Middle grade authors have
developed their own version of magical realism, which, of course, varies just
as much as previous iterations. Today I’m going to share my specific
understanding of the sub-genre and how I have used everyday magic as a tool to
develop my characters’ emotional journeys.
First, a definition. I
like to define magical realism in middle grade as a story that takes place in
an everyday setting with just a hint of magic. However, we need to take the
definition a few steps farther to really understand magical realism, especially
if we want to differentiate it from contemporary fantasy or urban fantasy,
which are also fantasy stories that take place in everyday settings. One of the
key differences here is that with contemporary or urban fantasy, the fantasy
element is generally a force that characters must strive to overcome. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer; the beasties
are primarily there to drive the plot forward and give Buffy landmarks on her
hero’s journey.
In magical realism, the
fantasy element serves a different purpose. It is generally there in order to
spark or highlight an emotional change in the main character. Think of the
magic as a spiritual guide, leading the character on a journey of
self-discovery. The magical element is often symbolic of a larger idea. For a
concrete example, let’s take a look at my first book, Skeleton Tree.
In Skeleton Tree, the main character, Stanly, discovers a finger bone
in his backyard. He hopes to dig up the bones and photograph them in order to
win a contest, but the bones have other ideas. They start to grow, first into a
bony hand reaching up into the sky, and then into a full-sized skeleton that
only children and a few special adults can see. The only person who doesn’t
find the skeleton creepy is Stanly’s little sister, Miren. She wants to be best
friends with the skeleton, that she names Princy, but when she starts to get
sick more often than usual, Stanly worries that maybe the skeleton isn’t as
friendly as Miren thinks.
Spoiler alert: as you probably guessed, Princy represents
Death in the story. As Stanly’s relationship with Princy changes and grows
throughout the course of the book, so does Stanly’s understanding of Death. By
the end, he realizes that, “maybe death [isn’t] all worms and nothingness. Maybe,
sometimes, there [is] mystery and whimsy and dancing shadow puppets, too. The
kind that [need] both light and dark to be seen” (154-155 Skeleton Tree). The magic serves the purpose of guiding both the
character and the reader on an emotional journey that might be more difficult
to conceptualize without a physical manifestation of a complex topic, in this
case Princy as the physical manifestation of Death.
This is one of the reasons
why I think magical realism works so well in middle grade. Not only can it give
young readers a concrete way to visualize and understand fuzzy existential topics,
but, using light magic, often with a big dose of whimsy, is also a great way to
ease readers into a conversation about dark or difficult topics, like death in Skeleton Tree or homelessness in
Katherine Applegate’s Crenshaw.
Another characteristic that
differentiates magical realism from contemporary or urban fantasy is that
authors of magical realism usually make no attempt to explain the magic. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for example,
we learn an entire mythology surrounding slayers and demons that, while still
fantastical, explains the world in a way that viewers and characters in the
show are willing to accept. On the other hand, in magical realism, the author makes
little or no attempt to explain, because it’s not about developing a larger
fantasy world or a plausible system of magic, it’s about taking the character
on a specific emotional journey. Once the journey is over, the magic often
disappears or goes away until it is needed by a future character looking to
undertake a similar emotional journey.
Hopefully this article has
given you a greater understanding of magical realism in middle grade literature
and has inspired you to go out and read, or even write, some magical middle
grade in 2019.
Kim Ventrella is the author of the middle grade novels
SKELETON TREE and BONE HOLLOW. Her short story, ‘Jingle
Jangle,’ will appear in the NEW SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK anthology
releasing in 2020. Her works tackle tough topics with big doses of whimsy, hope
and, of course, magic.
