John Marsden breaks drought with a realist downpour Grit is back: John Marsden with his latest children's book, The Year My Life Broke, at Candlebark School near Romsey, of which he is a founder and principal. The back cover of John Marsden's first book in seven years, The Year My Life Broke, contains the warning: "This book is not a fantasy. It contains no superheroes, wizards, dragons, time travel, aliens or magic. There is the mystery of an unseen neighbour, but Marsden's new novel is mostly about a sixth grader's attempts to fit in when his family's investment company tanks, and he is forced to move house and school in disgrace. The author of the acclaimed Tomorrow series wanted to write about the invisible victims of crime and corporate greed, lightening the gritty subject matter with odd sprays of humour and mild cursing. There's more schoolyard swearing in this latest book than in all his others, says Marsden, who six years ago became the stepfather of six boys aged from nine to 19 and is principal of his own school. It's silly to maintain the pretence that kids don't hear the words spoken on television, at the bus stop and on the sporting oval. I've always liked to write stories with authenticity. There just seems to be a division from the real world and books written for children and I try to bridge the gap as much as possible. By fortunate timing, Marsden seems to have hit the publishing Zeitgeist. At the Bologna Children's Book Fair, where book deals are negotiated for primary school, teen and young adult fiction, interest in vampires and dystopia had peaked. "Two things were abundantly clear," said Angela Namoi, Allen & Unwin's rights and international sales director for children's books. That publishers were looking for middle grade [eight to 12-year-olds], rather than young adult fiction, and that they were looking for good, strong realistic fiction rather than fantasy. Dystopia was a very dirty word! We had some truly excellent middle-grade fantasy in the Bologna bag that in the previous couple of years I'm sure would have sold. But so far this year we haven't had any interest. I'm sure things will swing back again [but] it's refreshing to have realistic fiction back in vogue after quite a big break. Nerrilee Weir, Random House's rights manager, agreed international publishers were more inclined to realism, humour, and strong writing. It's a double take for Marsden, whose two books of "dirty realism," Letters from the Inside and Dear Miffy, sparked outrage during the 1990s. The Harry Potter books, a desire for escapism from the "ugliness some people perceive in the world" and the popularity of fantasy video games have all helped push along the fantasy genre, says Marsden. In my own selection of books for our kids and class I look for a wide range of genres and a wide range of subjects and I'm keen to find books which help them on their journey to wisdom.