When I wrote my “Piccadilly Street” series (“Mrs. Murray’s Ghost” and so on), my publisher wanted it to be a Young Adult novel. I had written my main character for Middle-Grade readers. She raised the protagonist’s age, but it still reads like a Middle-Grade novel. So, is it Middle Grade or Young Adult?

The same question can be asked about many popular books on the shelves. For example, would you classify J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter books as Middle Grade? Or how about Erin Morgenstern’s “The Night Circus”? I read this book years ago and always thought it was Adult, but apparently it’s a Young Adult novel. Believe it or not, there are guidelines for character ages relevant to the target reading audience. In children’s literature alone, there are so many labels, and genres: Picture book stories, Early Chapter books, Middle Grade novels, Young Adult, and New Adult being the most common. But, even within these genres, there are many subgroups depending on the protagonist’s age.

So, how do you define the age-specific genre of your book? Generally speaking, Middle Grade (which is also subdivided) is from ages 8 to 14; Young Adult (also subdivided) is from ages 14 to 20; and New Adult is anything that’s Young Adult or beyond, usually in the 20s.

Here are some tips I’ve used to help maneuver through the quagmire of aging my characters.

Consider the theme of the story – is it a story taking place in elementary school (remember that Middle Grade does not mean Middle School)? Or high school? Or beyond? I don’t go specifically by age, preferring to stick to the theory that certain grades in school identify with the age-specific genre.

Remember that the reader's age may be slightly above or below the given protagonist’s age.

All given age-specific genres may vary in the age of the protagonist, so other factors come into play, including mature content, which would make a story with a young adult-aged protagonist an adult novel.

If the story is going to turn into a series with the protagonist continuing as the main character throughout, it’s probably best to start the age at 10 or 11 and let them progress through their teen years. Even though it begins with a 10/11-year-old, the overall presentation of the series would be Young Adult. That could be said for my Piccadilly Street Series as I started my series in mid-elementary school and the final book has the same protagonist just starting high school. In this sense, my publisher will have her way in my series being genre-specific as Young Adult.

There are no clear guidelines – if you feel a novel is Middle Grade, then that’s what it is. I believed my Piccadilly Street Series was Middle Grade, even though my publisher wanted to confuse things by having me increase the age of my protagonist to make it a Young Adult novel. Even with the older protagonist, the first books still read like Middle-Grade novels. How does that sit with the complete series? Perhaps the librarians who categorize and shelve my books will have a better idea than either my publisher or myself. Generalizing is the best option when mapping out the characters and their ages. As long as your protagonist isn’t a 70-year-old in elementary school, you’re good to self-identify the age-specific genre of your book.