Technology and Plots

Technology has made a big difference in the plots of books for kids. Things that were science fiction twenty years ago are the norm now.

Of course the things we have give authors ideas about what might become available in the future, so that helps them come up with ideas for plots.

Before computers, a lot of children's books were about kids having adventures without adults around.

Today in many of those fictional situations children would only need to pull out their cell phones and call for help, so it's much more difficult for authors to come up with contemporary plots for kids.

But sometimes phones can get lost, stolen, or are not allowed, and there are some places where there's no cell phone reception, so it is possible for modern kids to have adventures.

And modern technology creates the possibility of identity theft or for villains to find people and know information about them, so it does create the possibility of contemporary plot ideas.

I can't wait to read more of the new books for kids and see how the technology we have now is used. But I'm also looking forward to more historical and science fiction books.

In case you haven't guessed, I read fiction books for kids a lot, partly because that's what I write, but mainly because I'm still a kid on the inside. ;-)