Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Writing for Young People : Critical Readings and Discussions on Craft - Elen Caldecott

Writing for Young People

Critical Readings and Discussions on Craft

By: Elen Caldecott

Paperback | 5 February 2026

At a Glance

Paperback


$92.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $23.25 with

 or 

Available: 5th February 2026

Preorder. Will ship when available.

Applying the methodology of âreading-as-a-writerâ to the craft of writing for young people, this textbook combines critical analysis, unique author-insight and practical application of ideas to give writers the skills to create successful fiction for youth audiences. Under the guidance of childrenâs author Elen Caldecott, compelling close readings dig deep into the construction of modern classics and contemporary middle-grade, YA, picture books and more to explore how paragraphs, sentences and words engineer specific reader responses. Interviews with the author of the extracted work follow before each chapter rounds off with writing exercises that prompt writers to engage with techniques and ideas discussed.

Accessible and equipping writers with the valuable knowledge and skills to write in one of the fastest-growing fields in creative writing, Writing for Young People
- Draws upon the works of prominent writers such as David Almond, Leigh Bardugo, Louis Sachar, Jasbinder Bilan, B. B. Alston, Frank Cotrell Boyce and many more
- Author interviews cover topics such as the bookâs origin, their writing and editing process and their perspective on the analysis made of their work
- Discusses vital craft techniques in novel-writing and editing including language, plotting, constructing characters, narrative time, worldbuilding, dialogue, cultural history, tropes and conventions
- Covers key contemporary issues that students, teachers and professional writers of fiction for youth audiences will encounter from villains, archetypes, class and race, and transnational writing to conceptions of childhood, environment, colonialism, power, coming-of-age and social justice
- Considers the role of wider literary and community landscapes in creating compelling texts
- Includes a list of Further Reading resources

Light-hearted but intellectually rigorous and rewarding, the field of writing for youth readers has been waiting for this book.

More in Creative Writing & Creative Writing Guides

Stranger Things : The Complete Scripts, Season 4 - Duffer Brothers
Stranger Things : The Complete Scripts, Season 3 - Duffer Brothers
You Need To Exist : A Book to Love and Destroy! - Yungblud

RRP $32.99

$26.75

19%
OFF
On Writing : A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
The Story Writer's Handbook : Adventures in Creative Writing - Katrina Nannestad
Save the Cat! : The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need - Blake Snyder
We Need Your Art : Stop Messing Around and Make Something - Amie McNee
The Book of Alchemy : A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life - Suleika Jaouad
Stranger Things : The Complete Scripts, Season 2 - Duffer Brothers

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
Stranger Things : The Complete Scripts, Season 1 - Duffer Brothers

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
Writing Better Lyrics, 2nd Edition - Pat Pattison

RRP $55.00

$36.75

33%
OFF
Wish I Was Here : An Anti-Memoir - M. John Harrison
On Writing Well : Classic Guide To Writing Non Fiction - William Zinsser
Screenplay : The Foundations of Screenwriting - Syd Field

RRP $39.99

$26.75

33%
OFF