Contact
Subscribe
Stay tuned for the last leg of our Skype tour coming this winter! For more information, please read the 
February 4, 2012: Sweet ReadsOhMG! Middle-grade News Archives
We can’t bear to part with our old news snippets, and so they end up here when our OhMG! Middle-grade News sidebar gets too full. So now you can stroll through middle-grade’s recent history. Enjoy!
******
December 23, 2011: Christmases Past
Award-winning authors Richard Peck and Jack Gantos share favorite holiday recollections in this online article at School Library Journal…
December 23, 2011: Watsons the NPR Pick for January
Calling the book a modern classic, NPR book club host Michele Norris explains why she chose Christopher Paul Curtis’s The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 as her January pick for the Back Seat Book Club:
“My family roots reach back to Birmingham, and I have turned to this book to help explain to my own children how a city I love was once so riven by hate that segregationists were willing to harm children to keep the races separate. This book has the ability to entertain and inform young readers as the country remembers the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. for the national holiday in his name. It also provides some powerful lessons about following your dreams. Christopher Paul Curtis spent years working in automobile plants in Flint, Mich. He made a comfortable living, had job security and enviable employee benefits. But he yearned to be a writer…. He would write in his head on the assembly line, and then write like the wind on paper during his break. Curtis eventually took time off from his job and holed up every day at a children’s library, writing his story out in longhand…. The result was a stunning debut. The Watsons won a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King award.”
December 15, 2011: Heavy Medal
The conversation is hot and heavy over at School Library Journal’s “Heavy Medal” blog where bloggers Jonathan Hunt and Nina Lindsay discuss the current crop of Newbery hopefuls. Lots of astute comments from blog readers, too.
December 8, 2011: Ready, Set, Write!
Do you dream of writing the next Newbery winner? Middle-grade author Kurtis Scaletta (Mudville/Mamba Point) is offering an online writing class devoted to middle-grade fiction through The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. The class, which will include live chats and critiques, will run from March 5 to April 29. “Participants will explore some of the qualities that make a book a hit with young readers, with an emphasis on developing a character-driven story,” says Scaletta.
December 6, 2011: Toot! Toot!
Horn Book’s Fanfare lists the best books of the year for kids of all ages…
December 4, 2011: Words and Pictures
Looking for a few good graphic novels? School Library Journal lists this year’s top ten…
December 3, 2011: Books for the Navajo Nation
Litworld, a nonprofit organization that promotes worldwide literacy, is teaming up with the Pearson Foundation’s “We Give Books” program to donate 5,000 books to families of the Navajo Nation. To contribute a book (or two or three), visit the “We Give Books” website. For each free book you read on-line at the site between now and January, one book will be donated to the Navajo Nation.
December 2, 2011: The Times Recommends
The New York Times 2011 holiday gift guide includes this list of notable middle-grade books:
• Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
• Drawing from Memory by Allen Say
• Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein
• The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer
• Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
• Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
• Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg
• Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck
• Seriously, Norman! by Chris Raschka
• Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
For the complete list, including young adult titles and links to reviews…
October 28, 2011: Kids Books Considered
All Things Considered, the popular National Public Radio show, will kick off their new children’s book club today with an interview with Neil Gaiman, author of the Newbery-winning Graveyard Book.
Says club host Michele Norris, “I wanted to do something special for our passive listeners, the so-called ‘prisoners of NPR’ who are listening because their parents listen. And I wanted it to be interactive so that kids can develop a relationship with the authors they love.”
The new club, called “The Back-Seat Book Club,” will feature one book a month for readers aged 9-14. Both classics and new titles will figure into the mix, says Norris. The NPR book selection team will be on the lookout for books with “playground/lunchroom buzz, the books that kids are talking about, the ones that come back to the library dog-eared and well-loved.” Featured book for November will be The Phantom Tollbooth.
October 25, 2011: Are Today’s Books Too Dark?
In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times, Maria Tatar, chair of Harvard’s folklore and mythology program, asked whether too much adult anxiety is infiltrating children’s literature.
“…It is hard not to mourn the decline of the literary tradition invented by [Lewis] Carroll and [J.M.] Barrie,” she wrote. “No other writers more fully entered the imaginative worlds of children—where danger is balanced by enchantment—and reproduced their magic on the page.”
October 20, 2011: Moving Boys to Read
Publishers Weekly has announced the launch of Move Books, a new publishing house focused on middle-grade fiction for boys. The company is the brainchild of Eileen Robinson, former executive editor of Children’s Press at Scholastic, who was inspired by her nine-year-old son, a struggling reader. “It was difficult to find books that would grab his attention, make him laugh, and make him want to read on his own. He and his friends seem to be drawn more to nonfiction, and like a lot of boys, they tend to read for information more than for pleasure. I am hoping that the novels Move Books publishes will provide that pleasure, and will encourage boys to pick them up rather than turn to a video game.”
The company is based in Beacon Falls, Conn. and the first titles are slated to appear in Fall 2012.
October 12, 2011: Coming to a Classroom Near You… The National Book Award
Finalists for the 2011 National Book Award have been announced by the National Book Foundation. This year’s nominees for the award in young people’s literature are:
• Franny Billingsley for Chime (Dial)
• Debby Dahl Edwardson for My Name Is Not Easy (Marshall Cavendish)
• Thanhha Lai for Inside Out and Back Again (Harper)
• Alfred Marrin for Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy (Knopf)
• Gary D. Schmidt for Okay for Now (Clarion/HMH)
For the inside scoop on the nominees, a special teen press conference will be held Nov. 15 in which middle and high school students will get a chance to direct questions to the five finalists. The press conference will be moderated by author-editor David Levithan and streamed live, enabling students across the country to participate online. Winner of the NBA will be announced the following day, Nov. 16.
For more information and to register for the on-line press conference…
October 12, 2011: New for Fall
Check out one of these great new October releases…
October 3, 2011: Scrabble Magic
Author and Scrabble aficionado Meg Wolitzer takes on the world of competitive youth Scrabble (with a touch of magic) inThe Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman (Dutton, 2011), her first novel for young readers. In a wide-ranging Q&A with Publishers Weekly Wolitzer talks about Scrabble, favorite books from her childhood, and growing up in a family of writers.
September 28, 2011: Teacher Seeks Author
Jordan Kimmerly, a sixth grade teacher in Washington state, is looking for a middle-grade author who might be interested in sharing his or her revision process with a group of eager and astute 12-year-olds. Says Kimmerly, “I’m trying to make the writing process real for my students and I think that having the opportunity to be a part of the revising and editing of a book that they could see in the shelves on a bookstore would be an incredible experience. I have a great group of kids who would be able to write letters to an author that reflect honest opinions and critical questions.”
If you have a work-in-progress you’d like to share, contact Ms. Kimmerly at Jordan.Kimmerly@highlineschools.org
September 21, 2011: The Flashlight Under the Covers
Journalist Karen Springen writes about how a birthday present of an iPad turned her 12-year-old daughter into a reader in this article from Publishers Weekly.
September 21, 2011: Can Celebrities Write Good Books for Kids?
Supermodel Tyra Banks and alt-musician Colin Moloy joined the ranks of celebrity authors this fall with new teen and MG releases. The Atlantic looks at celebrity books in this Sept. 12 online article by Betsy Morais.
September 19, 2011: Reading Rainbow Revived
Publishers Weekly announced this week that LeVar Burton, host and producer of PBS’s Reading Rainbow, is launching a new line of digital titles through RRKidz. Titles will be available as a subscription service through a free app for the iPad and some Android devices.
According to Burton, RRKidz will launch in November or December and will include both front and backlist titles, but with a special emphasis on the backlist. Says Burton, “Reading Rainbow taught me that a good book will always be a good book, and there’s a trove of books that brick and mortar stores can’t display. The backlist is full of gold and this is an opportunity to provide generations to come with access to books that traditional publishing doesn’t always allow for.”
Sept. 6, 2011: Back-to-School Books
Fall into reading with these September new releases…
August 31, 2011: Econ. 101
An article in the Aug. 21 New York Times looks at the economics lessons hidden in children’s books. Want to know more about capital vs. labor? Economics reporter Motoko Rich suggests reading The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. What’s a cartel? Read The Pushcart Wars by Jean Merrill. How about organized labor? Try Doreen Cronin’s Click, Clack, Moo. For consumer greed, there’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Want to know what life would be like without specialization? Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom recommends Little House on the Prairie. “Pa built his own house, they grew their own food, they sewed their own clothes. You realize how easy it is to live now.”
August 28, 2011: ABA’s New Voices
The American Bookseller’s Association has announced their “New Voices” picks for 2011, ten middle-grade and ten young-adult titles by first-time authors. The titles were selected by a committee of 14 children’s booksellers.
“The great thing about the New Voices project is that indie booksellers came together to do what they do best—find the great hidden gems from new authors,” said New Voices committee chair Cathy Berner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston.
Among those honored were Mixed-up Files author extraordinaire Wendy Shang for her debut novel The Great Wall of Lucy Wu.
The top ten middle-grade titles and their genres are:
• Aliens on Vacation (Hyperion/Disney), fantasy/sci fi by Clete Smith
• The Dagger Quick (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster) adventure/pirates by Brian Eames
• The Dragon of Cripple Creek (Amulet/Abrams) fantasy/magic by Troy Howell
• The Great Wall of Lucy Wu (Scholastic) realistic fiction by Wendy Wan-Long Shang*
• Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (Amulet/Abrams) realistic fiction by Julie Sternberg
• Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes (Amulet/Abrams) fantasy/magic by Jonathan Auxier
• The Visconti House (Candlewick) historical fiction/mystery by Elsbeth Edgar
• Wild Wings (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) realistic fiction/animals by Gill Lewis
• With a Name Like Love (Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux) mystery/family story by Tess Hilmo
• The Wizard of Dark Street (Egmont USA) mystery/fantasy by Shawn Thomas Odyssey
August 21, 2011: Now That’s Olympic!
Publishers Weekly reported this week that The Son of Neptune, the latest installment in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympusseries, will have a first printing of three million copies, the largest in the history of Disney Worldwide Publishing. In conjunction with the book’s October release Disney will be hosting outdoor celebrations in New York City and Los Angeles along with seven bookstore events that Riordan will attend.
August 18, 2011: Sooner Showdown
Middle-grade students in Oklahoma have until Sept. 19 to enter “The Great Oklahoma Showdown,” a statewide contest being held by Mixed-up Files author Jen Blom to celebrate the release of her debut novel, Possum Summer. Currently living in Berlin, Germany, Blom plans to travel to Oklahoma for the grand prize and first-place parties where she’ll present the kids–and their teacher–their prizes. Why Oklahoma? Blom says, “It’s where I grew up, where I went to school and where I developed my love of reading and writing.”
August 17, 2011: Soccer Saves
To celebrate the release of her new novel, Beyond Lucky, Mixed-up Files author Sarah Aronson is hosting an online auction and fundraiser/party to benefit Grassroot Soccer. Grassroot Soccer is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of soccer to help prevent the spread of AIDS and save lives among those with the highest rates of new infection–youth in Africa.
August 12, 2011: Are You There? It’s Me, Judy Blume!
Conference-goers got a nice surprise when best-selling author Judy Blume stepped in as a last-minute keynote replacement at the 2011 SCBWI International Summer Conference held in Los Angeles last week. In an impromptu interview with SCBWI founder and fellow author Lin Oliver, Blume talked about technology and the writing process, along with her current film project, an adaptation of her 1981 novel Tiger Eyes, scheduled to be released later this year.
When asked if writing had gotten easier for her over the years, the 73-year-old Blume replied, “It never gets any easier, except I know how to do it now. I still keep a notebook for each book filled with notes and scribbled ideas as I go along. You just have to find what works for you.”
August 10, 2011: True Stories
The current issue of “Notes from the Horn Book” spotlights new nonfiction, including Marc Aronson’s Trapped, about the recent Chilean mining disaster and rescue; Jim Ottaviani’s Feynman, a comic-strip biography of the Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman; and Karen Blumenthal’s Bootleg, a history of Prohibition.
August 7, 2011: Selznick’s Wondertome
Brian Selznick, author of the Caldecott-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret, discusses his latest novel, Wonderstruck, in a recent Publishers Weekly interview. Selznick jokes that Wonderstruck, at 642 pages, makes Hugo Cabret seem slim in comparison. “I actually do feel bad,” he says, “especially about kids lugging these books around.”
Critics seem to think Wonderstruck is worth its weight, though. The book has already received four starred reviews.
August 3, 2011: Registration Open for Simmons Colloquium
Children’s book lovers from Boston and beyond are invited to attend a one-day colloquium at Simmons College in conjunction with the 2011 Boston Globe—Horn Book Awards ceremony September 30 and October 1.
The colloquium offers librarians, educators, and other children’s literature professionals a chance to discuss critical issues relevant to children’s and young adult literature. Horn Book Award-winning authors Tim Wynne-Jones (Blink & Caution),Steve Sheinkin (The Notorious Benedict Arnold), and Salley Mavor (Pocketful of Posies) will be attending the colloquium along with speaking at the ceremony.
For info and to register…
August 3, 2011: Hot August Reads
Check out our list of this month’s new releases…
July 31, 2011: Comics for Kids
For a round-up of soon-to-be-released comics and graphic novels for kids, check out Publishers Weekly’s coverage of last weekend’s 42nd annual Comic-Con in San Diego.
July 15, 2011: Another Bosom Buddy for Anne
Kate Middleton, the newly minted Duchess of Cambridge, was presented with a copy of Anne of Green Gables, a girlhood favorite, during a recent visit to Prince Edward Island.
July 13, 2011: Horn Book Recommends
The July edition of “Notes from the Horn Book” includes blurbs for four new MG novels: Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach; Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins; The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davis; and Mother Number Zero by Marjolijn Hof.
July 8, 2011: MG vs. YA: Viva la difference!
In a recent blog post Aussie editor, teacher, and reviewer Judith Ridge had this to say about what she sees as a dearth of interest in and respect for literature aimed at younger readers:
“YA gets vastly more of the blog space, media attention and arguably, reviews…. And increasingly, I’ve noticed that when a children’s novel does get critical attention, it’s suddenly claimed as being young adult.”
“If it’s longer than 200 pages, if it has serious ideas and challenging language, it has to be for young adults—almost seemingly regardless of the age of the protagonists and the thematic interests of the story. And it bothers me enormously that the gifted, devoted, passionate child reader doesn’t seem worthy of our attention any more.”
Her post goes on to discuss why recent Newbery winners like Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me are children’s books and not young-adult books, or even—heaven forbid—“young young-adult books.”
July 3, 2011: Cool Books for Hot Summers
Celebrate your independence with one of these new July releases…
June 23, 2011: Pottermore—New Online World for Harry’s Fans
J.K. Rowling announced details today of a new site for Harry Potter fans—www.Pottermore.com—that will go live in October. Along with being the exclusive source for the e-book and digital audio versions of Harry Potter, the site will be interactive and give fans free access to additional material relating to Harry’s world that Rowling claims to have been hording for years.
To view Rowling’s video announcement….
June 16, 2011: More Wind, More Willows
Publishers Weekly announced today that Jacqueline Kelly, author of the Newbery honor book The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, is working on a sequel to The Wind in the Willows. The sequel to Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 classic will be published by Henry Holt in 2012.
Kelly says re-imagining Grahame’s original animal characters wasn’t difficult. She first read the book when she was eight years old sick in bed with the flu and has re-read it numerous times over the years. “…I’d heard those voices in my head for a long time. They were there for me.”
June 13, 2011: News from The Horn Book
Don’t miss the June edition of “Notes from the Horn Book,” which features an interview with Jeanne Birdsall, author of The Penderwicks series, along with blurbs on some great new middle-grade fiction and biographies.
June 8, 2011: Tweens on Screen
A recent article in the New York Times looked at how tween heroines from popular middle-grade novels are portrayed on the big screen. Among the leading ladies mentioned are Ramona, Nancy Drew, Hermione Granger, Ella (from Ella Enchanted), Kit Kittredge (from the American Girl series), and Judy Moody. According to the article, “In bookstores preteenage girls…have propelled series upon series of realistic fiction and middle-grade fantasy onto the best-seller lists. But those heroines rarely translate into feature-film success.”
The article’s assessment of Hollywood’s discomfort with girls’ so-called “awkward years” is particularly interesting.
June 6, 2011: Calpurnia Sounds Off
The Brilliance Audio recording of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, written by Jacqueline Kelly and read by Natalie Ross, was recently awarded the 2011 Audie Award for best audiobook for readers age 8-12.
“Ross delivers this first-person story with a bouncy lilt that fits Calpurnia’s inquisitive spirit,” according to one reviewer. “Also noteworthy are Ross’s portrayals of Calpurnia’s social-climbing mother and the transformation of her grumpy grandfather into an admiring science partner.”
For more on the Audies and a list of the winners…
May 31, 2011: In Others’ Words
Anthea Bell, the English translator for Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart novels, spoke recently with Publishers Weekly about her work on Ruby Red, the first in a time-travel trilogy by German author Kerstin Gier. Bell, who has translated both fiction and nonfiction for adults, says translating children’s books are no different: “It’s finding the voice from each book. I do think you should never, ever write down to children, let alone translate down to them.”
May 27, 2011: The Buzz from Book Expo
A panel of five editors talked about their favorite soon-to-be released titles at the first-ever “Middle-Grade Editors Buzz Panel” at Book Expo this week. According to the report in Publishers Weekly, “The five editors…confirmed what most devotees already know: middle-grade fiction can have all the action, wonder, and power as books published for older readers.”
The five books and their release dates are:
• The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann (Aug. 2011, Simon & Schuster)
• Wildwood by Colin Meloy, illustrated by Carson Ellils (Aug. 2011, Balzer + Bray)
• Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Oct. 2011, Scholastic)
• The Apothecary by Maile Meloy, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr (Oct. 2011, Putnam)
• The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson (Aug. 2011, Random House)
For more coverage of the BEA panel…
May 26, 2011: The Next Hero
Kids hungry for the second installment of Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series can get a sneak preview of the cover and read the blurb for book number two, The Son of Neptune, on Riordan’s website. The book is due to release October 4.
To see the cover…
To read the first chapter…
May 21, 2011: Words in the Dust on TV Book Club
Words in the Dust, a novel of contemporary Afghanistan, was recently selected one of “Al’s picks” for Al Roker’s Book Club for Kids on NBC’s Today Show. Author Trent Reedy appeared on the May 20 show to talk about his book, which tells the story of Zulaikha, an Afghan girl who yearns to get along with her stepmother and to read the poetry that her mother loved, and perhaps one day have her cleft palate fixed. The story is based on the author’s experience in Afghanistan while serving with the Iowa National Guard.
To watch the video…
May 21, 2011: Américas Award
Winners of the 2011 Américas Award were announced this week. The award is given in recognition of books published in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the US.
Top awards went to:
• Clemente! (Holt), written by Willie Perdomo and illustrated by Bryan Collier; and
• The Dreamer (Scholastic), written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sis.
Winning an Honorable Mention was The Firefly Letters (Holt) by Margarita Engle.
Winners will be honored at a ceremony this fall during Hispanic Heritage Month at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. For more on the award and a full list of this year’s commended titles…
May 16, 2011: The Scoop on Spring Sequels
This issue of “The Children’s Bookshelf,” the on-line newsletter from Publishers Weekly, reveals the stories behind some hotly anticipated middle-grade sequels. Click the link to find out—
• How classroom menace Doug Sweiteck ended up narrating Okay for Now, Gary Schmidt’s follow-up to The Wednesday Wars;
• How Jeanne Birdsall beat the third-book curse with The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, her follow-up to The Penderwicks on Gardam Street; and
• How the current economic downturn inspired Jennifer Holm to revisit May Amelia’s family in The Trouble with May Amelia,the sequel to the Newbery-honor winning Our Only May Amelia.
May 12, 2011: Tony Hawk’s Magic Goes Middle-grade
Pro skateboarder Tony Hawk will launch a new middle-grade adventure series this summer aimed at Hawk’s core fan base – preteen boys. According to Publishers Weekly, the 900 Revolution series, published by Stone Arch Books, will tell the story of a group of teenagers on a quest to restore the power of Tony Hawk’s magical skateboard after it was shattered by a mysterious force.
Each 128-page novel will include standard text as well as a 16-page graphic novel section. The first four volumes will be released in August. After that, four titles will be released per season, with 24 in all. An interactive website will launch May 23.
May 12, 2011: More Weenies on the Way
Fans of David Lubar’s wacky/scary weenie tales will be happy to hear that his latest collection, Attack of the Vampire Weenies: And Other Warped Creepy Tales, is due out May 24.
According to Publishers Weekly, two more collections are in the works from Tor/Starscape for 2012 and 2013.
Says Lubar of his stories: “I didn’t set out to write for the reluctant reader audience. I write what I like to read—stories with action, humor, dialogue—and if it turns out that that is what reluctant readers like, that’s great. There was no grand scheme on my part, but I do get a huge amount of satisfaction hearing stories of even one child who didn’t read but now does.”
May 7, 2011: Google Doodle Inspired by Newbery Winner
Third grader Diya Cherian was named one of 40 regional finalists in the “Doodle 4 Google” contest. Her entry was inspired by Rules, a middle-grade novel by Cynthia Lord that was awarded a Newbery Honor in 2007. Rules tells the story of 12- year-old Catherine and her younger brother, David, who is autistic.
Diya’s image, titled “A Chance to Dream,” is a drawing of children who are reaching for their dreams—playing basketball from a wheelchair, becoming a ballerina, a scientist, a violinist, a teacher, and an astronaut. Eight-year-old Diya says when she grows up she would like to help children with special needs reach their dreams.
For more information and to vote for your favorite doodle…
May 3, 2011: The Children Have Spoken
Winners of the 2011 Children’s Choice Book Awards were announced last night. Voted Author of the Year by more than 500,000 children was – drum roll – Rick Riordan, whose latest addition to the Kane Chronicles was released this week. David Weisner was voted Illustrator of the Year.
Winning title for 3rd/4th grade was Jarrett Krosoczka’s Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown.
Winner for 5th/6th grade was Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles: Book 1).
May 2, 2011: First Crystal Kites Announced
The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators has announced the winners of the inaugural 2011 Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards. The awards are given to recognize great books from the 70 SCBWI regions around the world. Along with the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, the Crystal Kite Awards are chosen by other children’s writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.
Winning middle-grade titles, authors, and their SCBWI regions are:
• Selling Hope (Feiwel and Friends) by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb; Kansas/Louisiana/Arkansas/Tennessee/ Kentucky/Missouri
• Saraswati’s Way (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) by Monika Schröder; Middle East/India/Asia
• Sugar and Ice (Walker Books) by Kate Messner; New York
• Mockingbird (Philomel Books) by Kathryn Erskine; Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey/Wash DC/Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland
• Stolen Child (Scholastic Canada) by Marsha Skrypuch; The Americas (Canada/Mexico/Central & South America)
• Tall Story (Random House) by Candy Gourlay; UK/Europe
Also winning a Crystal Kite was Mixed-Up Files member Sydney Salter for her young-adult novel Swoon at Your Own Risk(Harcourt) from the Nevada/Arizona/Utah/Colorado/Wyoming/New Mexico region.
May 2, 2011: After the Red Pyramid
Rick Riordan fans take note: the second book in Riordan’s Kane Chronicles series, The Throne of Fire, releases tomorrow, May 3. Read the first chapter here….
April 30, 2011: The Tollbooth Turns 50
The April 21 New York Review of Books blog features an essay by Michael Chabon on Norton Juster’s middle-grade classic The Phantom Tollbooth. The essay was drawn from the introduction Chabon wrote for the 50th anniversary edition ofTollbooth that will be published in October by Knopf.
April 29, 2011: Authors and Readers to Aid Darfur
In September 2011, G.P. Putnam’s Sons will publish What You Wish For, a collection of short stories and poetry by eighteen of today’s best-known authors for children and young adults. All proceeds will go to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to develop libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in Eastern Chad. Participating authors include Jeanne DuPrau, Cornelia Funke, Ann M. Martin, Jane Yolen, Karen Hesse, R.L. Stine, Meg Cabot, and Naomi Shihab Nye.
Copies of the book are available for preorder. If you donate $20 by Saturday, April 30 (tomorrow!), your name—and your child’s—will appear in the finished book under a special section for donors.
April 28, 2011: The Right Words
Editorial guru Deborah Halverson, who writes the DearEditor.com blog, has this to say in response to a question regarding middle-grade novels. More important than the length of the story is finding the right words, she says, making sure that “the story express[es] concerns that reflect a middle grader’s way of viewing the world. Kids that age are typically focused inward, struggling to find out who they are. They shouldn’t sound too self-aware by analyzing themselves or others. Let them judge and act quickly—and then face the fallout.”
Halverson, the author of two young-adult novels, also worked as an editor at Harcourt Children’s Books for ten years.
April 28, 2011: Wimpy Claus?
According to Publishers Marketplace, the sixth installment of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series will go on sale in November. No news on the title yet, but Abrams, Kinney’s publisher, says it will have a winter theme and “feature the Heffley family being snowed in.”
April 24, 2011: Gary Schmidt Going Live
Two time Newbery Honor-winning author Gary Schmidt will answer questions and talk about his writing on a live webcast from the New York City Public Library, Monday, May 9 at 1 pm EST. Schmidt is the author of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and The Wednesday Wars. His latest book, Okay for Now, a companion novel to The Wednesday Wars, was released April 5.
To register for the webcast…
April 20, 2011: Toronto Kids to Pick Winning Title
The 2011 short list for the 35th annual Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards was revealed today. The $6,000 award recognizes artistic excellence in writing and illustration in English-language Canadian children’s literature. The winners are selected by a jury of young readers. This year’s jurors, five students from grades 7 and 8 at the Agnes Macphail Public School in Toronto, will select the recipient of the young adult/middle reader award. The winner will be announced at the school on May 26.
Finalists in the young adult/middle reader category are:
•Grease Town, by Ann Towell (Tundra Books)
•Half Brother, by Kenneth Oppel (Harper Collins)
•No Safe Place, by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books)
•I am Canada: Prisoner of Dieppe, by Hugh Brewster (Scholastic Canada)
•Think Again, by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Julie Morstad (Kids Can Press)
April 18, 2011: Horrors!
Zombie lovers take note: author Ty Drago launched his new middle-grade adventure series, The Undertakers, with an event at Children’s Book World in Haverford, PA, last week. The first book in the series, Rise of the Corpses, was released April 11 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. Will Ritter, the middle school protagonist of Corpses, opens the story this way: “On a sunny Wednesday morning in October, a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another, I found out my next door neighbor was the walking dead.”
April 13, 2011: Ramona Forever
Book Review editor Pamela Paul writes about the enduring popularity of the Ramona books in the April 8 New York Timeson the occasion of Beverly Cleary’s 95th birthday. Says Cleary of her success, “[Today’s] children want the same things my generation wanted—a home with loving parents, and children to play with in safe neighborhoods,” and, she added, “funny books about children like themselves.”
April 8, 2011: Bartimaeus Battles to the Win
Jonathan Stroud’s latest Bartimaeus book, The Ring of Solomon, was selected winner of this year’s “Battle of the Books,” sponsored by School Library Journal. Newbery medalist Richard Peck, judge of the final round, selected Stroud’s book overKeeper, by Kathi Appelt and A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner.
Read Richard Pecks’ eloquent rationale here…
April 7, 2011: MG Apps
Lynn Andriani reviews two middle-grade apps in this week’s online version of Publishers Weekly.
Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential Graphic Novel (Free Spirit Publishing/Electric Eggplant) is based on Book 1 of the Middle School Confidential series by teen expert and anti-bullying activist Annie Fox.The iPad app features sound effects, music, and “Meet the Cast” pages that let readers e-mail their favorite characters and share their own stories.
Alex Rider Ultimate Gadget, a free app for the iPhone and iTouch (Penguin Group), is based on the bestselling series by Anthony Horowitz and features tools such as x-ray, infrared, and night vision goggles; a lie detector; and excerpts from all nine books in the series.
April 5, 2011: Grow a Global Poem
LitWorld, a global literacy organization, is celebrating the power and spirit of words during April (National Poetry Month), by inviting poets young and old to help compose a Global Poem for Change.
The poet Naomi Shihab Nye has contributed the first line:
I send my words out into the air, listening for yours from everywhere.
What words do you send out? What words do you listen for? Readers/writers can submit a line of their own atwww.litworld.org/poem. Follow the growing poem at www.litworld.org/poemblog.
March 31, 2011: Why Write MG
In April, authors of the recently launched “Smack Dab in the Middle” blog will be blogging about why they chose to become middle-grade authors.
Meet the authors and follow their stories here…
March 28, 2011: Video Resource for Teachers
Teachers and students alike will be inspired by the videos and podcasts available on the Academy of Achievement website which aims to bring “students face-to-face with the extraordinary leaders, visionaries, and pioneers who have helped shape our world.” The site features video interviews of leaders from the arts, sciences, business, sports, and public service. Currently featured are videos of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King.
March 24, 2011: Selznick Strikes Again
Fans of Brian Selznick, whose lavishly illustrated novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the 2008 Caldecott Medal, will be excited for a sneak peek at the cover art for Selznick’s latest novel, Wonderstruck, which is set to release September 13.
Where Hugo told a single story in words and pictures, Scholastic executive editor Tracy Mack says, “Wonderstruck tells two independent stories—one told in words, the other in pictures. The structure is wholly original, the transitions between stories are awe-inspiring, and how the two stories ultimately come together is tender and resonant.”
March 24, 2011: Tweens, Dorks, and Spaceheadz Online
Simon & Schuster has announced a partnership with Everloop, a new social media company that offers an online community platform for kids between the ages of eight and 13. According to the announcement in Publishers Weekly, S&S will host an interactive book club experience called “S&S In the Book Loop,” giving Everloop members access to two free middle-grade books each month via a Web view e-reader. The club’s first offerings are Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell and Spaceheadz (SPHDZ) Book #1 by Jon Scieszka.
“Social media is a perfect technology to connect children to their reading passions in a way that is entertaining and meaningful, and we are excited to create an online community where tweens can read and talk about books,” says, Lucille Rettino, director of marketing for Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
March 23, 2011: Welcome Back, Dear America
A recent article in School Library Journal by Joy Fleishhacker looks at Scholastic’s re-launch of Dear America, a series of historical middle-grade novels told from the point of view of girls living in different times throughout American history.
The re-launch includes reissues of classic titles with updated covers, along with all-new titles, like Kirby Larson’s The Fences Between Us (2010), “a story that takes place in the Pacific Northwest during World War II that focuses on the internment of Japanese Americans, and Lois Lowry’s Like the Willow Tree (2011), a novel set in 1918 that describes the experiences of an 11-year-old girl orphaned by the deadly Spanish influenza and raised in a Shaker community.”
There is also a new interactive website with historical content from the Library of Congress.
For the Dear America website for kids…
For the Dear America website for educators…
March 23, 2011: Wimp Out!
To celebrate the opening of their second Wimpy Kid movie, Rodrick Rules, 20th Century Fox has all new Wimpy Kid content on their website, including a “Wimp Yourself” cartoon that allows you to create your own wimpy avatar.
March 21, 2011: Hothead
Baltimore Oriole Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. talks about the parallels between his new middle-grade novel, Hothead, and his own early career in baseball in this Q&A from yesterday’s New York Times…
March 17, 2011: Before the Boxcar
This just in from Publishers Weekly: Albert Whitman & Company announced that Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan has signed on to write a prequel to Gertrude Chandler Warner’s The Boxcar Children series. The decision to tap MacLachlan for the authorial task was easy, says senior editor Wendy McClure. “We thought of Patricia right away, since she writes in such a thoughtful, insightful way about families—and about families coming together in unusual ways.”
Says MacLachlan of the project, “It is kind of daunting, but of course very exciting at the same time. Daunting because it is such a very popular series. I’ve read a number of these novels, and the siblings are resourceful, independent, and most of all, incredibly kind to one another. I really like these children, and for the prequel I’ve tried to think of what kind of parents they must have had. They have such a strong sense of family—somebody clearly gave them that.” The novel will be released September 2012.
March 16, 2011: Good Books Are for All Ages
The New York Times introduced their new children’s book editor, Pamela Paul, in the March 13 Sunday Book Review section. Says Paul, “Established adult novelists are turning to middle-grade fiction writing. And young adult literature—vampires, dystopia, teenage angst and all—appeals to high school students and their parents alike. This is good news for all readers. After all, the best books are for grown-ups, too.”
We at the Mixed-up Files concur.
March 15, 2011: Judging by the Cover
Jacket Knack, a blog devoted to children’s book covers, looks at boy-girl character pairings on middle-grade book jackets in their March 14 post. Other posts run the gamut, from the use of silhouettes in cover art to pioneering illustrators of color. Betcha’ can’t read just one entry.
March 15, 2011: Novelists Take Note
Milkweed Editions is accepting submissions for their 2012 Prize for Children’s LIterature. The winning author will receive a $10,00 cash prize and publication of their novel by Milkweed Editions. Manuscripts must be written for children ages 8 to 13.
For more information on the prize and past winners….
March 14, 2011: One Child, One Vote
The Children’s Book Council has announced the finalists for their fourth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards program. Thirty books were chosen in six categories, including Author and Illustrator of the year.
The Children’s Choice Book Awards is the only national children’s book awards program where winning titles are selected by young readers. Children and teens may cast their votes at bookstores, school libraries, and online at www.BookWeekOnline.com until April 29, 2011.
Winners will be announced live at the Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala on May 2 at The Lighthouse in New York City as part of Children’s Book Week (May 2-8, 2011).
FInalists for the 3rd-4th grade Book of the Year are:
Babymouse Burns Rubber (#12) by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray: The Uproar at the Front Door by Nick Bruel
Encyclopedia Mythologica: Gods & Heroes by Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda
Finally by Wendy Mass
Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Finalists for the 5th-6th grade Book of the Year are:
Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce
It’s a Book by Lane Smith
The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Zebrafish by Peter H. Reynolds and FableVision
For more information on the Children’s Book Council…
March 11, 2011: Children’s Books Across the Pond
Guardian.co.uk has launched a lively new website devoted to children’s books. Check out their middle-grade home pagehere.
Thanks to School Library Journal blogger Betsy Bird (aka Fuse #8) for the link.
March 10, 2011: Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Books
Sixteen children’s books will go head-to-head in School Library Journal’s third annual Battle of the Books, which kicks off March 14.
Preliminary judges include notable middle-grade authors Susan Patron, R.L. Stine, Grace Lin, Karen Hesse, Laura Amy Schlitz, Karen Cushman, Mitali Perkins, and Patricia Reilly Giff. Newbery medalist Richard Peck will choose the ultimate winner on April 4. Regardless of the final outcome, the judges’ comments are always fascinating and sometimes controversial.
For a ringside seat, follow the battle on SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books Web site…
March 10, 2011: School Bus Secrets
Fans of Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus series will want to check out this recent interview—”Five questions for Joanna Cole”—published in the March edition of Notes from the Horn Book…
March 9, 2011: Out Loud
Today is World Read Aloud Day. Find a friend, or two, or three, and share a favorite book.
To learn more, check out this article in School Library Journal…
March 7, 2011: Writing the Middle-Grade Novel
Highlights Foundation will be offering a workshop on writing middle-grade novels this coming April 7-10 in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. The workshop is aimed at helping you shape and intensify your novel-in-progress through group critiques, writing exercises, and consultation with novelist and editor Rich Wallace. Wallace is the author of two middle-grade novels,Sports Camp and War and Watermelon, and has also written two series—The Winning Season and Kickers. Topics will include narrative voice, action, realistic dialogue and internal monologue.
March 7, 2011: Spring Reads
Spring into reading with one of these great new March releases…
March 4, 2011: Bloggers’ Honors
Winners of the 2010 Cybil Awards were announced last month. The awards are presented annually by children’s and young adult bloggers. Winning middle-grade titles were:
Fiction
Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Poetry
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer
Graphic Novel
Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3856 Story Possibilities by Jason Shiga
Fantasy
The Shadows—The Books of Elsewhere, Vol. 1, by Jacqueline West
February 14, 2011: Farewell to Redwall
Brian Jacques, author of the bestselling and much-loved Redwall series, died on February 5. He was 71.
Since the first volume appeared in 1986 the Redwall books have been published in more than 20 countries and sold more than 20 million copies. The 22nd and final Redwall title, The Rogue Crew, will be published by Philomel in May.
According to Michael Green, president and publisher of Philomel: “For almost 25 years, Brian Jacques lived up to the label of ‘master storyteller.’ His Redwall novels have touched multi-generations within families and given them something to share, a legacy at which one can only marvel and smile. His greatest legacy, however, remains that of giver. He initially wrote Redwall to entertain the children at Liverpool’s Royal Wavertree School for the Blind, where he would read aloud, giving voice to the many accents, giving aroma and flavor to the famous Redwall Abbey feasts, and giving life to a world in which mice and hares were heroes to the end. The world has lost not only a talented author, but a truly gifted entertainer and champion of children.”
February 10, 2011: Aloud and Proud
LitWorld, a nonprofit organization dedicated to global literacy, will be celebrating World Read Aloud Day March 9, 2011. The organization encourages individuals, groups, and entire communities to get together on that day to celebrate the power of words and stories.
According to LitWorld, “nearly 1 billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name.” For more information about the March 9 event…
February 10, 2011: MG Authors Teach Teens
Teen writers in Utah will have a chance to work with notable middle-grade (and young-adult authors) in an upcoming “boot camp” writing workshop to be held in Orem this April. Among the presenters will be Mixed-up Files member Sydney Salter, author of Jungle Crossing, who will be talking about heroes and villains, and Matthew Kirby, author of The Clockwork Three,who will be presenting on voice.
February 8, 2011: Literary Valentines
Need a gift for your valentine or a new book to warm a winter day? Check out one of these February new releases…
February 3, 2011: Twenty Questions for Tuck
Natalie Babbitt, author of the classic middle-grade novel Tuck Everlasting (1975), surprised a class of fourth-graders in Virginia recently when she sent a long typewritten response to a list of questions three students sent her about Tuck. Among her thoughtful responses:
- Do I think that Winnie should have drunk from the spring? Certainly not, but there’s no right or wrong way to feel about it since everlasting life is something that can’t happen in any case. So there’s no reason why you shouldn’t disagree with me. But you may find that you feel differently about it at different times of your life.
- The ideas from my story come from questions I started asking when I was lots younger than you are now. That’s true for most of my stories, but I believe that everyone asks the same questions and asks them very early.
January 31, 2011: Today’s Book
Al Roker announced his latest pick for “Al’s Book Club” on this morning’s Today Show: Tony DiTerlizzi’s The Search for Wondla (Simon & Schuster, 2010). Described as a futuristic fairy tale, Wondla takes readers on a journey with Eva Nine, a young girl striving to find others like her in a strange and alien world.
January 23, 2011: Parents Hold the Power…and the Purse
According to a recent survey of book-buying habits summarized in Publishers Weekly, parents and those close to children are more influential than ever in selecting book purchases. The study was undertaken by Bowker/PubTrack and the Association of Booksellers for Children. The survey examined consumer attitudes toward purchasing children’s books in three categories: adults buying for children ages 0-6, adults buying for children ages 7-12, and teen consumers ages 13-17.
Survey results show that for children under seven, friends, and family are the number one determinant of which books to buy, followed by browsing at bookstores. Even for teens, the choice of what book to read was most heavily influenced by parents, teachers, and close friends, in that order.
January 23, 2011: Good Morning, Japan
A Japanese television crew recently traveled to Duluth, Minnesota, to film a piece on author Margi Preus, whose novel,Heart of a Samurai, won a Newbery Honor earlier this month. The piece, which featured Preus speaking with students at a local middle school, aired Jan. 18 on a program called “Ohayo Nippon” [Good Morning Japan] before an estimated 10 million viewers.
January 20, 2011: Jude’s Clues
Fans of the The 39 Clues series will want to read this interview with Judy Blundell. Blundell, who won the National Book Award in 2008 for her YA novel What I Saw and How I Lied, is also author of volumes 4 and 6 of The 39 Clues under the pen name Jude Watson.
January 20, 2011: More-igami
Fans of Tom Angleberger’s The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (and who isn’t?) will be pleased to know that a sequel is on its way from Amulet in summer 2011 – Darth Paper. Angleberger, who discusses the series in this interview with Publishers Weekly, says he chose Darth Vader for his followup based on responses to a poll on his blog.
January 13, 2011: The Call
What’s it like to win a Newbery Award? Clare Vanderpool, author of the medal-winning Moon Over Manifest, talks about the early-morning phone call she received from the ALA awards committee in this online article at www.publishersweekly.com.
January 13, 2011: From the Ambassador
Author Katherine Paterson talks about being toasted and roasted in this Publishers Weekly report on her life as the nationalAmbassador for Young People’s Literature.
January 10, 2011: The Newbery and More
The American Library Association announced the winners of the 2011 youth media awards at their mid-winter meeting in San Diego today.
The 2011 Newbery Medal went to Moon over Manifest, an historical novel by Clare Vanderpool, set in 1936 Kansas.
Newbery Honor books were:
- Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm
- Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus
- Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen
- One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia
One Crazy Summer also won the Coretta Scott King Book Award.
Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award for middle-grade readers (ages 11-13) was After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick.
The Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the US, was The True Meaning of Smekday written by Adam Rex and narrated by Bahni Turpin.
The Pura Belpré (Author) Award honoring a Latino writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience went to The Dreamer, written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sis.
The Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children went to Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot, written by Sy Montgomery and featuring photographs by Nic Bishop.
For information on the rest of the awards, including the Caldecott Medal and Printz Award, visit the ALA website…
January 5, 2011: Killer Year for Kinney and Riordan
According to Nielsen BookScan the top-selling juvenile title of 2010 was Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth with 1.66 million copies sold. Overall, 4.4 million Wimpy Kid-related titles were sold this past year and books by Kinney held the number 4, 6, 8, and 12 slots on the list of top-15 bestsellers. Rick Riordan’s Lightning Thief and Red Pyramid series also dominated the list, with more than 4.56 million books sold. Titles by Riordan held the number 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 spots on the list.
January 4, 2011: Winner of the 2o11 Scott O’Dell Award Is…
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins.
Established in 1982 by the author Scott O’Dell, the annual $5000 award is given for a distinguished work of historical fiction for young people set in South, Central, or North America and published by a US publisher.
Set in Oakland, California in 1968,One Crazy Summer tells the story of 11-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters as they get to know the mother who left them years earlier.
Roger Sutton, editor in chief of The Horn Book and chair of this year’s O’Dell committee writes, “Williams-Garcia’s exploration of the nascent Black Power movement is always rooted in the particulars of the girls’ experience. In her sturdy self-reliance, Delphine recalls the heroine of a book she has brought along for the summer—Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins. Readers won’t be able to forget her.”
For the rest of Roger Sutton’s announcement…
For information on the award and a list of past winners…
January 1, 2011: New Year/New Books
Get a head start on your New Year’s reading with one of these January releases…
December 23, 2010: Flying Starts
Three debut middle-grade authors are in the spotlight in Publishers Weekly’s semi-annual “Flying Starts” feature. The three authors and their books are “Adam Gidwitz, whose A Tale Dark and Grimm inventively combines retold tales with new material, with Hansel and Gretel in starring roles; …Matthew Kirby, author of The Clockwork Three, an historical fantasy set in the 19th century that mixes fantasy and steampunk elements; and Sarah Dooley, whose Livvie Owen Lived Here paints a memorable portrait of the interior world of an autistic girl.”
December 23, 2010: Off the Shelf
Josie Leavitt, “ShelfTalker” forPublishers Weekly talks about her picks for the Newbery in this Dec. 20 blog post.
December 13, 2010: Boston Globe’s Bests
Boston Globe correspondent Anita Silvey named her top ten books for kids in the Dec. 5 edition. Middle-grade titles were:
- The Suburb Beyond the Stars by M.T. Anderson
- The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
- Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
- Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
December 13, 2010: Newbery Buzz
On Monday morning, January 10, 2011, the American Library Association will honor the best books of the year for children’s and teens with a host of awards including the Newbery Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Schneider Family Award. For official news, check in with the ALA.
In the meantime, don’t forget to check out some of the Mock Newbery blogs highlighted here by our own Mixed-up Files member Beverly Patt, whose book, Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook, is on the Allen County Mock Newbery List. The discussion is always lively over at Nina Lindsay’s “Heavy Medal” blog on the School Library Journal site, too, where Tricia Springstubb’s What Happened on Fox Street (another Mixed-up Files debut) has been mentioned as a Newbery hopeful.
December 12, 2010: Booksellers Look Ahead
With 2010 winding down, booksellers are looking ahead to 2011. Find out what titles they can’t wait to hand sell in this December 9 Publishers Weekly article. Among the MG titles receiving raves are Gary Schmidt’sOkay for Now, a companion novel toThe Wednesday Wars, and Mixed-Up Files member Bobbie Pyron’s A Dog’s Way Home.
December 8, 2010: Top Ten Trends
The folks at Scholastic have posted a list of the top-ten trends in children’s books this year:
- The expanding Young Adult (YA) audience
- The year of dystopian fiction
- Mythology-based fantasy
- Multimedia series (e.g. The 39 Clues)
- A focus on popular characters – from all media (e.g. Fancy Nancy)
- The shift from picture books to Beginning Reader books
- The return to humor
- The rise of the diary and journal format
- Special-needs protagonists
- Paranormal romance beyond vampires
Read the article and join the discussion…
December 1, 2010: Holiday Gotta-Haves
Looking for a last-minute gift? Check out these December new releases…
November 22, 2010: SLJ Weighs In
School Library Journal unveiled their “Best Books of 2010” in this November 17 posting.
November 18, 2010: Mockingbird Wins NBA
Mockingbird, a middle-grade novel by Kathryn Erskine, was awarded the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature at a gala ceremony in New York last night.
Mockingbird tells the story of eleven-year-old Caitlin, a girl with Asperger’s syndrome. For Caitlin, everything is black or white, good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff her older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.
November 12, 2010: PW’s Best of 2010
Huzzah! Publishers Weekly has announced their list of the best children’s books of 2010. Among the middle-grade titles are:
- Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee
- A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
- The Death-Defying Pepper Rouxby Geraldine McCaughrean
- Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
- Octavia Boone’s Big Questions About Life, the Universe, and Everything by Rebecca Rupp
- Countdown by Deborah Wiles
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- The War to End All Wars: World War I , by Russell Freedman
November 4, 2010: Should She or Shouldn’t She?
Novelist Naomi Alderman and children’s writer Frank Cottrell Boyce debate whether or not J.K. Rowling should write another Harry Potter book in the Oct. 31 online issue of The Observer. Alderman says no: “It was beautiful. And now it’s over.” Boyce says yes. “The very fact that I can’t imagine what form another Potter book would take is the best reason for saying she should write one. I can’t imagine it. And isn’t that what writers are for?”
November 4, 2010: Fall Into Books
Curl up with one of these November releases.
October 28, 2010: Middle-grade on Stage
The theatrical adaptation of Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson’s 2003 novel, premiered October 23 at the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater in Washington, DC. Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson, the play runs through October 31.
Locomotion, which was a National Book Award finalist and won a Coretta Scott King Honor, centers on an 11-year-old boy nicknamed Locomotion for his high energy. Struggling in foster care after the deaths of his parents, Locomotion discovers that poetry helps him express his feelings about that tragedy, his sister, and his new life.
Says Woodson, a three-time Newbery honoree, “In the play, the external action plays out traditionally on stage, while Locomotion recites his poetry directly to the audience. That way, I was able to show both of his worlds.”
October 28, 2010: Catching Up With Kinney
Abrams Books for Young Readers’ Amulet imprint has announced tour dates for the Wimpy Kid Bus in support of The Ugly Truth, the last book in Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series. First stop will be Austin, Texas, on launch day, November 9. From there the bus will travel to Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham.
In addition, wimpy kid Greg Heffley will make his debut as a balloon at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
October 21, 2010: Farewell to Eva
Eva Ibbotson, author of more than 20 novels for children and adults, died October 20 at her home in Newcastle, England. She was 85. Her titles for middle-grade readers include The Great Ghost Rescue; Which Witch; The Secret of Platform 13; Island of the Aunts; Journey to the River Sea; The Star of Kazan; and The Dragonfly Pool. Her latest book, The Ogre of Oglefort, was shortlisted for the 2010 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and will be published in the US by Dutton in summer 2011.
In a recent interview with Guardian writer Michelle Pauli (Guardian.co.uk) Ibbotson joked about her career and her latest book: ”When I get stuck in a book now, I usually try putting an aunt in…. I find it difficult to write a book without aunts. With The Ogre I had to put in three aunts, if I remember rightly.”
Pauli goes on to note that “The Ogre of Oglefort does indeed boast a three-aunt count. It also features an ogre having a nervous breakdown, a hag, a troll, a hen-pecked wizard – and a shortlisting for the Guardian children’s fiction prize.”
October 13, 2010: Countdown to the NBA
Finalists for this year’s National Book Award in the Young People’s Literature category include two middle-grade novels:
- Kathryn Erskine, Mockingbird (Philomel Books)
- Rita Williams-Garcia, One Crazy Summer (Amistad)
The other finalists are Paolo Bacigalupi, Ship Breaker (Little, Brown); Laura McNeal, Dark Water (Knopf); and Walter Dean Myers, Lockdown (Amistad)
The winner will be announced at the National Book Awards ceremony to be held Wednesday, November 17 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
October 1, 2010: Books Like Leaves
Looking for a great autumn read? Pick one…or two… or three from our list of October new releases.
* * *
September 30, 2010: Shining Phoenix
Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel The Shining Company, originally published in 1990 by Farrar/Straus/Giroux, has been awarded the 2010 Phoenix Award from the Children’s Literature Association. The Phoenix Award goes to an author (or their estate) for a distinguished children’s book published 20 years previously that didn’t win a major award at the time of publication.
British author Rosemary Sutcliff (1920–1992) published more than 50 historical novels during her lifetime. The Shining Company was one of her last.
According to the CLA announcement, The Shining Company tells the story of Prosper, a young Celtic shield bearer in 600 AD, “whose life begins in a narrow Welsh valley and ends, through the dislocations of a tragic war, in Constantinople,” The story “evinces [Sutcliff’s] characteristic awareness of the fragility of human culture.”
The Phoenix Award recognizes older books, like Sutcliff’s, that still have the power to draw in today’s young readers.
For more on the Phoenix award and past winners…
For School Library Journal blogger Fuse #8 Betsy Bird’s perspective on the Phoenix Award…
September 20, 2010: Dunderheads Take PEN Award
Paul Fleischman’s The Dunderheads (Candlewick), in which the world’s most tyrannical teacher takes on the world’s toughest class, has won this year’s PEN USA 2010 Literary Award for Children’s/YA Literature.
Finalists were:
- Kate DiCamillo for The Magician’s Elephant (Candlewick Press)
- Benjamin Alire Saenz for Last Night I Sang to the Monster (Cinco Puntos Press)
- Liz Garton Scanlon for All the World (Beach Lane Books)
September 4, 2010: Indie Booksellers Announce Autumn Picks
Among the top ten middle-grade picks in the Autumn ’10 “Kids’ Next” flyer are:
- Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon (Candlewick)
- On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells (Candlewick)
- Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic)
Inside the flyer, bookseller Becky Anderson recommends What Happened on Fox Street (Balzer + Bray), by our very own Mixed-Up Files member Tricia Springstubb.
June 30, 2010: Play Ball!
Baseball’s “Iron Man,” Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr., will soon have a new accomplishment to add to his long list of achievements: middle-grade author. Publisher’s Marketplace announced today that Disney-Hyperion will be publishing a new middle-grade baseball series co-authored by Ripken and Baltimore Sun sportswriter Kevin Cowherd. The series kicks off Winter 2011 with Hothead, the story of a third baseman with a temper problem, and will feature characters from a Babe Ruth League team called the Orioles. Stephanie Owens Lurie is the editor.
June 24, 2010: Double Medals
Neil Gaiman has won the 2010 CILIP Carnegie Medal for The Graveyard Book, the UK equivalent of the Newbery Medal. Gaiman also won the 2009 Newbery medal for The Graveyard Book, making him the first author in history to have won both for the same book.
June 23, 2010: Stellar Books
Elizabeth Bluemle, author of the “Shelf Talker” blog for Publisher’s Weekly, recently updated her list of children’s books receiving starred reviews this year. The list includes books reviewed by Publishers Weekly, the Horn Book, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, and VOYA.
Leading the list with six stars is a middle-grade novel: Frank Cottrell Boyce’s Cosmic (HarperCollins/Walden Pond).
Also on the list is Mixed-Up Files member Beverly Patt’s Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook (Marshall Cavendish) and Kurtis Scaletta’s Mamba Point (Knopf).
June 14, 2010: New in June
Looking for a new read? Check our list of new MG books releasing this month. Read more…
June 14, 2010: Indie Booksellers’ Top Picks for Summer
Top middle-grade picks from IndieBound:
- The Books of Elsewhere, Vol. I: The Shadows by Jacqueline West (Dial)
- Dark Life by Kat Falls (Scholastic)
- The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger (Amulet)
- The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Knopf)
- How I, Nicky Flynn, Finally Get a Life (and a Dog) by Art Corriveau (Amulet)
- Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (Philomel)
June 9, 2010: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Announced
The winners are:
- Fiction: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb/Random House)
A seamlessly constructed tale of friendship and time travel set on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in the late 1970s.
- Nonfiction: Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge (Viking)
A dramatic account—told in searingly immediate photos and compelling prose—of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery in support of voting rights for African Americans.
- Picture book: I Know Here by Laurel Croza, illustrated by Matt James (Groundwood)
A sensitive exploration of the feelings of a little girl contemplating her family’s move in the early 1960s from the wilds of northern Saskatchewan to the big city of Toronto.
2010 Honor Books are:
- Fiction: The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sís (Scholastic); and A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow)
- Nonfiction: Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol (Roaring Brook/Flash Point); and Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic/Graphix)
- Picture book: It’s a Secret! by John Burningham (Candlewick); and The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown)
The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, chosen by an independent panel of judges appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book, are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s literature. Acceptance speeches of the award winners will be published in the January/February 2011 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.
June 5, 2010: New England Picks
The New England Children’s Bookseller’s Advisory Council has released their top ten picks for Spring 2010. Middle-grade picks are:
- As Simple as It Seems, by Sarah Weeks, Harper Collins, June 2010.
- Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Harper Collins, January 2010.
- Countdown, by Deborah Wiles, Scholastic, May 2010.
- Crunch, by Leslie Connor, Katherine Tegen, April 2010.
- How I, Nicky Flynn, Finally Get a Life, by Art Corriveau, Abrams, May 2010.
- Middleworld, by J&P Voelkel. Egmont, May 2010.
- The Tweenage Guide to NOT Being UNPopular (Amelia Rules 5), by Jimmy Gownley, Atheneum, April 2010.
June 4, 2010: Indie Bests
ForeWord Reviews announced their 2009 “Book of the Year” winners at BookExpo America last month. ForeWord is a review trade journal devoted exclusively to books from independent houses.
Winners for juvenile fiction were:
- Gold: The Contest by Caroline Stellings, 7th Generation/Book Publishing Co
- Silver: The Kalevala Tales of Magic and Adventure by Kirsti Makinen, Simply Read Books
- Bronze: Artsy-Fartsy by Karla Oceanak, Bailiwick Press
- Honorable Mention: By Freedom’s Light by Elizabeth O’Maley, Indiana Historical Society
June 2, 2010: Folio Announces “Folio Jr.”
Literary agents Marcy Posner and Emily van Beek have joined Molly Jaffa at Folio Literary Management to expand Folio’s presence in the children’s book market. “Folio Jr.” will be building a list devoted to middle-grade and young adult fiction, along with selective children’s picture books.
June 2, 2010: Move Over, Percy; Meet Carter and Sadie Kane
Readers hungry for a taste of Rick Riordan’s latest middle-grade fantasy adventure can read the opening chapter of his new book, The Red Pyramid, on Disney’s Kane Chronicles website, complete with animated page-turns. “We only have a few hours, so listen carefully. If you’re hearing this story, you’re already in danger….”
As in Riordan’s best-selling Percy Jackson series, the Kane Chronicles brings contemporary kids face-to-face with ancient gods.
May 12, 2010: Children’s Choice Book Awards
Children across the U.S. cast more than 115,000 votes to select this year’s winners of the Children’s Choice Book Awards. James Patterson was voted Author of the Year for Max (A Maximum Ride Novel) and Peter Brown was selected Illustrator of the Year for his picture book, Curious Garden.
Other winners and their categories are:
- K-2nd Grade Book of the Year: Lulu the Big Little Chick, written and illustrated by Paulette Bogan(Bloomsbury USA)
- 3rd-4th Grade: Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka(Knopf/Random House)
- 5th-6th: Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-so-fabulous Life, written and illustrated by Rachel Renee Russell(Aladdin/Simon & Schuster)
- Teen Book of the Year: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
April 22, 2010: Children’s Book Week
Observed since 1919, Children’s Book Week will be celebrated this year on May 10-16. Administrated by Every Child a Reader and sponsored by the Children’s Book Council, 2010′s CBW includes several brand-new events and initiatives as well as the third annual Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala, at which this year’s awards will be presented.
