How to use this Page

Wow! I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book and to be honest I've started quite a few recently that I didn't finish...this was NOT one of those books. In fact, when I reached the last page I got angry because it had a sequel and now I can't wait to get it read. It's a mixture of Hunger Games and The Most Dangerous Game (both which I loved) but with a unique twist. Wish I'd thought of it. Continue reading →

There’s something about fantasy, magic, and dystopian novels that can really hook readers. Think about the Harry Potter books—they got millions of kids, teens, and even adults reading middle-grade fantasy—and loving them, being absorbed in them so much that they wore costumes, wrote fan fiction, put on skits, waited up in long lines to buy the books, and went to see all the movies. The same thing happened again with Twilight, and now with The Hunger Games.

There’s a lot that appeals to me in fantasy novels—and by “fantasy” I mean fantasy, paranormal, magic, time travel, sci-fi, dystopian, and anything else that can fit under that category—that I think also appeals to a lot of children and teen (and adult!) readers. I really needed to escape my life growing up—I’m an incest and ritual abuse survivor, and I was also bullied a lot at school, so books were my way to escape. Fantasy books helped me escape the best (though I also really needed realistic fiction to know I was not alone). I think we all have something that we’ve wanted or needed to escape from, and fantasy can be a powerful doorway out of our life and into another’s.

There’s so much in fantasy that can hook readers:

Magical or Paranormal Powers.

The idea of having magical or paranormal powers like the characters we read about can help us imagine ourselves as more powerful than we are, instead of being abused or a victim or feeling powerless. It can help us feel like we can change our lives. I wanted to have paranormal powers or magic so badly!

The possibility of fixing or changing problems with magic that doesn’t exist here, or with paranormal powers—the power of your own mind and your will—is incredibly appealing. It makes solutions seem more possible, and can also seem like an easy fix. Though in books often those powers create new problems in the characters’ lives, but it’s hard not to wish or dream for those powers when you read about them. Like a genie’s wishes—they’re often tricky and work against you, but who hasn’t spent time imagining “If I had three wishes, what would they be?” Or if I could read minds, how could I use it to help me (and others)? Or being able to heal someone, to bring someone back from the dead who we love and miss dearly. All sorts of need and emotion, wishes and desire can be mixed up in magic and paranormal powers. So they have a great appeal.

Some examples are the Fingerprints series by Melinda Metz, 2 Comments on Why Fantasy Novels Can Hook Readers (children, teen, and adult!), last added: 5/9/2012