The June theme for Six for Sunday, hosted by A Little But a Lot, is Bookish Wishes and today’s wish is for: Books I Want to be Written.
I’ve decided to go for types of books I would like to see more of, or even more of, in children’s middle-grade fiction. In no particular order, they are:
1. Timeslip novels. I can’t remember when I read my first time-slip story (I must have been just out of primary school), nor could I remember the name, but I do remember that it was about teenagers going back to the time of Cuchulain of Ulster, and that the memory of my fascination with the book still lingers, many, many years later. Just recently, I think I’ve been able to re-discover the book: The Druid’s Tale by Orla Melling, and have now managed to get a copy. I’d love to see more of these stories, travelling to different periods of history. I love the mix of the modern with the historical, and how characters from two very different periods of history interact.
2. Science-fiction set on other worlds. I love sci-fi series like Star Trek and Firefly. I would love to see middle-grade fiction set entirely on other worlds with interaction between alien and human species, as I think these would be fascinating.
3. Celtic mythology/folklore with a modern twist. Growing up in rural Ireland, I read, and heard, many stories of Irish folklore. We had a ‘fairy tree’ (hawthorn) tree on our family farm, which was never allowed to be cut down for fear of causing offence to the faery folk. If I were ever to write a story, it would be linked to faery lore!
4. Pre-historic. I loved Earth’s Children’s series and The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Series, and would love to read some more stories set in pre-historic times.
5. Ghost stories: I’ve read Seaglass by Eloise Williams and The Little Grey Girl by Celine Kiernan recently. I would love to find more books suitable for middle-grade in this genre.
6. LGBTQ: I’ve read some excellent YA fiction with LGBTQ characters, but am not really familiar with this population being represented in middle-grade fiction. I would like to see more stories where the diversity of modern families is shown.
If you know any great children’s fiction related to these types of book, I would love to hear your recommendations.
Book Craic 
This such a good way to interpret this prompt – I was tearing my hair out trying to think of books that fit the specifications! I also said that I would like to see more of Irish folklore and myth/legend retelling as there aren’t many out there.
I didn’t know that you grew up in rural Ireland – me too! In my village we have a holy well, next to a fairy thorn and we even had the gateposts with one pointed and the other flat so that the ‘wee folk’ could rest! There are so many stories around where I grew up!
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Thank you! I think Irish folklore is fascinating, and would love to see more imaginings using these traditions. I grew up in a very rural part of Co Donegal, surrounded by mountains and bogland! Your village sounds wonderful – maybe there’s a story waiting to be told there! ☘️
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Oh wow, we’re not far away from each other at all – I grew up in view of Donegal, just across the Foyle in a very rural part of County Derry/Londonderry 🙂 There are so many stories to be told I think! Just wish I had the skills to tell them.
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I had my first tattoo there – it’s a small world!
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Gosh I love me a timeslip or dreaming of parallel lives novel But they tend to be wistful women usually suffering a career slump or recovering from a breakup – I adored Barbara Erskine for that which Kate Mosse picked up too! Would like to see someone do this with MG.
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I love Barbara Erskine books – she does timeslip so well – my favourite was Lady of Hay.
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Oh yes Lady of Hay, I enjoyed quite a few of hers, Whispers in the Sand, Daughters Of Fire and her recent book Sleepers Castle was REALLY good too!!
Makes me want to read them all again!!
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I haven’t read Sleepers Castle yet – another to get for my TBR!
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