From The Mixed Up Files

Sometimes you wonder if anyone else has the same struggles as you or if you’re alone. You’re not alone! There are wonderful books that can help kids learn about themselves and what they’re going through. October is ADHD Awareness Month. In honor of the awareness, today’s blog post lists books whose incredible and amazing main characters have ADHD.   Honestly Elliott by Gillian McDunn Elliott isn’t sure where he fits in. Ever since his best friend moved away and his dad and stepmom announced the arrival of their new baby, he’s been feeling invisible. Plus...

“Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” That’s the theme of this year’s Banned Books Week. A joint effort by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Banned Books Week Coalition, this annual week of focus provides the opportunity to make a bold, collective statement about the freedom to read.    This year’s campaign features three separate illustrations that highlight the importance of libraries. According to the ALA, award-winning illustrators Hyesu Lee, Loveis Wise, and Mikey Burton created artwork that “embraces joy and creativity as acts of resilience, reminding our communities that a handful of people running organized censorship...

Sometimes you wonder if anyone else has the same struggles as you or if you’re alone. You’re not alone! There are wonderful books that can help kids learn about themselves and what they’re going through. October is ADHD Awareness Month. In honor of the awareness, today’s blog post lists books...

Finding a way into a challenging topic: Writing about something scary “Look, there’s a spider!”If someone says that to you, would you jump away? Or lean in closer? Spiders elicit widely varying emotional responses—appealing to some and appalling others—which makes writing about them a fascinating task. With such wide-ranging reactions,...

Interview with Linda Williams Jackson for All the World’s a Stage: A Young Reader’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Characters   In today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with Linda Williams Jackson, a born and raised Mississippi Delta author of award-winning middle grade novels centered around some of Mississippi’s most important historical...

We love a good mystery, and a little mayhem, which means Heist at the Museum! The Greatest Jewel Heist in U.S. History is right up our alley. Today, we’re chatting with Sam Subity about his latest middle grade adventure. Break out your top-secret notepad and get ready to crack the...

Get cozy this fall and cuddle up with one of these amazing new books. October 6th The Creeps By Tahlor Mejia Front Desk meets Stephen King! In this perfectly frightening middle grade read, a twelve-year-old boy moves into a creepy motel where breaking the rules doesn’t just mean getting kicked...

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” This famous quote by Stephen King encapsulates an important truth for writers: We should always be reading, and the parenthetical in that quote tells us why. Reading gives us tools, and the only...