MUF Contributor Books

Editor Spotlight: Meet Carol Hinz of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books at Lerner Publishing

By on July 22, 2020   /   Articles, Diversity, Editor / Agent Spotlight, MUF Contributor Books, STEM  

Carol Hinz is Editorial Director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books, divisions of Lerner Publishing Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She acquires and edits picture books, poetry, and nonfiction. Books she’s edited include Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Storyby Caren Stelson; A Map into the World by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Seo Kim; Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko; and Tracking Pythons: The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save an Ecosystem by Kate Messner

Hello Mixed-up Filers, today we’re featuring Editorial Director Carol Hinz for our Editor Spotlight. I was fortunate enough to meet and work alongside Carol at Lerner Publishing and saw the many wonderful books she publishes for Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books. Thanks for joining us on the blog today, Carol!

Thank you so much for inviting me here, Karen. I’m excited to talk about all things middle grade!

Can you tell me a bit about how you ended up in your role at Lerner? And what you love about it?

Sure—as you’ll see, it evolved over time. Way back in 2003, I began working at Lerner as an editor, focusing primarily on series nonfiction for the school and library market. Lerner acquired Millbrook Press in 2004, and after Millbrook cofounder Jean Reynolds decided to scale back her role, I got the opportunity to become editorial director for the imprint, which I began late in 2007. And I added Carolrhoda’s picture books and nonfiction to my job duties a decade later.

I love that I get to be involved with such a variety of books and that I get to work closely with so many immensely talented authors, illustrators, and photographers! I also feel fortunate that since I’ve started as editorial director, there’s been increased interest in high-quality nonfiction for young people and a great deal of innovation in how authors are approaching nonfiction topics. It’s truly a fascinating time to be making nonfiction!

What was the first middle-grade book you edited? Did you have any challenges with it?

Oh, wow! If I recall correctly, it was Ghana in Pictures by Yvette La Pierre, which was part of the Visual Geography Series. Because I was so new to editing nonfiction at the time, my big challenge was figuring out how it was supposed to be done! We had to make sure the text was at the correct reading level while also conveying important information about Ghana’s landforms, history, government, and people.

Editing that book really taught me just how challenging it is to create engaging nonfiction for young people. Authors need to present complex information while being mindful of vocabulary, sentence structure, sentence length, and what sort of background information a reader might need to fully understand the topic.

Can you tell us about your editorial process now, from acquisition to print?

Um . . . do you have all day? As a book geek, I also love the creation process, but I’ll try to keep this brief. Most of the time with MG nonfiction, I acquire based on a proposal. So once the acquisition is approved, the author needs to go off and write the full book.

After the author has written the manuscript and sends it over to me, I read through it and then ideally will set it aside for a month or more. One of the reasons for this is that I find I do my best editing after I’ve had a chance to percolate on the manuscript. The process from there always involves certain key steps, but there’s also a lot of individual variation depending on the book and the author.

For some books, my feedback will include requesting that the author write new chapters or reorganize information. Once the structure is solid, I’ll focus in on the flow of information within paragraphs as well as phrasing and word choice. I’ll also look for places where I think the author needs to fill in a little background information or context for our readership. I’m all about the track changes feature—I try to ask lots of questions and throw out lots of suggestions as I go. My goal is not for an author to simply agree with everything I say; instead, I want them to engage with my comments. I love when an author understands where I’m coming from and then responds with with an even better idea than what I suggested.

While the author and I are finalizing the text, someone in our photo research department will be searching for just the right photos. If the book needs diagrams, either our in-house illustrator or a freelance illustrator will start working on those elements. My fabulous colleagues in the art department start working on cover designs, and and after the final (well, mostly final) text is typeset, they’ll start putting the layout together. The author sees the layout at several points along the way to give input on photos and any diagrams, write captions, and just generally ensure that everything is coming together well. I really enjoy the collaborative nature of book making—both working closely with authors and working with my Lerner colleagues.

No manuscript is perfect, so what qualities make it feel right for fixing to you? What do you think can be fixed? What makes it unfixable?

Oooh, that’s a good question! No matter what, I think the premise of the manuscript needs to be solid—both what the manuscript is about and how the author wants to present that topic. And I can’t fix insufficient research or a lack of interest/enthusiasm on the author’s part. But as long as the author is up for it, I can work with them on structure, reading level, and plenty of line editing. So much really comes down to having a shared vision for the book. As long as the author and I have that shared vision—and the time to really dig deep and work together—we can create a great book!

 

What have been some of your favorite MG books you’ve worked on and why?

Gah, this is such a hard question!

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson: Making this book was a powerful emotional journey that took me all the way to Japan. (Read about it here: https://lernerbooks.blog/2017/01/dispatch-from-nagasaki-visiting-sachiko-yasui.html)

 

 

Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem by Patricia Newman (one of our STEM Tuesday contributors!): This book is a fascinating story of scientific discovery that taught me the phrase trophic cascade and makes me feel smarter every time I read it.

 


Monstrous: The Lore, Gore, and Science behind Your Favorite Monsters by Carlyn Beccia: Edited by my colleague Shaina Olmanson, this book offers a unique and compelling look at famous monsters and the history and science behind them—and has awesome illustrations and infographics to boot!

 

 

Tracking Pythons: The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save an Ecosystem by Kate Messner: earlier this year, my younger son became obsessed with this book. It was magical to see a book I’d edited spark such curiosity in him! (I talk about it here: https://lernerbooks.blog/2020/03/tracking-pythons-science-up-close.html)

 

Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures by Rebecca L. Johnson: I learned a lot about making an ambitious MG book from this book—it’s a 64-page look at recently discovered ocean creatures scientists found during the ten-year Census of Marine Life, and it’s packed with fantastic photos as well as rich text that takes readers from the ocean’s surface down to its depths. The book came out in 2010, and it’s the first book I ever edited to receive a starred review. I still remember the thrill I felt the day that review came through. (CHeck out the review here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rebecca-l-johnson/journey-deep/)

 

Having been at the epicenter of the George Floyd protests, how has the Black Lives Matter movement affected Lerner? And children’s publishing in general? Do you think children’s publishing has changed or is changing in response?

Lerner’s downtown Minneapolis offices were boarded up for about a week at the height of the protests, but in a lot of ways, that’s the least of it. While this is not the first time we’ve had internal conversations about publishing diverse voices and what we’re doing to make our workplace more inclusive, in the aftermath of the protests these conversations took on new urgency. And I believe that’s true across the industry as well.

In children’s publishing, the creation of We Need Diverse Books in 2014 spurred a number of important changes, but it’s clear right now that we still have more to do to make this industry more equitable.

While a lot of the conversation about diversity in children’s books has focused on picture books and fiction, I think we in the nonfiction community need to take a very serious look at just how few BIPOC authors are writing nonfiction (especially MG and YA) and find ways to bring in new authors from more diverse backgrounds. To this end, I am working on an idea that includes an open call for MG nonfiction, but I’m not ready to share specifics just yet. (Check back in the fall!)

Another outcome of the protests is that we’ve seen a surge of interest in books such as Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Gwen Strauss, illustrated by Floyd Cooper; Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls; The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie; and Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini.

            

What are some under-represented MG topics you’d like to see more of?

Books about areas of science other than biology! As much as I adore animals, I’d love to see some smart authors write about chemistry, physics, engineering, and all manner of other science topics in ways that engage MG readers.

I would also like to see books that highlight the work of BIPOC scientists. We’ve published some great narrative nonfiction about individual scientists—including Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem by Patricia Newman—and I’d love to see something along those lines focusing on the work of a scientist of color.

What advice can you give authors?

If you want to write truly ambitious nonfiction for kids, don’t think about your book as existing in isolation. Rather, imagine your book as being in conversation with other books that are in the same space as your book.

As an example, when I was editing Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson, I thought a lot about the book Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. Sheinkin’s book wraps up pretty quickly once the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, whereas Stelson’s book covers fifty years of aftermath, as it plays out in Sachiko Yasui’s life. Reading the two books together will enrich a reader’s understanding of them both.

Do you have any upcoming middle-grade books that you’d like to tell our readers about?

I’m really excited about a book coming out this October, Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, and Beaks by Jolene Gutiérrez. It’s a STEM-themed book that brings together biology and engineering through the stories of five different animals from around the globe that are thriving thanks to their prosthetic body parts. There’s Lola, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Mosha, an Asian elephant, Cassidy, a German shepherd, Vitória, a greylag goose, and Pirate, a Berkshire-Tamworth pig. Each of these animals was at risk of dying due to their circumstances, but humans intervened, and using a variety of techniques and technologies including surgery, 3D printing, and more, they were able to create prosthetics that enabled these animals to survive. The book also includes hands-on activities in each chapter so readers can better understand the engineering concepts involved.

Is there anything else you’d like to add

To support excellent MG nonfiction for kids, please be sure to buy these books! You can also request them from the library, review them, and share them with others.

Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, Carol!

Find Carol on Twitter: @CarolCHinz.

Back to Top

Diversity in MG Lit #17 July 2020 Historical Fiction and Non-fiction

By on July 15, 2020   /   Articles, Book Lists, Diversity, Fiction, For Librarians, For Teachers, MUF Contributor Books, Nonfiction  
Historical fiction was one of my favorite genres as a MG reader and it’s one of my favorite to write now. Here is a collection of new and recent historical books. In these turbulent times I’m finding comfort in seeing the many difficult things humanity has overcome in the past.
What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion & Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn & Kathy Lowinger, Annik Press, 2019 This is non-fiction at its finest. Each chapter could be extended into an entire book but the authors have kept it concise and vivid with clear explanations, photographs of artifacts, frequent sidebars and maps. The collected stories of indigenous resistance to colonization and oppression is clearly and fairly portrayed. Their past and ongoing efforts at renewal and repair are inspiring. This should be required reading for every history teacher and will find a welcome place in the hearts of many history-loving students. Science teachers will also appreciate the care taken in describing how archeologist work to give evidence of historic events. This is the best non-fiction book I’ve read in a very long time!
Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang art by Gurihiru Here’s a rarity, a graphic novel within the realm of historical fiction. Based on a radio show from 1946, it portrays Superman standing up for a Chinese American family who has moved out of Chinatown and into a Metropolis neighborhood. It has all the action and derring do you’d expect from a comic book but it also shows Superman coming to terms with his own status as an alien. Extensive back matter chronicles the history of the KKK, the role of comics in American culture and the treatment of Asian Americans during and after WWII. The Klan is often portrayed as operating only in the south and fueled solely by racial hatred. I appreciated the setting on the west coast where white supremecist organizations have a long history. I also appreciated it when the leader of the racist organization in the story is revealed to be more interested in milking his gullible membership for money than anything—an aspect of white supremicist’s groups that is often overlooked.
Never Caught, the story of Ona Judge, George & Martha Washington’s courageous slave who dared to run away by Erica Armstrong Dunbar & Kathleen Van Cleve, Aladdin, 2019.
This is the young readers edition of the story of a slave in the George & Martha Washington household who escaped successfully and lived out her days in freedom. This is a balanced story that deals with the Washingtons as slave owners clearly without dwelling over much on violence or degradation. For example, for part of her life Ona was Martha Washington’s favorite slave and so had a room adjoining the Washington’s bedroom. The text says only that it was common for female slaves to be assaulted by their owners, without elaborating. This careful approach gives the reader the option to stop reading and ask for more context or move past the information that might be too overwhelming. There are primary source documents, a timeline, and extensive source notes.
Tooting my own horn here, like the above Never Caught, my title Last of the Name, is a finalist for the 2020 New York Historical Society History Book Prize. If you are a fan of historical fiction set in the US, this is a great place to look for solid titles year after year.
Last of the Name is about Danny and Kathleen, young orphaned Irish immigrants during the American Civil War. It encompasses the events of the Civil War Draft Riots, the most violent race riots in US history and a topic seldom addressed in either fiction or non-fiction. It also touches on the beginnings of vaudeville and the power of traditional ethnic music and dance to give an immigrant community strength and help them find each other in new surroundings.
I confess that I never wanted to be a writer when I was growing up but a career as a circus flyer held great appeal. Orphan Eleven by Jennifer Choldenko is the book my 11 year old self would have loved. It follows the adventures of four orphans who escape the worryingly named Home for Friendless Children to find work and community in a traveling tent circus. It features a character who is an elective mute and takes place in 1939.
Saving Savanah by Tanya Bolden takes a look at the turbulent year immediately after the First World War through the eyes of a young woman from the African American upper class.The story touches on class conflict within the African American community, womens’ suffrage, and the ravages of Jim Crow laws and the influenza epidemic. Eye-opening reading for older MG readers.
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park travels the same time and territory as the well-known Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This story follows Hanna Edmonds a Chinese American 15 year old who moves east from California with her widowed father to a small town in South Dakota. There she strives against prejudice to complete her schooling and open a dressmaking shop with her father. Period detail and a middle grade sensibility make this a perfect choice for 9-14 year old readers.
Back to Top

Middle Grade Author Michele Weber Hurwitz tackles an environmental mystery in her latest book, Hello from Renn Lake

By on March 6, 2020   /   Articles, Botany, Climate Change/Earth Science, Conservation, COVID-19, Cross-Curricular, Field Work, MUF Contributor Books, Science in Fiction, STEM  

I’m so thrilled to interview MUF contributor Michele Weber Hurwitz about her newest middle grade book, Hello from Renn Lake (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Children’s, May 26 2020). The book centers on 12-year old Annalise Oliver whose family owns and runs a lakeside cabins in Renn Lake, Wisconsin. As a young child Annalise discovered she could communicate with the lake. However, when an algal bloom threatens the lake, she can no longer hear Renn. Annalise and her friends desperately search for a way to save their beloved lake and their community.

Michele, I just love how you alternate between 12-year-old Annalise Oliver, and centuries old Renn, the lake. And then Renn’s cousin, Tru, the river, also has a voice. How did you come up with making the lake and river actual characters in the book? (Also, I was so happy you included Violet, a small quiet lake.)

In my first draft, I didn’t have the lake and river narrating. In fact, it was a quite different story early on, but there still was a main character who had been abandoned as an infant. I had such a strong visual scene in my mind. One moonless night, a baby girl was left near the back garden of a store in a small Wisconsin town, and across the street, an ancient lake that had been part of people’s lives for eons, was the only witness. Because of the unique and mystical bond that develops between the girl and the lake, I realized at some point the only way to fully tell this story was to include the lake’s perspective. I loved that Ivan narrated his own story in The One and Only Ivan, but I wasn’t sure if an element of nature could do the same. But the idea took hold and wouldn’t let go, so I took a leap of faith. Once I gave Renn a voice, the story flowed (pun intended) from there. Tru’s point of view and Violet’s experience are vital pieces of the narrative as well. Also, I decided that all of the nature elements would not have a gender.

When did you discover that Annalise can communicate with the lake?

I always knew there would be a magical realism aspect where Annalise is able to sense what Renn is thinking and feeling, partially due to events that occurred the night she was abandoned. There’s a poignant backstory scene when she’s three years old and first discovers her connection with the lake. To her, it’s the most natural thing, and she’s surprised to later learn that not everyone can “hear” a lake. When I was writing, I kept thinking about the phrase “body of water” – that lakes, rivers, and oceans are living beings as much as plants and animals. Throughout history, people have lived near water – it’s an essential ingredient of life. Even our bodies are made up of mostly water – more than sixty percent.

I wasn’t that familiar with the potential toxicity of algal blooms in lakes. How did you first get interested in them? What sort of research did you do?

A crisis with the lake was going to be a cornerstone of the plot, I just wasn’t sure what the problem would be. But around the same time I was drafting, I read about harmful algal blooms (HABs) and how they’ve been increasing in all bodies of water in recent years. It’s another effect of climate change, and also polluted stormwater runoff that causes algae to grow out of control. HABs steal precious oxygen and also produce toxins that can kill fish, mammals, birds, and even dogs. Three dogs died last summer after swimming in a lake with a toxic bloom. This unsettled me so much that I knew I had to write about this issue. I did a ton of research online and also worked with amazingly helpful people at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Division of Public Health to make sure the info was accurate, even though this is fiction.

In your book, you have a Thought Wall, where anyone can write anything with sharpies. I truly appreciate the idea of encouraging free expression. Is something you have done yourself?

One of my favorite pizza places growing up allowed and encouraged patrons to scribble on the wood tables. I also heard about a coffee shop where people could put Post-it notes on a bulletin board. I think that’s such a fun idea. Of course, because I love words, but also that it’s so random – you can read someone’s silly, humorous, or thought-provoking message, and they can read yours. I also love that it’s not online but something more tangible and present. That the office for the cabins along Renn Lake would have a Thought Wall for guests just delighted me, and this goes along with the plot because the messages change when the lake is in trouble.

I love that Annalise’s friend Maya is trying to bring back Yiddish. Is Yiddish a language that you know?

My grandparents, two of whom were immigrants from Poland and Lithuania, spoke Yiddish. It’s interesting to me that the language was spoken by Jews in many linked geographical areas, unlike a language that’s a country’s official dialect. I fondly remember my grandparents uttering words like “chutzpah” and “mishegas” that didn’t have an exact English translation. As I’m getting older, I find myself using several Yiddish words, and now my kids are too! Maya starts saying some Yiddish words because her aunt is trying to bring back the language. The phrases aptly describe several situations in the story and might encourage readers to look up their meanings!

There are several mysteries going on this book. Annalise is a foundling and we also don’t know exactly how the bloom got started and what will happen. How did you come up with this idea of Annalise’s abandonment and tying that into the themes of the novel?

In my initial draft, Annalise focused on searching for her origins, but that direction didn’t feel fresh or original. That story had been told before. But I started thinking, what if you choose not to or can’t find the answer to your most troubling question? How do you come to terms with that and move forward? That shift led to a much stronger theme of roots. Instead of searching for where she came from, Annalise decides to put down roots in the place she was found. Roots also tie into the theme as Annalise and her friend Zach discover a possible way to help Renn. So Annalise’s abandonment and the crisis with the lake are woven together, and the river, Tru, plays an essential role in orchestrating this.

I really enjoyed Zach’s science knowledge (his magnifying glass) and the fact that his father is a novelist who isn’t always getting to his work. I have to ask you—who did you base that dad on?

Ha! The frustrated writer part is absolutely based on me! I’ve never sequestered myself in a lakeside cabin in order to write like Zach’s dad does, but I’ve definitely experienced many a time when I couldn’t concentrate and displayed hermit-like behavior – staying in pajamas all day, forgetting to brush my teeth, not leaving the house, talking to the walls. 😊

This novel does end up supplying reasons for the bloom—how it all starts on land—fertilizers, detergent, cleaning products, and pesticides that all end up in our waterways. In addition to the environmental devastation, you don’t shrink from the economic consequences of the toxicity. Is this something you have first-hand knowledge of?

While this is fiction, I referred to my research constantly during the writing process. My editor also asked me numerous questions, as we both wanted to be as factual as possible and offer accurate details that helped shape the narrative. I met with a technician who cleans up polluted lakes and when he said the problem starts on land, not the water, it really struck me how everything we do – pouring something down the sink or washing our car in the driveway – can negatively affect a nearby body of water.

In this text, you play with who has a voice and who is voiceless. Can you talk a little bit about that?

It makes me incredibly sad to see the harm people have done and are doing to nature. Our actions are tipping everything on this planet out of balance. I have this weird sense that nature is reacting, almost lashing out in a way, with the climate disruptions we’re seeing – fires and floods and hurricanes. But water, trees, land – they’re silent. I think it really deepened this story to know how a lake would feel if it was covered with a toxic algal bloom and couldn’t breathe. There are a few chilling last sentences from Zach that make me tear up every time I read them.

Annalise’s younger sister JessiKa (her creative spelling) is such an intriguing character. At times, she’s pretty annoying to her older sister, yet you can’t help but admire her determination to become an actress. At times, she reminded me of Amy in Little Women. I’d love to know a little bit about your process for creating her?

My younger daughter inspired Jess’s character. As a kid, my daughter always had something on her agenda and pursued it doggedly, like ten-year old Jess does with her desire to become an actress. At one point my daughter wanted our family to move to L.A. (we live in Chicago) so she could get on a TV show. 😊 While Jess’s relentless nagging tries her parents’ patience and certainly annoys Annalise, her tenacity proves to be worthwhile in the end, of course!

I love Jess’ line— “Just because something’s small doesn’t mean it can’t do big things.”

Definitely! Jess is small but tough as nails. I was the shortest kid in my kindergarten class. When we were doing a production of Jack and the Beanstalk, I was cast as the giant! I learned to speak up when I needed to, and so does spunky Jess.

Without giving anything away, did you know that it would be kids and specifically Annalise and her friends who would try to save the lake?

Absolutely. I knew the kids wouldn’t be satisfied when the town authorities take a “wait and see” approach with the algal bloom issue. Kids possess an urgency and passion that adults sometimes lack. I am in awe of the kids who have been marching, protesting, and speaking out on the climate crisis. There are some amazing things that happen in this story because of the kids’ determination.

In a post script to the novel, I truly loved how the information about lakes, rivers and algal blooms was from Zach’s point of view!

I find that sometimes the informational back matter of a book can be dull and boring, and I didn’t want it to be! Zach, adorable science nerd that he is, was the perfect character to share info for readers who are interested in learning more about lakes, rivers, and algal blooms. All the links are also on my website.

Did you learn something from this novel that was new in terms of writing?

I learned to trust my instincts more. Deep down, I knew Renn was an essential narrator but I was hesitant to try writing in the voice of a lake. I kept coming up with reasons why it wouldn’t work or readers might not get it. Finally, I just tuned out those negative thoughts and dove in.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about the book?

I hope readers will feel inspired to do something in their community – no matter how big or small. The climate crisis is such an overwhelming and seemingly insurmountable issue. If we stop using plastic water bottles or recycle every scrap of paper, will these actions really make a difference? And I just want to answer, yes! All of my books end on a hopeful note. I believe in humanity and our inventiveness and adaptability to solve crises. We will find a way forward, and nature can help us come up with solutions.

Hillary Homzie is the author of the Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, 2018), Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2018), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. She’s also a contributor to the forthcoming Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University and in the summer she teaches in the graduate program in childrens’ literature, writing and illustration at Hollins University. She also is an instructor for the Children’s Book Academy. She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page as well as on Twitter.

Back to Top