Tell Your Story: Novels

Novels are an exciting genre in children’s literature, whether they are middle grade (ages 8-13) or  young adult (ages 13 and up.) There are seemingly endless novel categories, too: novels in verse, contemporary, horror, fantasy, historical fiction, mystery and narrative nonfiction.

Whatever your novel interest, we’ve got resources and workshops to help you begin, revise, plot, outline, receive feedback, develop characters and more.

No matter where you are on your journey, we’re glad you’re here.  We can give you the skills you need to create the very best novel for kids and teens.

Novel Workshops

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Explore Our Novel Workshops

Inspiring Children Through Story

“My picture book … deals with parents separating. One little boy, who parents recently divorced, went to bed with [it] many nights. This deeply moved me to know this picture book helped this little boy.”

“I tutor 2nd grade reluctant readers. My understanding of picture book structure and prose allows me to help them learn more than words. Rather than just read the story, we talk about it.”

“You mean I get to keep this book forever?”

…Spoken by a child in tears who was gifted with one of my books at a school visit and had never owned a book before.

“When I hear kids giggle while I’m reading [my book] I feel like I’ve done the job I intended to do.“

Novel Resources

Diana Murry
Visual Outlining

by Chris Tebbetts

Alisa Alering
5 Common World Building Mistakes

by Alisa Alering

Donna Janell Bowman
Perfectly Plotted

by Padma Venkatraman

Jennifer Gennari
Learning to Love Line Editing

By Jennifer Gennari

Don Tate
Imagining an Image System for Your novel in verse

by Cordelia Jensen

Miranda Paul
Lights, Camera, ACTION: The Importance of Starting in a Scene

by Kat Brzozowski

Julie Dao and Anna-Marie McLemore on Reimagining Fairy Tales

Julie Dao and Anna-Marie McLemore on Reimagining Fairy Tales

Beginning STEPS to Writing Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults

Beginning STEPS to Writing Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults

Writing Mysteries for Young Readers

Writing Mysteries for Young Readers

7 Ways to Create Characters with Charisma

7 Ways to Create Characters with Charisma

See All Novel Blogs from Our Faculty

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Stories from Our Highlights Foundation Alumni

Kristy Dempsey and Kathryn Erskine Talk About Picture Books and Community

Kristy Dempsey and Kathryn Erskine Talk About Picture Books and Community

How Your Writing Community Can Help You Take Creative Risks

How Your Writing Community Can Help You Take Creative Risks

David Harrison on Rhyming Picture Books and Poetry Collections

David Harrison on Rhyming Picture Books and Poetry Collections

Chat with Artists-in-Residency Meg Medina, Jerry Spinelli, Eileen Spinelli and Suzanne Bloom

Chat with Artists-in-Residency Meg Medina, Jerry Spinelli, Eileen Spinelli and Suzanne Bloom

See All Stories from Highlights Foundation Alumni

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The Highlights Foundation positively impacts children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves.  Learn more about our impact.

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