Mind the Middle Project: Long Form Nonfiction, a Neglected Guest at the Party? (part 1), a guest post by Deborah Hopkinson

PART ONE: NEGLECTED GUEST AT THE PARTY?

When I saw the announcement for the Teen Librarian Toolbox 2024 focus: Mind the Middle, Exploring Middle Grade and Early Teen Literature, one word popped into my head: Fiction. I don’t imagine I’m alone; many of us use “middle grade” as shorthand for a middle grade novel. And that’s perfectly fine.

Yet I sometimes wonder if, when we discuss middle grade, we tend to forget about nonfiction, especially longer works, or long form nonfiction. It’s almost as if long form is the forgotten guest, lingering at the edges of the party, or relegated to the kitchen to make themselves useful. And so, while we’re seeing a wealth of creative, high-quality nonfiction picture books and graphic nonfiction for children and teens, I think long form may need a bit more of our attention.

That’s why I’ve asked some friends and colleagues to share their thoughts about the health of this subgenre; why longer, complex books are essential for middle grade and young teen readers; and how we can work together to ensure that long form isn’t such an afterthought that we look around one day and don’t see much of it all.  

In Part One of this guest post, we’ll talk about long form and why it’s so critical for 21st century readers with professors Mary Ann Capiello and Xenia Hadjioannou, and with Steven Engelfried, librarian and SLJ Heavy Medal moderator. In Part Two: Authors Weigh In, we’ll showcase a few new and recent long form titles, and hear from some incredible nonfiction authors.

Nonfiction Today: Not What It Used to Be

The days of the fictionalized “orange biographies” of the 20th century are long gone. One key characteristic of nonfiction for young readers today is its high quality. We see source notes and bibliographies in picture books. And while long form narrative nonfiction titles for middle grade and teen readers make use of novelistic techniques like vivid descriptions, compelling storylines, and fascinating characters, they won’t contain invented dialogue or scenes.

In fact, I’d argue that the research standards in long form nonfiction may be higher than in some (though not all) popular nonfiction for adults. You may have seen it yourself: a statement at the front of an adult book indicating that the dialogue is “reconstructed” or “based on” interviews or primary sources. When you look in the back, you won’t find citations.

But those of us who write middle grade nonfiction are a committed lot. We track down primary sources, adhere to high standards of research, and don’t take shortcuts. Why?  Well, we know our readers will soon be writing reports and papers in high school and college. We want them to be comfortable with back matter and understand sourcing, corroboration, and the research process. (And we certainly don’t want them to be fired someday for plagiarism.)

Why Is Long Form Nonfiction Critical?

“We’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, for K-12 readers and beyond. We would love to grow the reading stamina of all students, which only happens through repeated exposure to increasingly more complex texts over the years.” – Mary Ann Cappiello, Lesley University & Xenia Hadjioannou, The Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus

At the NCTE Annual Convention in 2022 and 2023, Dr. Mary Ann Cappiello and Dr. Xenia Hadjioannou organized fascinating roundtable sessions bringing together creators and educators to share ideas for using nonfiction in the classroom. Both educators have been integral to a national effort to promote nonfiction for all K-12 readers.

In January of 2023, NCTE issued a position statement advocating for more nonfiction in the K-12 classroom. The statement cites research studies that show nonfiction is underrepresented in K-12 Education and underutilized in the language arts curriculum and classroom libraries. It notes, in part: 

“Given the limited role and time spent on nonfiction in elementary classrooms (Duke, 2000), efforts have been made via state standards and professional organizations to increase the role of nonfiction literature and informational text in K–12 education.

“Yet, fiction continues to have a dominant role in reading and language arts instruction, while nonfiction is frequently underrepresented (Dreher & Kletzien, 2015). Even when nonfiction is addressed, it is often studied through the use of basal readers and online texts that lack the richness of exceptional nonfiction literature in both the quality of information and the quality of presentation.”

                          NCTE Position Statement on the Role of Nonfiction Literature (K–12); January 19, 2023 Source: https://ncte.org/statement/role-of-nonfiction-literature-k-12/).

While I believe we’re seeing a rich array of picture book nonfiction today that helps address the issues in the NCTE Position Statement, I asked Mary Ann and Xenia to share their observations about nonfiction for middle grade and young teen readers. Here’s their (astute and thought-provoking) response:

“Contemporary nonfiction picture books have the remarkable capacity to take complex facts and true stories and distill them so that young readers can access them joyfully and gain lots of knowledge from them. Their shorter length makes them ideal for a younger audience, as well as for older readers looking for short, well-researched texts on a topic.

“But, what about when readers need longer, more detailed explorations of the topics that interest them? What about when the story told or the topic examined are best served by longer texts? The response to this need is long form nonfiction. Long form nonfiction has the capacity to be expansive in its exploration of complex topics. It can delve deeply into gray areas, interrogate conflicting information and narratives, and make visible nuances that help readers reach deeper understandings of intricate issues.

“As a society, we aspire for our middle grades and young adult readers to grow into active, critical-thinking citizens of tomorrow. For that to happen, they must have rich opportunities to grapple with complex issues that challenge their emotions and their intellect. Long form nonfiction can be the perfect vehicle for inviting young people into such explorations, and thoughtfully guiding them through sustained engagement with issues in depth and in breadth.

“Through reading and thinking about long form nonfiction texts, young readers can dig deep into histories and diverse perspectives; and they can develop their knowledge, their understanding, and their own well-informed opinions on important matters. And they can hone their information literacy skills by noticing the significance of extensive research and documentation in nonfiction writing and by using that understanding to evaluate the quality of information across different kinds of sources.

“But as middle school readers transition away from the nonfiction series chapter books that they may have read in late elementary school, it’s a bit of a freefall. They may also be graduating from the children’s section of the public library to the tween or teen room. Do they know how many nonfiction titles are available to them? What does the library collection look like for older readers?

“Our observation is that often the nonfiction section shrinks from the children’s room to the young adult room. Tween and teen readers may not know where to find nonfiction books on the topics about which they are most passionate. And, many tweens and teens don’t have access to robust public libraries.

“If tweens and teens are not inclined to find nonfiction on their own, they must encounter those books in school to pique their curiosity. School librarians may have carefully curated library collections, but getting tweens and teens into the library to browse is a challenge during a crowded school day. And, many tweens and teens don’t have access to school libraries. Often, classroom teachers are unaware of the nonfiction books that could be potentially used in their curriculum. Under pressure to race through content, science and social studies teachers at the secondary level may not be able to devote the time on a topic that would allow for a reading of a full-length nonfiction book. English teachers may be focused on fiction, poetry, and drama.

“If students in middle school and high school are not expected to read a full-length nonfiction book written for their developmental needs and interests, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: they won’t. Students need the experience of reading longform nonfiction to develop their reading stamina. Not just for the sake of the next step – for high school, for college, for career. Those are important.

“But research has shown that the more you read, the more you know, the stronger you grow as a reader. Readers need practice with long form nonfiction to become better readers of long form nonfiction. If they aren’t finding these books on their own – and we know that tweens and teens are busy people with many demands on their attention – they need their teachers to both expect them to read these texts and create a meaningful context in which to discuss them. Through encounters with well-written nonfiction, students deepen their knowledge of disciplinary practices, expand their vocabulary, and learn more about the world that they carry into all of their studies, and all of their future readings.

“But the bottom line is:  If we don’t engage young people in reading long form nonfiction in middle school and high school, they won’t magically know how to read it in their postsecondary lives. They simply won’t have the stamina for it.”

Is Long Form Nonfiction Neglected?

“Too much of the nonfiction reading that kids are asked to do is short—articles, text passages, textbook chapters, and so one. Let’s celebrate and promote longer nonfiction!” – Donalyn Miller

As a genre, adult nonfiction certainly seems alive and well. For the past decade, I’ve reviewed adult nonfiction for Bookpage. Each month, I see a wide variety of titles, including biographies, memoirs, and books on history as well as social, environmental, and political issues. Adult nonfiction is read widely and reviewed prominently. It’s also a distinct genre in major awards. For example, the National Book Award for adults designates separate categories for fiction and nonfiction. The Pulitzers also separate out nonfiction.

In contrast, the NBA Award for Young People’s Literature doesn’t include separate categories for fiction and nonfiction. Further, several of the most prestigious awards in children’s literature for nonfiction or informational texts encompass a wide range of eligible books for a wide range of readers. Winners and award books may include a mix of picture books, graphic books, memoirs, and long form nonfiction.  (We seem to have adopted the term “graphic novel format” to describe all books in graphic format. Why make it confusing? Let’s just call nonfiction books in graphic format “graphic nonfiction.”)

As far as middle grade nonfiction being recognized in recent awards, there are some bright spots. I was delighted to see the 2024 YALSA Nonfiction Award go to an exceptional long form title, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed. While only one long form title appeared among five 2024 Sibert Medal winning and honor titles, The Mona Lisa Vanishes came out on top. But, among the five honorees, three are listed for readers ten and under; only two for middle grade and teen readers.

Only a single long form title, Indigenous Ingenuity, was among the winner and five honor books for the 2023 Orbis Pictus award. Here, once again, there are fewer books aimed at middle grade readers. As with the Sibert award, a majority—four of the six honored titles— are listed for readers ten and under.

Perhaps the trend toward shorter, younger works receiving more attention is a result of post-pandemic literacy concerns and an overall preference for shorter books, as well as an explosion of exceptional picture book and graphic nonfiction.

On the other hand, if the trend continues and long form nonfiction isn’t visible in awards or mock discussions, we may need to make an extra effort to find titles and bring them to the attention of young readers. And, of course, if these titles do not sell copies, publishers will be less inclined to acquire middle grade nonfiction; fewer authors will want to undertake the long months or years of work required to write long form.

 Finding Enthusiasm for Middle Grade Nonfiction

“Nonfiction books typically don’t generate wide enough interest or enthusiasm from our readers, especially compared to the most highly regarded novels in a given year.” – Steven Engelfried

I’m always on the lookout for new middle grade nonfiction. And in 2023, my attention was caught by a post by Steven Engelfried, who moderates SLJ’s Heavy Medal Blog.  He mentioned that only nine of eighty-six community suggestions for the blog’s mock discussion were nonfiction. The number stuck with me, so I asked Steven for his thoughts.

“Nonfiction books typically don’t generate wide enough interest or enthusiasm from our readers, especially compared to the most highly regarded novels in a given year,” he told me. “For several years, we’ve led into our Mock Newbery selection by coming up with a list of 15 or so finalists in early November. Of those 15, we typically include just one or two long form nonfiction titles.

“As one of the selectors of that list, I’d love to see more nonfiction. Our selections, however, are heavily influenced by suggestions and nominations from readers over the course of the year, as well as our sense, based on blog comments and discussions, of what books will generate the most support among participants.”

Steven went on to speculate on some of the reasons nonfiction titles don’t get suggested. “It could be related to expectations for the Newbery Medal. Though nonfiction (as well as poetry, picture books, and graphic novels) are clearly eligible for the award, most of us expect to hear fiction titles when the results are announced,” he said. “With good reason: In the past 20 years, only six longform nonfiction titles have earned Newbery recognition…all as Honor books.

“It can also be a little more challenging to apply the Newbery Criteria to nonfiction versus fiction. Terms like “setting,” “characterization,” and “plot” can all be applied to narrative nonfiction, but more typically we think of them as elements of fiction,” Steven continued. “I was on a couple Newbery committees that did select a nonfiction Honor book, and though details of discussions are always confidential, it’s clear that those nonfiction titles excelled in terms of the Newbery Criteria, even when matched up alongside the best fiction of the year. It just doesn’t happen that often.”  

Are librarians and educators who nominate books for the Heavy Medal discussion influenced by other awards?

 “The Sibert Award may even have an impact on nonfiction in Mock Newberys,” Steven said. “The real Newbery Committee, of course, must disregard the possibility that any book they’re considering might win another award, so I don’t believe the Sibert Medal (for informational books) plays a part in their choice. But in a mock award setting participants might, even subconsciously, limit their reading of longform nonfiction by thinking that titles will be stronger Sibert candidates, and so not as compelling for a Newbery discussion.

“Whatever the reasons, it would be great to see more longform nonfiction involved in Newbery results, both real and mock versions. They’ll certainly continue to be part of our Heavy Medal discussions, and we’ll keep hoping to see more titles catching stronger support from our participants.” 

That wraps up Part One of this (long!) guest blog post. Thanks to Steven, Xenia, and Mary Ann for their thoughts on this topic. Coming Up: Part Two: Authors Weigh In. Come back on Monday, March 11th for the second part of this important discussion.

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of many books for young readers including picture books, middle grade historical fiction, and long form nonfiction. She lives in Oregon. You can find more about Deborah Hopkinson and her books at https://deborahhopkinson.com/about/

Filed under: Middle Grade, Mind the Middle, Mind the Middle Project, Nonfiction