MG vs YA

Differences Between Middle Grade vs Young Adult

Middle Grade (MG)

Age of readers: 8–12.

Length: Generally 30,000–50,000 words (although fantasy can run longer to allow for more complex world-building).

Content restrictions: No profanity, graphic violence, or sexuality (romance, if any, is limited to a crush or a first kiss).

Age of protagonist: Typically age 10 for a younger MG novel, and up to age 13 for older, more complex books.

Mindset: Focus on friends, family, and the character’s immediate world and relationship to it; characters react to what happens to them, with minimal self-reflection.

Voice: Often third person.

Young Adult (YA)

Age of readers: 13–18.

Length: Generally 50,000–75,000 words (although there’s also a length allowance for fantasy).

Content restrictions: Profanity, graphic violence, romance and sexuality (except for eroticism) are all allowable (though not required).

Age of protagonist: Ages 14–15 for a younger YA with cleaner content aimed at the middle-school crowd; for older and more edgy YA, characters can be up to 18 (but not in college).

Mindset: YA heroes discover how they fit in the world beyond their friends and family; they spend more time reflecting on what happens and analyzing the meaning of things.

Voice: Often first person.

MG vs. YA Characters

When picking your hero’s age, remember that kids “read up,” which means they want to read about characters who are older than they are. So an 8-year-old protagonist won’t fly for the MG category, though it’d be OK for a younger chapter book or easy reader. For the widest audience, you’ll generally want your protagonist to be on the oldest side of your readership that your plot will allow. That means a 12- or even 13-year-old hero for MG, and a 17- or 18-year-old for YA (just remember your hero can’t be in college yet—that would push it into the “new adult” category).