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  • From the Mixed-Up Files... > Articles by: Mixed Up Files member

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    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...

     


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Great Horse Books for your Horsie Kid!

Sep 7, 2012
Book Lists

Now that school’s back in, your horsie child will definitely need some daydreaming material for after school (and perhaps in it, but you didn’t hear that from me!) Doesn’t everyone read horse books instead of doing homework?

No? Well, that was maybe just me.

Anyway, I’m posting (in my opinion) the top horse books out there for younger readers. A caveat: I have read and enjoyed these horse books personally and *I* turned out okay, so don’t worry mom, give that book to your horsie kid and let them have at it! These books are clean with easy print and (for some) great discussion points that can be discussed. (see underneath the list for how you can add your favourites!)

I will not tell you to buy from a particular bookseller. Amazon, B&N, Indie, the choice is yours. This is why I won’t provide links in this article, but don’t worry, you can find them easily.

And now, in no particular order, the list!

War horse
- For older children, (12-ish?) but certainly an excellent book for horse fans. Handles the gritty subject of war and the unique aspect of a horse sent away to be in it.

The Black Stallion series
- This is a nice long series. Some get into the odd region (Flame and the UFO, for one), but the biggest highlight is Alec’s bond with The Black, and the adventures they have. Easy to read and a good length for young readers.

Wild Girl
- Just read this a while ago. Recommended for cultural aspects as well as the horse connection.

Misty of Chincoteague series
- Misty is cannon in horse literature. These are clean books, easy to read with excellent illustrations. You simply cannot go wrong with Marguerite Henry!

King of the Wind
- This is a great retelling of how Sham became the Godolphin Arabian. Wonderful cultural eye-opener, as well. Great talking book!

Gunner: Hurricane Horse
- A great true story, and close to home! Recommended!

My Flicka Flicka (series)
- Another cannon in horse books. These three showcase the wild brilliant difficult western life as it was, with characters you really enjoy and get behind.

Terri Farleys Phantom Stallion Series
- I’ve talked with this author and her Phantom series is great. She puts her money where her mouth is, too – she works with mustang rescues in her home state, and gives back thru SCBWI too!

Black beauty
- EXCELLENT book. Told from “the horse’s mouth”, so to say. Can’t beat it, and the cultural aspects are great as well.

Beauty by Bill Wallace
- A top author, a great person. He understood the horse and dog psyche – and a boy’s – in a unique way. He will be missed!

National Velvet
- Who wouldn’t want The Pie? A great clean book full of action!

A Horse Called Dragon
- A wonderful book that integrates the story of one wild stallion with the breed he helped to create, the Pony of the Americas. A great series!

Summer Pony
- Ah, Ginny and her rent-a-horse. This is a great book!

Justin Morgan had a Horse
- Interesting aspects of breed beginnings from Justin and his morgan horse. Should definitely read!

The Red Pony
- This one is for older children only. Expect to have some talks, as it deals with difficult subjects.

PLEASE NOTE: As I read thru older books (and newer!) that are recommended, I’ll add to this list! So if you have a horse book you’d love to have added, please put it in the comments here and I’ll check it out!

Thank you, and have a great horsie weekend!

—-

Jen K Blom is an author living in Berlin, Germany, where she writes children’s books about all sorts of kids and all sorts of animals. Her award-winning middle grade book POSSUM SUMMER was published in 2010, and her upcoming horse book BLUE APPALOOSA comes in 2013, with others to follow! You can follow her on Twitter, check out her Facebook and visit her blog.

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Is Plot or Character More Important for Middle Grade Readers?

May 30, 2012
Learning Differences

Can you have one without the other? Is one more important than the other?

I think that plot keeps kids reading, but the characters are what you remember, right? Think of Where The Red Fern Grows. Do you remember the events verbatim of the book? Or do you remember the haunting image of a boy staring down at a red fern waving gently over the buried bodies of his beloved companions?

Let me back up. I write middle grade, but that means my writing skills need to be at fever pitch. To do that, I read thru a lot of writing books, looking at new methods and trying to constantly improve my skills. I’ve run across this “plot vs character” thing a-lot, and to my thinking, it’s a hard sell. Can you really have one without the other?

Think of Percy Jackson. Sure, it’s got a lot of plot. But would you keep reading if Percy never went anywhere in his character and development?

Think of The Black Stallion. Sure, plot – horse and boy! Deserted! On a desert island! But I think you’d agree with me that the real story is the developing relationship between Alex and The Black.

There are so many more. I do have a question for you, as a gatekeeper (or reader!) do you prefer a more plot based book? More character based?

What is your favorite example?

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Guest post: S.R. Johannes: My self-pub MG journey

Feb 25, 2012
Learning Differences

My Journey in a Nutshell

Since I got serious about writing in 2004. I’ve had 4 books go to acquisitions. Yes four. Two of those – a MG and Nonfiction book – almost sold BEFORE I had an agent. After I signed with a top agent in a top NY agency, I had TWO more books go to acquisitions with her – a tween paranormal and this book – Untraceable. The tween was in even in noncontractual revisions at a couple houses for over a year – only to not sell.

After my agent and I parted way, I spent time wallowing in my self pity, eating chocolate, and yelling at the world from my office window. Soon I came to the conclusion these books probably did not have a future in traditional publishing –- so I went out on a limb and decided to publish it myself.

That was a hard decision. These books were my blood, tears, sweat, fears, and dreams all bound in 300 pages.

Stigma Of Self Publishing

Unfortunately the view of self-pubbing is very negative. I will admit (not proudly) that I always had a negative view myself. I felt that most self-pubbed books were of a low or cheap quality and came from people who could not get published.

Every self-pubbed book I had ever seen was someone trying to sell me a spiral bound copy from a trunk of a car or people pushing them on my at conferences or festivals. I could obviously tell were self-pubbed.

This view was the main reason I fought self-publishing my own stuff for so long. I had been on the traditional side with an agent and going to acquisitions – so self pubbing would have been admitting to myself that I wasn’t good enough. That I had failed.

Boy, I was so wrong.

Did you know that the majority of the eBooks on Amazon’s top 100 are self-pubbed? Seriously, go look at it. They did it the right way so you can’t tell. Then, once you dive into the wonderful indie community, you realize that there are so many great writers out there that are self-pubbed. Not to mention famous ones. Like Christopher Paolini or John Grisham. Some choose to self-pub and some do it because traditional pubbing hasn’t worked for them for whatever reason.

I also met a great group of girls who had self-pubbed and we created a support group called The INdelibles. Their books have all been done the right way. The professional way. And you would never know unless you knew imprints or houses.
So, here are a few ways to get past the stigma:

1) If you do it for 100$ it will look like a 100$ book.

Self-Publishing is not free. There are costs involved – especially if you want to do it right. I say, you get out of it – what you put in. Do what it takes to make it right or don’t do it at all. Spend some money to make sure your book is of high quality and doesn’t look self-published then you might get your foot in the door.

2) Everyone Judges A Book by its cover

I think it’s critical to have a good cover that does not look self-published. A quality, high res, and unique cover. I saved money to hire a photographer to do my cover because I wanted something original and high quality. I wanted my book to blend in to the other traditional books that were so successful. I didn’t want to give anyone a chance to say – “Oh this is self pubbed”. Because then my book never gets a fair shot. And trust me, you will get turned down just because it is self-pubbed. It sucks and is totally unfair but it’s true. So make sure it looks good. The cover sells books.

3) Don’t skip the editing

I had my book edited by a children’s editor and then paid to have it copyedited when it was done. I’ve spent a long time on this book to make sure I was proud of it. And I am. Self-pubbing is a short cut to the long publishing process. It is NOT a short cut to writing, revising, editing, revising, and editing.

4) Commit

Self-pubbing is HARD. It may seem like the easy answer but it is not. You do it all ON YOUR OWN. Getting reviews, doing blog tours, cover, typography, editing, formatting. It is a long and arduous process and is a huge time commitment. Before and after you publish. It doesn’t end. Don’t do it if you don’t have the time to put into it. Don’t do it if you feel uncomfortable marketing and promoting yourself (in a classy and non pushy way).

In The End

This has been a hard road for me, but I’m proud of where I’ve landed. I did this book my way and I feel I did it the right way for me. I say – don’t do it just to do it – do it right.

– Thanks, S.R!

And now to you, TMUFers! Have you read any self-pubbed books? We’d love to know about your impressions in the comments section!

…..

A little about ON THE BRIGHT SIDE by S.R. Johannes!

Gabby is a disgruntled tween angel who has just been assigned to protect her school nemesis and ex-beffie. Problem is her ex-beffie is dating Gabby’s longtime crush. Instead of protecting Angela, Gabby pranks her (since when is sticking toilet paper to her shoe or spinach in her teeth a sin?) Soon, Gabby gets out of control and is put on probation by her SKYAgent, who has anger management issues of his own. Determined to right her wrongs, Gabby steals an ancient artifact that allows her to return to Earth for just one day. Without knowing, she kicks off a series of events and learns what can happen when you hate someone to death.
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