Genre guide · Children & YA
Middle Grade: word count & book length
How long a middle grade book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 30,000–55,000 words.
About middle grade
Books for readers about 8–12. Protagonists are usually 10–13, and stories focus on friendship, family and the world just beyond home.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 5.5 x 8.5 in Digest | 122–218 pages | 0.27–0.49 in |
| 5.25 x 8 in | 136–244 pages | 0.31–0.55 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Spot illustrations and chapter-head art increase appeal for younger middle-grade readers.
About Middle Grade
Middle grade literature is literature intended for children between the ages of 8 and 12. While these books are sometimes grouped together with books for other age bands and collectively called "children's books", middle grade is distinct from picture books, early or easy readers, and chapter books, all of which are intended for younger audiences. Most of the winners of the Newbery Medal have been middle grade books. The category beyond middle grade is young adult, which is intended for readers between the ages of 12 and 18. In addition to differences in word count and the age of the protagonists, middle grade and young adult differ in content.
From the Wikipedia article “Middle grade literature”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published middle grade works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Lewis Carroll | 1865 | 3,548 |
| A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens | 1843 | 3,196 |
| Wuthering Heights | Emily Brontë | 1846 | 2,889 |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | 1876 | 2,623 |
| Hamlet | William Shakespeare | 1603 | 2,494 |
| The Scarlet Letter | Nathaniel Hawthorne | 1800 | 2,425 |
| Robinson Crusoe | Daniel Defoe | 1686 | 2,420 |
| Emma | Jane Austen | 1815 | 2,262 |
| Oliver Twist | Charles Dickens | 1822 | 2,211 |
| A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens | 1800 | 2,059 |
Open Library lists 176,126 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a middle grade book be?
What trim size is best for middle grade?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).