Recently I was trying to come up with a list of mentor texts for a writer who is working on a middle grade biography project. While these days publishers occasionally bring out traditional birth-to-death biographies for middle schoolers (this year’s Sibert medalist, The Girl Who Drew Butterflies, or last year’s beautiful Rosa’s Animals, or the astonishing Some Writer, for example), much more often middle grade nonfiction seems to skirt traditional genres. Middle grade nonfiction makes interesting juxtapositions and compelling arguments.
A History of Pictures for Children is arguably an artistic memoir by David Hockney, but it is constructed by an exploration in each chapter of one artistic principle that you can see from cave paintings on through digital art. My favorite moments in the book are where Hockney puts one of his pieces of art next to an older piece that inspired it. I was totally fascinated to see how he observes and learns from earlier artists’ work.
Fakers: An Insider’s Guide to Cons, Hoaxes, and Scams is a fascinating history of the history of the swindle in its many varieties. Wood looks at funny and tragic tricks and talks with kids about how to arm themselves against being the target of a scam. It’s a fascinating gathering of cons through the ages but also argues that the basic characteristics of scams have remained consistent throughout time.
I’m curious about how middle schoolers react to these kinds of books that don’t fit in an easy category. For me, once I have dived into one I find it practically impossible to put down, but the barrier to entry (for me) is curiously higher than more traditional biographies. I find these books sitting on my to-be-read stack longer than any others before I dive into them. I wonder if that’s true for middle schoolers–or if they’re more adventurous readers than I am!
A History of Pictures for Children: From Cave Paintings to Computer Drawings by David Hockney and Martin Gayford, illustrated by Rose Blake. (Abrams: 2018).
Fakers: An Insider’s Guide to Cons, Hoaxes, and Scams by H. P. Wood. (Charlesbridge: 2018).
Both of these books are new to me, Annette, and both sound fascinating. I just finished The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix, and wonder what middle reader would think of it, too. And a couple of years ago, I read Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War by Paul Janeczko. I taught middle school for a long time and remember some students who loved nf books, others who thought them boring. I think it must be per the interest, even passion, of a reader.