Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

Middle-grade literature is an age categorization that denotes books that are more complicated than children’s picture books or early chapter books, but that use simpler vocabulary and a younger protagonist than a young adult novel would feature. The target audience for a middle-grade novel is an individual between the ages of eight and 12, though audiences of all ages often enjoy these novels. Some popular examples of middle-grade literature are the early books in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward series.

Though middle-grade fiction uses a younger protagonist and simpler language than the age groupings that follow it, these novels still tackle a wide range of relevant and challenging topics. Some of the most common tropes focus on found family, the coming-of-age journey, and the nuances of developing a more mature identity. The characters of these novels often overcome challenges with the help of their friends and family, and with that assistance, they learn who they are as people and who they want to become. The stories do not necessarily have explicit moral lessons, but they do promote the importance of being authentic and finding people who appreciate that authenticity.

The middle-grade genres experienced a surge in the early 21st century as readers acquired a renewed interest in mythology and folklore. This, in part, was because authors made their works accessible to many audiences. However, the age category still held biases—the most popular authors were white males telling stories about white characters. Rick Riordan made an important shift in this conversation by starting his imprint—Rick Riordan Presents—which promotes Own Voice authors and supplies space for them to explore the myths of their own cultures. Authors such as Roshani Chokski, Saddwa Chadda, and Graci Kim publish books with diverse primary characters and write authentic insights into their cultures’ mythologies. Since then, more diverse authors have taken up the call and have worked to actively diversify the field of middle-grade literature, which accomplishes two goals. First, it provides youths from diverse backgrounds with relatable role models and protagonists in popular literature; second, it creates space for all readers to learn about different cultures. Skandar and the Unicorn Thief contributes to this tradition by presenting traditional folklore in a new and meaningful way for a young audience. The novel invites readers to explore what fairy tale unicorns are like and to contrast those unicorns with Steadman’s unique portrayal. More importantly, Steadman uses diverse characters and morals to speak to a range of audiences while recognizing her own biases and limitations in the conversations she enters.