Young Adult Readers Deserve Flawed Heroes Too: Why I Created Alistair Doolittle

Hi, I’m Scott—author of the upcoming middle grade book Alistair Doolittle and the Young Pinkertons: The Beast of Grim Mountain. Before the book launches, I wanted to share a bit of the heart behind the story—specifically, why I created Alistair, and what makes him different from the usual young detective characters we grew up with.

Like many kids, I was a huge fan of young detective fiction. There was something so exciting about brilliant kids getting caught up in mysteries and adventures, using nothing but their sharp minds to save the day. They felt like superheroes—but not in the traditional sense. Their power wasn’t physical; it was their wit, their curiosity, their brains. I loved that.

But as much as I enjoyed those stories, I always felt something was missing.

Most of those characters were idealized. They were clever and courageous and always one step ahead—but rarely did they feel real. I never saw them truly struggle with self-doubt, or wrestle with the kind of insecurities many of us feel at that age (and beyond).

So, when I started building Alistair Doolittle, I wanted to take that familiar archetype—the young genius detective—and give him something more: emotional complexity.

Alistair is still incredibly smart, but he’s also imperfect. He has a big ego that sometimes gets him into trouble. He makes mistakes. He doubts himself. He’s not always the best version of himself—and that’s intentional. I didn’t want readers to just admire him; I wanted them to relate to him.

Because at the end of the day, the characters we connect with most deeply are the ones we see a little bit of ourselves in. My hope is that readers—especially young ones—will see Alistair’s brilliance and his flaws, and realize that being a work in progress doesn’t make you any less capable of doing amazing things.

And if that resonates with just one reader, then I’ll feel like I’ve done something worthwhile.

Let’s Talk:

What kind of characters did you relate to growing up? Who inspired your love for stories? I’d love to hear about it—drop a comment or message me!

The book will be out soon and i'm very much excited to share this to everyone! You can reserve your copy here.