Genre, Part II

Here is the second installment in our genre journey, covering children’s books, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, humor, and mystery.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

There are several categories of children’s literature.

 

Picture books are mostly illustrations with few words, and are intended for an adult to read out loud. Picture books can include: 1) lullabies and nursery rhymes for young toddlers, 2) books that teach numbers, colors, letters, shapes, and animals to early learners ages 1-3, or 3) books with a simple plot (one main child character with a problem to resolve) for ages 4-8. 

Easy-to-read books are for children ages 6-8 who are getting used to reading on their own. The plot is still simple, and the books include pictures and large print, with only a few sentences per page.

Early chapter books are for children ages 6-9 who have advanced past the easy-to-read books. There are fewer pictures, and the books are a little longer with a more involved storyline. Manuscripts are roughly thirty pages, and the chapters are only two or three pages long.

Chapter books are written for children between the ages of 7-10. They have longer sentences that are more complicated, and few, if any illustrations. The manuscripts are no more than sixty pages, with chapters that are three or four pages long.

Middle grade books target ages 8-12. These stories have subplots, more characters, complex sentences, and start to expand into different genres. Often, the books will be a series so the children can follow the characters through several different adventures.

Young adult books are for age 12-18. They focus on the real-life struggles of teenagers, or take children away to another time and place where they get lost in the story. The young adult books are intended to help transition the children into the world of adult fiction.

 

FANTASY

Fantasy stories focus on the supernatural or magical worlds and creatures (elves, fairies, etc.). Subgenres include dark fantasy (includes gothic or horror elements), epic fantasy (long adventure), historical fantasy (with a setting from Earth’s history), medieval fantasy (with knights, dragons, sorcerers), superheroes, urban fantasy (modern environment with fantastical characters), and vampires.

 

HISTORICAL FICTION

Historical fiction tells a story about a true event or an actual person. It usually has vivid descriptions of the setting, clothing, homes, and furnishings. Historical fiction includes biographies and period pieces set in a specific period of time.

HORROR

Horror stories are intended to scare the audience, and usually contain gruesome content.  Most of the time, evil wins. The subgenres include aliens, ghost stories, gothic, grindhouse (explicit gore and violence), hauntings, monster or other critter (spiders, lizards, etc.), noir (urban setting with weary characters), paranormal, stories of the occult, serial killers, supernatural, and zombies.

 

HUMOR

Humor deals with comedy, and is meant to make the reader laugh. It crosses into any genre (romantic comedy), and sometimes is a spoof or parody.

 

MYSTERY

Mysteries have a puzzle that must be solved, and the reader tries to solve the mystery along with the protagonist. It includes several subgenres: crime stories, courtroom stories, cozies (small town, amateur female sleuth) hardboiled (male private investigator, corrupt setting), heists, historical, legal thrillers, medical detectives, murder mysteries, police procedurals, private detectives, supernatural (crime with a supernatural villain), and whodunit.

 

On Thursday, I’ll post the last installment in the genre journey.