Don't see anything wrong with using the same characters but in a different storyline. Pretty pathetic statement by the teacher,and I am sure what she meant is what others have said. That she would like to see her expand a bit.OK. Fair enough. But it seems to me gifted kids tend to "get stuck" on a certain subject for a period of time before moving on to something different.
Ds5 is in K and the teacher talked to us about trying to get him to write fiction. He has no interest at the moment and all he wants to do is write non fiction pieces about whatever he is studying at the moment. Fine with me.