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  • OhMG News!

    May 17, 2012: Her Side of the Mountain

    Award-winning author and naturalist Jean Craighead George passed away May 15 at age 92. George was the author of more than 100 books for young people, among them Julie of the Wolves, which won the Newbery Medal in 1972, and My Side of the Mountain, a Newbery Honor book in 1959. Ice Whale, her latest novel, will be published next year by Dial.

    For more...

     

    May 12, 2012: The Kids Have Voted

    Votes have been tallied for the 2012 Children’s Choice Book Awards. Winner in the 5th/6th grade category was Okay for Now, Gary Schmidt’s companion novel to his Newbery Honor-winning The Wednesday Wars. Illustrator of the year went to Brian Selznick for Wonderstruck, and author of the year went to Jeff Kinney for Cabin Fever, the latest installment in his Wimpy Kid series.

    For a complete list of the winners…

     

    May 10, 2012: Happy Children’s Book Week!

    In honor of National Children’s Book Week, award-winning author-illustrator Matt Phelan posted this delightful review of Polly Horvath’s new book on his blog… 

    For more about Children's Book Week…

     

    May 5, 2012: Oh Me, Oh May

    Check out all the new books releasing in May...

     

    May 5, 2012: Be a Fourth-Grade Somebody

    One lucky fourth-grade classroom will win a Skype visit from author Judy Blume this month. To participate, all you have to do is have your students write a sentence or two on why they like fourth grade. The contest, which ends May 15, is sponsored by School Library Journal.

    For details…

     

    May 5, 2012: Sturm und Drang for Kids

    Guardian columnist Julia Eccleshare tackles the question “Why are so many highly praised children's books gloomy?” in this April 30 article…

                            




    May 1, 2012: It’s No Mystery

    The Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery of the year was presented this past weekend to Matthew Kirby for Icefall (Scholastic, 2011). Publishers Weekly said of Kirby's Viking suspense novel, “Readers may be drawn in by the promise of action, which Kirby certainly fulfills, but they’ll be left contemplating the power of the pen versus the sword—or rather the story versus the war hammer.” 

    For more on the award…

    To read a Mixed-up Files interview with Kirby... 

     

    May 1, 2012: Crystal Clear

    Winners of the 2012 Crystal Kite Awards, the only peer-given awards in children’s publishing, were announced this week. The awards are voted on by members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Middle-grade winners include The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson and The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine.

    For a complete list of winners...

     

    April 30, 2012: Does a Pineapple Have Sleeves?

    What happens when a Daniel Pinkwater story is adapted for use in a statewide standardized test? The New York Times reports on the kerfuffle here...

     

    April 30, 2012: More than One Path to Publication

    The lines between traditional and self-publishing continue to blur as more and more traditionally published authors find ways to utilize the flexibility and freedom that self publishing offers. Author Kate Milford recently announced in Publishers Weekly that her new fantasy, The Broken Lands, which will be published by Clarion in September, will be accompanied by the release of a self-published novella, The Kairos Mechanism.

    Says Milford, "I want to experiment with self-publishing as a way to promote and enhance traditional releases by providing extra content to readers in the form of complete, related tales. I also want to use resources that support independent bookstores." As an added bonus Milford is planning a special digital edition of her self-published work that will include illustrations by 10 teen readers. 

    For more…

     

    April 14, 2012: It’s Raining, It’s Pouring!

    Check out all the new books releasing in April...

     

    April 12, 2012: The Greatest Girls 

    Jen Doll, columnist for The Atlantic Wire, talks about “The Greatest Girl Characters of Young Adult Literature” in this April 5 article, the first in a series called “Y.A. for Grownups.” Among the characters Doll mentions are a number of middle-grade favorites, including Meg Murray from A Wrinkle in Time and Claudia Kincaid of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

    For more… 

     

    April 12, 2012: Moss Aims to Pick Up Where Tricycle Left Off

    Berkeley-based children’s author and illustrator Marissa Moss, best-known for her Amelia’s Notebook series, is starting a new West Coast publishing venture called Creston Books. Says Moss, “The idea’s been percolating for years. It came to a head after Random House bought Ten Speed and threw Tricycle away.” Moss got her start with the quirky, risk-taking Tricycle Press, which published Amelia’s Notebook at a time when traditional publishers were unsure what to do with the illustrated diary format.  “New York publishing is about: what’s the next Harry Potter, what’s the next Twilight?” says Moss. “When I’ve approached people, I’ve asked, ‘What is the book you’ve been dying to do, but New York won’t do?’ I want the books that they think won’t sell—because I think they will.”

    Creston’s first books are due to release Fall 2013. In the meantime, Moss is seeking kickstarter funds to help back the project. For more…

     

    April 10, 2012: After Chrestomanci

    An online celebration of the life of British author Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011) will kick off April 12 with a two-week blog tour. In conjunction with the tour a special blog has been set up where fans can share their favorite books, quotes, stories, characters, covers, and memories of Diana with fellow fans around the world.

    Wynne Jones was the author of dozens of popular titles, including the Chrestomanci series and Howl’s Moving Castle, which was made into an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki in 2004.

    For details…

     

    April 6, 2012: Game Over!

    The Battle of the Books has ended. And the winner is…

    I’m not telling! You’ll just have to click on over to the School Library Journal site and read Jonathan Stroud’s incredible analysis of the three finalists—Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet; Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys; and Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt.


    March 31, 2012: Hiaasen Says There’s No Fooling Kids

    Newbery-honor winning author Carl Hiaasen talks about writing for kids versus writing for adults in this March 6 School Library Journal interview. Says Hiaasen, “The idea that you're fooling kids is crazy. That's the way I've been able to connect to and go between adult and young adult books. Kids love sarcasm and the idea of bursting a grown-up's bubble. It's a question of calibrating the story to the young adult market. Once I did that with Hoot and it worked, it opened up a new and rewarding way of writing for me.”

    Hiassen’s new middle-grade book, Chomp, was released this week.

     For more…

     

    March 29, 2012: What’s the Buzz in Middle-grade Fiction?

    A panel of editors will share their predictions for this fall’s breakout titles when BookExpo America convenes June 5-7 at the Javits Center in New York City.  You don’t have to wait until June to catch the buzz, though. According to the BookExpo on-line news, titles to watch are:

    • Malcolm at Midnight by W. H. Beck (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

    • The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann (HarperCollins)

    • Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin (Little Brown)

    • Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #1: Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman (Quirk)

    • With Love From Paris: Mira's Sketchbook by Marissa Moss (Sourcebooks)

    For more…


    March 26, 2012: Lindgren Winner Announced

    Dutch author Guus Kuijer has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award given by the Swedish Arts Council to honor an author whose body of work is in the spirit of Pippi Longstocking author Astrid Lindgren. The winner receives 5 million Swedish crowns (more than $700K), making it the richest prize in the world for children’s literature. Past winners include Katherine Paterson, Sonya Hartnett, Maurice Sendak, and Shaun Tan.

    Kuijer was selected by an international jury of experts who praised his "razor-sharp realism,” “subtle humor,” and “visionary flights of fancy.” Kuijer is author of more than 30 titles, most of them for young teens. Sadly, only one of his books has appeared in English—The Book of Everything, a slim but haunting novel published by Arthur Levine Books in 2006.

     For more…

     

    March 20, 2012: No Grownups Allowed

    It’s time for kids to vote for their favorite books of the year in this year’s Children’s Choice Awards. Winners will be announced during Children’s Book Week, May 7-13, 2012. The awards are sponsored by the Children’s Book Council, which celebrates the transformative power of literacy. Kids can vote individually or librarians, teachers, and booksellers can log on to record their students’ votes.

    Finalists for the 3rd-4th grade Book of the Year are:

    • Bad Kitty Meets the Baby by Nick Bruel

    • A Funeral in the Bathroom and other School Bathroom Poems by Kalli Dakos

    • The Monstrous Book of Monsters by Libby Hamilton

    • Sidekicks by Dan Santat

    • Squish #1: Super Amoeba by Jennifer and Matthew Holm

    Finalists for 5th-6th Grade Book of the Year are:

    • Bad Island by Doug TenNapel

    • How to Survive Anything by Rachel Buchholz

    • Lost & Found by Shaun Tan

    • Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt

    • Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog by Garth Stein

    For more about Children’s Book Week…

    To vote …

     



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Win Win Win Erica Perl!

Mar 20, 2012
Giveaways, Interviews

Wake Up Readers!

The Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Skype Tour bus is in the driveway…

Open up those peepers. Did you win a Skype visit with Rosanne Perry??? Take a big drink of orange juice… but keep holding your breath… because before we announce the winner we’re meeting author extraordinaire Erica Perl.

Erica does it all – picture books, YA, and now with her latest novel MIDDLE-GRADE!

Erica, welcome to the Mixed-Up Files Middle-Grade Skype tour!  We love your middle-grade novel WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU OJ

What do you like best about writing for middle grade readers? 

I love how smart, funny and opinionated middle grade readers are.  The things they love, they LOVE and the things they think are stupid they think are COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY STUPID.  I can relate to that, since I have pretty intense opinions myself but I became really reasonable at some point.  Writing allows me to tap into my unreasonable side.
What was your favorite book when you were 8-12?
CHARLOTTE’S WEB.  It was the best book I had ever read, and actually it still is. (Yes! I agree. Readers, if you really love Charlotte’s Web you’ll love love love E. B. White and Peter Neumeyer’s Annotated Charlotte’s Web. It’s not just a book lover’s dream. It’s a teacher’s and writer’s master class!)
Another of my favorite books at that time was Constance Greene’s A GIRL CALLED AL, which I recently reread and I highly recommend.  I also went through reading phases, like reading all the Little House books, or reading everything by Judy Blume or Lois Duncan.  Books were like potato chips for me – who could stop at one?
YUM! What makes your school visits special?

I talk and show a powerpoint presentation that includes a lot of my reference points for my books, including family members (like the grandfather who inspired the character “Ace” in WHEN LIVE GIVES YOU O.J.).  I also talk about my process, from idea through lots of revisions to finished book and I often use examples from my picture books as well as novels.  But what really sets my visits apart?  It has to be the fact that I am probably the only author on the planet that presents her work wearing a genuine, hand-knitted chicken butt hat.

I’ve seen that hat! 

(But this is not Erica’s hat.)

Her hat is absolutely NOT TO BE MISSED! And I bet she’ll wears it on a Skype visit too! Readers would you like Erica to visit your classroom, book club or any other group of enthusiastic middle-grade readers? You came to the right place. Leave a comment here for your chance to win. Pass it along on Facebook or Twitter for more chances– just be sure to come back and leave a comment telling us how you’ve spread the word. We’ll draw the lucky winner next Tuesday when we’ll present the next Mixed-Up Middle-Grade author for your Skyping pleasure! For all the scoop and frequently asked questions about the contest look HERE!

 But wait!!!! We have a winner to announce!
 The lucky winner who’ll be welcoming Rosanne Perry to visit her readers is…………………

Portia Pennington!

Please email the please email the Mixed-Up Files at msfishby (at) fromthemixedupfiles (dot) com with your contact information! You’ll be hearing from Rosanne shortly! And huge congratulations!!!!!  And Pragmatic Mom we’re waiting to hear from you about your visit with Sheela Chari! Please send us your contact info too.

Readers— keep those entries coming and you might welcome Erica to your group… and come back next week for our next pit stop on the Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Skype Tour!

Tami Lewis Brown writes middle-grade books when she’s not battling computer viruses or driving the Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Skype tour bus.
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Are You A Skype Winner?

Mar 13, 2012
Giveaways, Interviews

Tuesday is Skype day at From The Mixed-Up Files! Would you like to win a Skype visit with author Rosanne Perry?

Did you enter our contest to win a Skype visit from Sheela Chari last week? You may be welcoming Sheela or Rosanne to your classroom, library, or book group … Read on!

But first… who’s that hopping onto the Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Tour Bus?????? It’s Rosanne Parry!

Welcome Rosanne! What do you like best about writing for middle grade readers?

Middle grade is an open hearted era when readers are interested in the world around them and willing to explore subjects far beyond the scope of their own lives. I really love the variety of topics available to the middle grade author. Also I love doing school visits and getting batches of handwritten letters on actual paper from grade school students. Such fun!

What was your favorite book when you were 8-12?
I loved Snow Treasure by Marie McSwiggan when I was in the fourth grade. It was about a group of kids in Norway during the Nazi occupation who smuggled all the gold from the state treasury out of the country on their sleds! It’s exactly the kind of adventure story I like to write now.
What makes your school visits special?
My favorite thing about school visits with Second Fiddle has been playing my violin along with individual students or a school orchestra. I started playing my violin again while I wrote Second Fiddle and I love it! Also, I remember how frustrating I found writing when I was in school, so I really enjoy sharing the fun parts of the writing process and helping kids find their own story telling voice.

Thanks for dropping by Rosanne!Readers would you like Rosanne to visit your classroom, book club or any other group of enthusiastic middle-grade readers? You came to the right place. Leave a comment here for your chance to win. Pass it along on Facebook or Twitter for more chances– just be sure to come back and leave a comment telling us how you’ve spread the word. We’ll draw the lucky winner next Tuesday when we’ll present the next Mixed-Up Middle-Grade author for your Skyping pleasure! For all the scoop and frequently asked questions about the contest look HERE!

 But wait!!!! We have a winner to announce!
 The lucky winner who’ll be welcoming Sheela Chari to visit her readers is…………………

PRAGMATIC MOM!

Please email the please email the Mixed-Up Files at msfishby (at) fromthemixedupfiles (dot) com with your contact information! You’ll be hearing from Sheela shortly! And huge congratulations!!!!!

Readers keep those entries coming and you might welcome Rosanne to your group… and come back next week for our next pit stop on the Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Skype Tour!

Tami Lewis Brown is in a rush… on her way to another middle-grade author visit.

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It’s Winning Tuesday! Meet Sheela Chari and WIN!

Mar 6, 2012
Giveaways, Interviews

The Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Skype Tour is BACK! We have a winner of last week’s contest and a chance for you to win another Skype visit for your classroom, scout troop, or reading group!

First off let’s meet Mixed-Up Middle-Grade author extraordinaire Sheela Chari! Hi Sheela, in a couple sentences please tell us about you and your book.

Eleven-year-old Neela dreams of being a famous musician, until her instrument goes missing. On a journey that takes her from Harvard Square to Chennai, Neela sets out to find her lost instrument, and discover what it means to be a true musician. VANISHED is a 2012 APALA Children’s Literature Honor Book, and nominated for this year’s Edgar Award.

WOW an Edgar nomination! It’s the highest honor for mystery writers! Winners will be announced on April 26– imagine, readers! You can bring an Edgar award nominee (or winner!!!) to your classroom!

Originally Vanished began as a gift to my niece, who plays the veena, the instrument featured in the story. Eventually Vanished grew into a full-length novel of its own! Not only that, but the book has had other unplanned, happy consequences in my life. I’m not a veena player – I was trained as classical violinist. But in the past month, I’ve acquired a veena, and hope to start lessons soon!

 What do you like best about writing for middle grade readers?

My middle grade years were so important to me – it’s when I made my first best friend, when I went out on the bus by myself, learned to ride a bike and to swim…and most important of all, when I discovered reading. Books were my adventure, my escape, and how I learned about the world around me. When I write for middle graders now, it’s a chance for me to be that girl again, to rediscover the world I saw as a 12-year old.

What was your favorite book when you were 8-12?

I’m going to name two: A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeline L’Engle and A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith.

What makes your author events special?

What I like about discussing a book like Vanished, is that it gives us a chance to talk music, foreign cultures, and what makes for a good mystery (and how all stories are a kind of mystery – of wanting to know what happens next).  So I really think there’s something there for everyone.  At some of my author events, I’ve even brought in a veena so that people can get a chance to experience what the real instrument looks and sounds like. I imagine that a Skype visit would allow us these same opportunities, too.

Fantastic!

Readers would you like Sheela to visit your classroom, book club or any other group of enthusiastic middle-grade readers? You came to the right place. Leave a comment here for your chance to win. Pass it along on Facebook or Twitter for more chances– just be sure to come back and leave a comment telling us how you’ve spread the word. We’ll draw the lucky winner next Tuesday when we’ll present the next Mixed-Up Middle-Grade author for your Skyping pleasure! For all the scoop and frequently asked questions about the contest look HERE!

 But wait!!!! We have a winner to announce!
 The lucky winner who’ll be welcoming Sayantani DasGupta to visit her readers is…………………

JAN YOURIST!

Please email the please email the Mixed-Up Files at msfishby (at) fromthemixedupfiles (dot) com with your contact information! You’ll be hearing from Sayantani shortly! And huge congratulations!!!!!

Readers keep those entries coming and you might welcome Sheela to your group… and come back next week for our next pit stop on the Mixed-Up Middle-Grade Skype Tour!

 Tami Lewis Brown is rushing from the Skype Tour bus to author appearances at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum through the entire month of March! She’d love to see you there!
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