Hi. I need advice on what genre to place my story under. It's semi autobiographical and begins with an 8yr old girl, continuing until she's ten, it starts in 1962. The story is told through the girl's eyes and in the single voice. The problem is it begins for a while quite childlike, about her friends, school etc, but slowly turns darker with violence, domestic and mental abuse. This is why I'm stuck on the genre, it begins childlike but gets messy.
Thank you both for your answers it's helped me a lot.
I would guess that the violence and abuse are more striking BECAUSE it starts so innocently. I agree with Lorraine as how to classify it.
The theme of your book isn't childhood; it's abuse and violence, and their effects upon a child. Childhood is more the theatre, or setting, in which the dark events occur. Do you mean genre on this site? If so, literary may be the best fit.
Lorraine