Dude-lit, "objects in motion", and a short story

A few years ago, Heather Wright @wrightwriter and I worked on a project together: an anthology of stories featuring boys. We were inspired by our shared experience of being the mothers of avid-reader boys, but we were also inspired by a session we attended at the @CANSCAIP PYI conference, led by Shane Peacock (no slouch in the writing-for-boys category). 

Yes, you can argue that #kidlit and #yalit books are for everyone, and maybe they are, but Shane’s take was this: if you want to appeal to young male readers, you need to feature “objects in motion.” Objects in motion. I love this! So, Heather and I wrote some stories and created our little anthology, Dude! No, there aren’t “objects in motion” in every story, but the idea of targeting a unique audience in a way that appeals and nurtures a love of reading certainly is.

Prolific award-winning YA author Pam Withers (her latest, Drone Chase, is featured on the CBC list of YA books to watch for this spring) sees the need for dude-lit, too. She’s the force behind the website yadudebooks.ca, which features reviews, author profiles and articles about books for boys. 

Pam asked if she could share a couple of our Dude! stories, so a few week’s ago Heather’s story “Shovelling Snow” was posted on her site. Today it’s my turn.

“Accused” is the story of a boy who finds himself on the wrong side of an incident at school, and the unlikely hero who believes in him. You can read it here: Accused. 

And please stick around and check out what Pam's innovative YADudeBooks site has to offer young readers, parents, teachers and librarians, as well as writers and publishers in the world of books for boys.

Shane Peacock: “Objects in motion….”

The latest issue of Quill and Quire is a keeper for anyone interested in writing for children. Among the usual industry coverage are a great article on Kathy Lowinger, the soon-to-be-retired publisher of Tundra Books, and the “coming soon” listing of upcoming releases in children’s books from publishers across the country.

But the cover story, on Shane Peacock, is the real gem here. I had the opportunity to hear Shane speak at a CANSCAIP conference a few years ago, and he wowed us with his grasp of the essence of writing for boys.

“Objects in motion” he told us, and proceeded to read the opening passages from two books: one prosey and slow, the other fraught with excitement (I think it was the Hardy boys racing a motorcycle up a narrow mountain road). If anything could capture, quickly and effectively, the message he was trying to share, that demonstration did. I thought he was brilliant – as a teacher and as a writer for kids.

So it’s great to see Shane’s recent success with his Young Sherlock Holmes series. He’s proved himself to be an author who knows his audience and how to reach them.

Interestingly, this issue also includes a “last word” essay by Eric Walters, who examines the perils of writing novels about serious issues and the risk of sounding “preachy.” Since I blogged about this in July, I was particularly interested to read his take on the subject. He says he sits down to write a story, not to preach an issue, and I’m glad to hear it, although I confess – after watching my son struggle through Shattered – I have some doubts about that. The same dilemma faces historical writers who sometimes seem so intent on getting their research into the story, they forget that the young readers just want to know what happens next, not details about the food on the table or the protagonist’s mode of transportation.

It all makes for interesting reading, though, and a prompt for more discussion – never a bad thing.