition, the book’s exercises, questions, and straightforward rules of thumb help writers apply these insights to their own creative works. With its generous tone and useful tools for story analysis and revision, The Magic Words is an essential handbook for writers of children’s and young adult fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Klein, executive editor at the Arthur A. Levine Books imprint of Scholastic Books, serves as an insightful and thorough guide to writing fiction for children and young adults. She teaches readers to identify a book's "core" its primary reason for being and examines character, plot development, voice, revision, and specific genres, such as speculative fiction. After covering the writing basics, Klein addresses the nitty-gritty details specific to the younger market, such as choosing an age for the protagonist that will appeal to one's audience, and insights into what YA editors are looking for (hint: no prologues). Klein also illustrates each section of her book with examples from successful children's literature and includes frequent writing exercises. The book excels in clarity and usability: for example, it takes the reader step by step through the specifics of character development, which Klein separates into different components that include a protagonist's compulsions, ethical values, degree of self-awareness, and tastes. She clearly knows the market and how to cut to the heart of what's important, and provides valuable and methodical guidance for any writer on how to shape a manuscript into a salable book.
