March 28, 2013: Big at Bologna
This year at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, the focus has shifted to middle-grade. “A lot of foreign publishers are cutting back on YA and are looking for middle-grade,” said agent Laura Langlie, according to Publisher's Weekly. Lighly illustrated or stand-alone contemporary middle-grade fiction is getting the most attention. Read more...
March 10, 2013: Marching to New Titles
Check out these titles releasing in March...
March 5, 2013: Catch the BEA Buzz
Titles for BEA's Editor Buzz panels have been announced. The middle-grade titles selected are:
A Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson
Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
The Fantastic Family Whipple by Matthew Ward
Nick and Tesla's High-Voltages Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith
The Tie Fetch by Amy Herrick
For more Buzz books in other categories, read more...
February 20, 2013: Lunching at the MG Roundtable
Earlier this month, MG authors Jeanne Birdsall, Rebecca Stead, and N.D. Wilson shared insight about writing for the middle grades at an informal luncheon with librarians held in conjunction with the New York Public Library's Children's Literary Salon "Middle Grade: Surviving the Onslaught."
Read about their thoughts...
February 10, 2013: New Books to Love
Check out these new titles releasing in February...
January 28, 2013: Ivan Tops List of Winners
The American Library Association today honored the best of the best from 2012, announcing the winners of the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards, along with a host of other prestigious youth media awards, at their annual winter meeting in Seattle.
The Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature went to The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Honor books were: Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz; Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin; and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.
The Coretta Scott King Book Award went to Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, which honors an author for his or her long-standing contributions to children’s literature, was presented to Katherine Paterson.
The Pura Belpre Author Award, which honors a Latino author, went to Benjamin Alire Saenz for his novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, which was also named a Printz Honor book and won the Stonewall Book Award for its portrayal of the GLBT experience.
For a complete list of winners…
January 22, 2013: Biography Wins Sydney Taylor
Louise Borden's His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, a verse biography of the Swedish humanitarian, has won the Sydney Taylor Award in the middle-grade category. The award is given annually to books of the highest literary merit that highlight the Jewish experience. Aimee Lurie, chair of the awards committee, writes, "Louise Borden's well-researched biography will, without a doubt, inspire children to perform acts of kindness and speak out against oppression."
For more...
January 17, 2013: Erdrich Wins Second O'Dell
Louise Erdrich is recipient of the 2013 Scott O'Dell Award for her historical novel Chickadee, the fourth book in her Birchbark House series. Roger Sutton, Horn Book editor and chair of the awards committee, says of Chickadee, "The book has humor and suspense (and disarmingly simple pencil illustrations by the author), providing a picture of 1860s Anishinabe life that is never didactic or exotic and is briskly detailed with the kind of information young readers enjoy." Erdrich also won the O'Dell Award in 2006 for The Game of Silence, the second book in the Birchbark series.
For more...
January 15, 2013: After the Call
Past Newbery winners Jack Gantos, Clare Vanderpool, Neil Gaiman, Rebecca Stead, and Laura Amy Schlitz talk about how winning the Newbery changed (or didn't change) their lives in this piece from Publishers Weekly...
January 2, 2013: On the Big Screen
One of our Mixed-up Files members may be headed to the movies! Jennifer Nielsen's fantasy adventure novel The False Prince is being adapted for Paramount Pictures by Bryan Cogman, story editor for HBO's Game of Thrones. For more...
Happy Friday!
I’d like to announce a new addition to the lovely TMUF: an Indie Spotlight!
Once monthly we’ll highlight a particular store…going into their history, how they’re doing, great MG offerings – everything, kit and caboodle! This is intended to promote our lovely indies and all the good they do for our communities.
If you know of a particular indie you’d love to see spotlighted on TMUF, make sure and leave a comment!
13 Comments 
Wonderful idea!
I’m going to start with my own indie children’s bookstore: The Voracious Reader: http://www.thevoraciousreader.com
Beautifully arranged, knowledgeable staff, AND their store is expanding!
Rediscovered Bookshop in Boise, Idaho. Great store!!! http://www.rdbooks.org/
This is a cool idea. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Actually, I probably did think of it, but I have some many brilliant thoughts in my mind, none of them usually make it out. 
huh. we don’t have any indie bookstores in our town. there is a really smelly used book shop though. does that count?
The Bookies in Denver:
http://www.netnewsdesk.com/thebookies/
Mention this store to a group of teachers, and they go “ooooooohhhhh!” It’s a good place.
“Oooooohhhhh!” yes, I agree with you, teachergirl. The Bookies is a dream store. Denver is also famous for its amazing Tattered Cover Book Stores but there’s one that not so many folks know about yet. It’s called The Bookery Nook and it’s in Northwest Denver. It has a lovely, peaceful atmosphere and they’ll even welcome your dog!
http://thebookerynook.com/
Amie, how sad that your town doesn’t have an independent bookstore. Come visit ours! Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island, WA is the island’s community bookstore. Great for browsing, talking to neighbors, going to author events, and of course buying books. They do tons of events for kids. Dogs are also welcomed. Check it out! Eagle Harbor Book Company
I can’t wait to read more about all these indie stores. Wow–one that welcomes your dog? Wow! I wish we had a dog-loving indie around here. We take my bullmasador out to breakfast, but have never found a store (other than a pet shop) that would welcome her.
In FL, we have a great indie that hosts a lot of amazing author events. http://www.booksandbooks.com/miamibeach
We have a terrific Indie in southern NH called Toadstool Bookshops. There are three shops, each very different in their own way, and just excellent places all around! http://toadbooks.com/
Great idea for a feature!
There are all kinds of great indie stores here in the SF Bay area, but one that I think deserves a lot more love than it gets is The Storyteller in Lafayette (Contra Costa County). It’s the only store I know of around here that’s ONLY children’s books (except for one small table in the center of the store).
Fire Petal Books is a new bookstore for kids in Centerville, UT. A great place!
I’m back…could I add two more?
In the Boston area: Porter Square Books (http://www.portersquarebooks.com/) and The Children’s Bookshop (http://www.thechildrensbookshop.net/).
Two wonderful stores. Porter Square Books has great atmosphere and a lovely display of books. Plus the staff went out of their way to help me whenever I went there. The Children’s Bookshop deals exclusively with children’s books and hosts many fantastic author events (the most recent with Suzanne Collins).
Apple Blossom Books in Oshkosh, WI has been wonderful to me as an author and if I lived closer to them, I’d be in their store daily! I’d love to see them profiled here.
From the Mixed-Up Files is the group blog of middle-grade authors celebrating books for middle-grade readers. For anyone with a passion for children’s literature—teachers, librarians, parents, kids, writers, industry professionals— we offer regularly updated book lists organized by unique categories, author interviews, market news, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a children's book from writing to publishing to promoting.
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Sep 17, 2010 
