Rereading Childhood Favorites (or Why Not to Write Down for Kids)

The last time I read Frank Herbert's Dune, I was a freshman in high school. I remember (vaguely) feeling very old already. "Omg, I'm in high school now, grades actually count, WHERE DID MIDDLE SCHOOL GO?!"*

I also remember LOVING this book. Like hardcore, can I please marry Paul Atreides right now (except not marry him I guess because his wife gets the shoddy end of the deal, it's his concubine who he really lurves). Also why was I not raised Bene Gesserit, my life is a waste.

I haven't reread it since then. Yes, I know, I'm weird. But with the exception of Harry Potter, I don't generally reread my favorites. I like to let them simmer in the recesses of my mind for a decade or so, until I've forgotten all the salient plot points. Then it's like reading them for the first time all over again when I go back!

But this time, as I followed the various twisted political schemings of House Atreides and its arch-nemeses the Harkonnens, I started to wonder. Did I really understand all of this as a (young) teenager? Did I grasp the subtle nuances of character, did I understand why Paul's mother Jessica makes the difficult decisions she does, or why the emperor does what he does at the end?

I don't remember any confusion from my first read. I remember there were shady dealings and sketchy politicians and a lot of intrigue. I remember the love story.** I remember which characters I loved and which I hated, and those are still pretty much the same now upon rereading.

But what I kept thinking, over and over as I read this book, was that kids understand soooo much more than you think they do. As I start to become a (gulp) adult, I'm aware that my brain is changing. I think differently now than I did 10 years ago. When I look back now, I often see all the things I wish I'd known. I forget about the things I did know. The things I knew back at age 12 when I started reading adult fantasy novels. The things I knew all through high school, reading literary classics that some adults still struggle through.

And I think that's a potential problem with some of us who write for children. Sometimes we forget that kids are FREAKING SMART. Sometimes we write down to them. We dumb down a plot twist or uncomplicate a character because we think, will any of my readers actually GET this?

Don't do that. Trust me. They'll understand it. Books like The Fault in Our Stars are selling for a reason. I've heard people criticize it for being too high-brow (and okay, maybe it's a stretch that high schoolers would actually speak like that at times). But teens are gobbling it up. If anyone says John Green writes over teenagers' heads, all he needs to do is point at his sales and yell "scoreboard."

So, I guess my point is... the next time you're wondering if your plot/character/theme is too deep or too complex. Just remember. Your target audience is probably reading William Faulkner for English class right now. I think you're fine.

* except there was less angst, because let's face it, middle school sucks way more than high school. hormonal pre-teens be crazy, yo. my favorite was the girl who spread rumors that she caught my stuffing my bra with toilet paper in the girl's bathroom. pfft. like I was even wearing a bra. AGE TWELVE, PEOPLE. ahem. tangent.

** though I remember the love story being a lot more prominent than it really was. oh, hormones yet again...