About Us
Welcome to our website and blog!
In the spring of 2010, a group of nearly thirty authors banded together to form a website and blog like no other in the history of the internet. As writers and readers of middle-grade books, our goal is to bring awareness and enthusiasm and celebration to books for 8-12 year olds, creating a *home* for anyone and everyone who loves books for this Golden Age of Reading. After a decade of chapter books getting lost in a labyrinth of sites aimed at young adult literature, we are excited to give birth to this magical place for all things middle-grade.
From the Mixed-Up Files . . . of Middle-Grade Authors was born!
Our mission is to offer teachers, librarians, parents, kids, writers, and anyone with a passion for children’s literature: booklists organized by unique categories, author interviews, market news, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of children’s books from writing to publishing and promoting.
To find out more about us, please visit our Author Bios.
MISSION STATEMENT
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 booklists organized by unique categories, author interviews, market news, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of children’s books from writing to publishing to promoting.
MEMBERSHIP GUIDELINES can be found here.
Please read the guidelines and see if there is an opening posted before emailing us about joining. Thank you!
NEW RELEASES
Authors, do you have a middle-grade book coming out in the near future? Send us an email at newreleases@fromthemixedupfiles.com with your name, title, and publisher, and we will include your title in our list of upcoming releases. All books must be published by a traditional publisher as listed in the latest Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market. Fiction and non-fiction welcome.
Please allow us a one-month lead time. We also ask that you do not send ARCS or books for reviews since we do not post reviews on our site. However we will gladly accept an ARC or book donated for one of our book giveaways.
DONATIONS
Would you like to donate a book for our giveaways? We will gladly take any middle-grade book published by a traditional publisher as listed in the latest Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market. Please contact us at msfishby@fromthemixedupfiles.com with the book title, your name and email and a copy of the cover image, if possible. And thank you! We appreciate your willingness to help spread the word about great middle-grade books.
CONTACT US
Webmaster contact: msfishby@fromthemixedupfiles.com or simply click on the “contact” icon in the top right corner of our site.
LINK TO US
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We send a special thanks to Wendy Martin (www.wendymartinillustration.com) for the header illustrations, and Bonnie Adamson (bonnieadamson.net) for the sidebar illustrations.






I’m a new reader to the site & can’t wait to recommend it to my critique group.
Since I’m new, I haven’t read everything, so apologies if I repeat titles/author
you’ve covered. But has anyone yet suggested the chapter books of HILLARY B. HOMZIE?
For the 8 year olds I’m thinking of her animation bound ALIEN CLONES from OUTER SPACE series.
For the older kids her THINGS ARE GONNA GET UGLY.
Her narrative voice is quirky, strong & she is a funny writer. She was a stand-up comic.
thanks for creating this tasty & exhuberant site.
jga-
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Hi,
Love your blog! Have just published Secrets of the Crystal Cavern a MG book on Amazon. If you would like a copy for a give away please let me know.
mracary@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Maggie Cary
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Excellent! So happy to hear that reading is still highly encouraged. I remember my high school teacher presenting it like a chore. A passion for reading is truly contagious in the classroom.
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RT @ChristopherSean: Game of Thrones!!! I need a team to watch it with!!
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Next time I read a blog, I hope that it does not disappoint me just as much as this particular one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, nonetheless I actually believed you would have something helpful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something you could fix if you weren’t too busy looking for attention.
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