About the Book

Hi G.F.! A rom com for middle schoolers. I totally would have loved this book at that age (especially since I totally loved it now!).

Thanks! I had so much fun writing it, and it makes my heart so happy when I hear that someone had fun reading it.

Can you give us a short summary about the book?

Basically, Eve and Andrew kind of accidentally start dating, and then neither of them can figure out how to gracefully back out. Nobody wants to be the bad guy. The obvious solution is to get the other person to end it. That would totally work if they weren’t both doing the same thing.

Tell us who would especially enjoy this book?

NOT IF YOU BREAK UP WITH ME FIRST is for anyone who reads for entertainment, likes to smile, and doesn’t think happy endings are gauche. Adults have been giving it rave reviews, but of course I primarily wrote it for tweens and younger teens. It’s easy to assume only girls would want to read a book like this, but actually the boys who’ve read it have gotten super into it. I think there are lots of middle school boys who want to read about and understand relationships (and, like, why are girls suddenly so weird and dramatic and yet oddly alluring?? I got you, boys).

About the Author

How did your writing journey begin?

Photo Credit: Shannon Ly for Shannon Ly Photography

I’ve been writing to amuse myself and others since I was a kid. As a twenty-something, I already knew I had a novel in me, but for many reasons, it took me at least a decade to give myself permission to sit down and write it. From the time I finally started to write my first novel, it took three completed manuscripts and five years to actually get published. But I’ve loved the journey (almost) every step of the way!

This book is very relatable for this age group. What aspects of Eve were shaped by experiences you had at that age?

My freshman year of high school, I had a huge crush on the quad player I stood next to in the halftime show opening formation. (Alas, he never noticed me. It wasn’t meant to be.) All that to say, it was pretty easy to imagine precisely how crush-worthy Andrew is!

Sadly, I most relate to Eve’s experience at home, though. My parents, like hers, had a really rocky marriage and were on the brink of divorce during my middle school years. I remember all too well how stressful and unmooring that was.

What authors (and/or books) would you say influence your writing style for your books?

I read a lot in many genres, and I truly believe that every book I read becomes part of me and influences how I write (even if the influence is “Oh. I don’t want to do that”). But most of the time I don’t consciously try to emulate any one author.

While we’re on the subject, though, let me share a few of my favorite YA and MG authors that I would never mind being compared to!

– Dusti Bowling’s MG pacing and humor is on point!

– Abigail Johnson’s YA is emotionally layered and gritty, always balanced with hope and humor.

– Gloria Chao’s characters and dialogue hook me every time.

– Spencer Hall is a little-known treasure—we need funny men like him in this space!

– Claudia Gray hits homeruns in everything from sci fi to Austen fan fiction; she is such a skilled and versatile storyteller.

Okay, I could keep going for hours, but I’m cutting myself off.

Research/Writing

What was your original spark for Not If You Break Up with Me First?

My brilliant editor at Aladdin, Jessica Smith, came up with the idea. She was like, “How about How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days in middle school?” And I was immediately in love with the idea. Honestly that story makes *so much more sense* in junior high. I rewatched the movie to prep for writing this book, and everything they did was ridiculous for grown adults and completely believable for eighth grade!

I love how even fiction books require some background research. What research did you need to do for the book?

I’m not a drummer, so I was constantly looking up rudiments, cadences, and percussion terms. I also had to do semi-shifty things like hunt down schools’ athletic and academic schedules to make sure my story elements made sense. For example, Eve was originally going to be in track, but to make it line up with marching band season, I switched her to Cross Country. Students definitely notice when you mess up those details, so I go deep into the weeds to make sure I get it perfect!

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book?

Ummm…mood swings, honesty avoidance, overreacting, crushes, humiliation, freaking out, miscommunication, bad advice, overconfidence, and hating social studies. Also brownies.

G.F. Miller at 14 dressed as Ophelia for Halloween

Writing in two different voices can be difficult. What tricks do you have?

First, I don’t know if there is any shortcut for really knowing your characters. If you rely too much on tricks, then I think your readers will start to feel tricked. So I put in a lot of time and creative effort on imaginary friend formation. Their voices emerge from that.

Secondly, just know that it’s a process. In the first draft, the most important thing is to get the story out. I get to know my characters along the way. So when I go back on my first revision pass, I find lots of spots—especially in the first hundred pages of the book—where I say, “That doesn’t sound like Andrew” or “That’s not how Eve would say that.”

For Teachers

Do you have a curriculum guide or discussion questions posted online?

Why yes! You can find a Break Up First discussion guide / essay topics on the educators page on my website.

Are you doing school visits related to this book?

I’m happy to visit middle schools and high schools when the timing works out! Same deal – send me an inquiry via my website.

How can we learn more about you?

You can hang out with me at gfmiller.com and on Instagram @author.gfmiller.

Thanks for your time, G.F.

Thanks for having me!

The post Not If You Break Up with Me First: An Interview with Author G.F. Miller appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

About the Books

In Emma McKenna, Full Out, Emma is thrilled to start third grade at the brand-new Curiosity Academy. She’s excited for interesting new classmates, a cool teacher, and best of all, a fresh start after a second-grade talent show disaster at her old school left her with an unfortunate nickname. But then Lucy shows up—Lucy, her ex-best-friend, who gave Emma that awful nickname and spread it around school. Emma decides the only way to save the school year is to make fast friends with everyone before Lucy can tell them about the nickname. She sets out to be friendly and beloved, just like her favorite animal, the capybara. When the class gets riled up over choosing an animal for the new school mascot, Emma vows to keep quiet and not take sides. But what if speaking up is the thing that finally helps her connect with her classmates and saves her from third-grade doom?

In Rohan Murthy Has a Plan, Rohan Murthy is a visual thinker who wants to help improve the world—and right now, he wants to help raise money for his school’s new garden. He comes up with the idea of starting a pet care business, but his parents won’t let him do it unless he proves he can be responsible for an animal first. So, Rohan volunteers to bring home Honey, the class guinea pig, for the weekend. And then, disaster strikes! This is a story about overcoming fear, asking for help, and thinking of options when your first idea doesn’t work out.

About the Authors

How did each of your writing journeys begin? Have you held any other interesting jobs?

Kate Messner (KM): Writing has always been a part of my life, from the time I could hold a pencil. I played with poetry, stories, and research papers (I was the youngest of four kids and endlessly jealous that my older siblings got to spend hours at the library!). My undergraduate degree is actually in journalism, and I spent seven years as a TV news reporter and producer before going back to school for a masters degree in education. I taught middle school English for fifteen years, and my first published books were written while I was still in the classroom. 

Rajani LaRocca (RL): I’m a doctor, but I came back to writing in 2011, taking classes online and really loved it. I realized I wanted to write for kids and began to work toward publishing novels and picture books. Eventually I found an agent, and ROHAN MURTHY HAS A PLAN will be my 17th book! 

You’ve both written so many wonderful, award-winning books (books by Rajani LaRocca) (books by Kate Messner). Tell us about one of your favorite books you’ve written.

KM: Gosh, that’s a tough question! I’ve written more than sixty books for kids, and when I do school visits, I explain to readers that asking me to choose a favorite is a little like asking parents to choose a favorite kid. But I will say that for elementary school chapter book readers, in addition to THE KIDS IN MRS. Z’S CLASS, I’ve loved sharing my RANGER IN TIME books. 

RL: I’LL GO AND COME BACK is a picture book that came out with Candlewick in 2022. It’s a story that’s dear to my heart – about a girl who visits her grandmother in India. She feels lonely and homesick even though she’s surrounded by family and her grandmother helps her by playing and eating. Then her grandmother visits her in the United States and she’s also homesick, and her granddaughter helps her. This was the first book we sold, even though it was my 8th or 9th to come out. It’s a story that exemplifies who I am as a writer because it’s all about family and love that stretches across the world. 

Writing a Book in a Series

The books in The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class series are each written by a different author. I’m curious about what parameters were given to the authors.

KM:  We have an extensive series bible that includes all of the details about Curiosity Academy, where all of our characters go to school, and the town of Peppermint Falls. Each author began by filling out a character worksheet with pages of details about their character, and then everyone on the team was given access to all of those character worksheets. So we all started writing our stories with the setting and much of the cast already in place. 

In each of the books in the series, the main character has a secret. Did you ever experience anything similar to your character’s secret?

KM: Oh, gosh yes. Without giving too much away, I’ll share that Emma’s secret involves friend troubles, and I think that’s emotional territory that we all remember navigating when we were growing up.

RL: Absolutely! Rohan secretly had an encounter with a cat that didn’t go well and he didn’t want to tell anyone. The same thing happened to me when I was visiting a friend and a friendly cat was rubbing up against my leg. When I reached down to pet it, it bit me on the thumb! 

Kate, I know you have written three series: Ranger in Time, Marty McGuire, and Fergus and Zeke. Can you share any tips for writing a series? 

KM: Honestly, I think the real trick to coming up with a series is to be sure you’ve chosen a premise that you’re excited about, because when a series takes off, it means that you’re committed to that setting and those characters for a long time. Be sure that you feel excited about it – not just for the first few books but in the long term. 

I read the Publishers Weekly article “Multi-Author Series Spotlights the Fun and Foibles of Third Grade” by Sally Lodge. It explained how the authors were encouraged to communicate with one another because each protagonist in one story appears as a secondary character in the other authors’ books. Usually authors don’t get to collaborate like this! What were some positives and negatives to this approach? 

KM: Well, the down side of all this collaboration is that it’s a huge logistical challenge to keep track of everything and ensure consistency from book to book. But that concern is absolutely eclipsed by the up side – the joy we’ve all found collaborating along the way. 

RL: I really loved the Google doc where we all shared our characters and what they were about. It was an absolute delight! 

Research/Writing

Something I personally struggle with is writing a classroom scene since there are so many characters. Any tips to make this manageable?

KM: Because we’re working with a full third grade classroom (18 kids!) we knew this would be a challenge. One thing that helps keep larger casts from being confusing is making sure that each character is truly unique – not just in their appearance but in their personalities and speech patterns. Our team of authors did an amazing job with this, so it made writing the books an absolute joy. While many books mention all eighteen kids at some point, the books in this series tend to focus primarily on the main character along with just a few others who interact with them regularly in the story. This, too, helps the large cast from feeling overwhelming or confusing for readers. 

For Teachers

Do you have a curriculum guide or discussion questions posted online?

KM: Yes! We have an extensive teaching & discussion guide that also includes a character worksheet so readers can brainstorm their own characters to join Mrs. Z’s class. Teaching and Discussion Guide

How can we learn more about you? [website, social media, etc.]

www.katemessner.com 

https://www.rajanilarocca.com

Just for Fun

Returning to your third-grade selves (and related to each of your books) . . . What would you choose as a cool school mascot?

KM: Sharks!

RL: Wolves! 

What business would you have wanted to start and why?

KM: I desperately wanted to babysit, long before I was old enough. 

RL: I’d like to start a chai stand! 

Thanks for your time, Kate and Rajani.

Check out the first two books in The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class series: Emma McKenna, Full Out and Rohan Murthy Has a Plan, which are both newly released.

The post The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class: An Interview with Kate Messner & Rajani LaRocca appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

About the Book

Hi Nicole! I really enjoyed Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine. It reminded me a lot of Judy Blume’s Are You There, God, It’s Me Margaret in that your character was relatable and a great example of a young teen trying to make sense of the world and her place in it.

Can you give us a short summary about the book?

Winnie Nash is a twelve-year-old kid who is staying with her grandmother, who lives in a senior citizen community center in Seabright on the Jersey Shore for the summer. Her mom is pregnant again after a string of miscarriages and is coming off of a really deep depression, so while she and Winnie’s dad take some time to “regroup”, they send Winnie to have a summer at the shore with her grandmother.

The problem is, Winnie’s parents don’t want her telling her grandmother about how bad her mom’s depression was, and they don’t want Winnie telling her grandmother about how Winnie already knows she’s gay, too. It’s a lot of weight to put on Winnie’s shoulders, particularly since all she wants is to find a community in which she can be herself with—which is why her dream is to go to NYC Pride.

Throughout the book, Winnie learns how to carve out space for herself and find the people in her life who are there to hold her when she needs to feel held.

About the Author

How did your childhood help to shape Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine?

I grew up here in New Jersey and spent almost the entirety of my childhood on the Seabright beaches, where I set Winnie’s grandmother’s home. Like Winnie, my cousins and I used to walk along the seawall, gazing out at the water and the New York City skyline across the bay, dreaming of our future. Also like Winnie, I used to wonder what it would be like to be able to be out and confident and able to go to NYC Pride and celebrate with a community I wanted so badly to feel like I belonged to.

When did you begin writing? And what did you do before that?

I began writing when I was eight years old and saw the Harriet the Spy movie adaptation, and wanted to carry around a notebook like she did and write about everything. I started coming up with stories in those notebooks, and haven’t stopped writing since! I got my undergrad college degree in TV/Fillm (I wanted to write for soap operas!) and I worked for a little while as a personal trainer, but I always came back to writing, which is what my focus is on now.

What authors and/or books would you say influenced your writing style and/or this book?

I’m always inspired by Kate DiCamillo’s stories—she’s the first writer who I felt like gave me permission to let my middle grade characters be sad. Kids can be sad, and I think Winnie is a very sad, confused, and angry kid. I also was an MFA student of Eliot Schrefer, and I learned from him a lot then, and I still learn from him a lot now, as his friend.

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book? (Were you similar to Winnie?)

It’s funny, because when writing Winnie, I didn’t particularly think she was much like me, or that I wrote from a personal place with her—not anywhere close to what I had done when I wrote my second book, In the Role of Brie Hutchens, at least. Brie was a character that was wholly like myself and who I was as an 8^th grader, so much so that I always say that Brie Hutchens is my most personal book. But a colleague of mine at Fairleigh Dickinson, where I teach (Minna Zallman Proctor, who is a wonderful translator and writer of creative nonfiction) read an earlier draft of Winnie and mentioned how much she sees *me* in this book, and I’ve since reflected on it a bit more. I think it’s there in a lot less obvious pieces than with Brie, but I think that I connect with Winnie’s yearning, and sadness, and anger, a lot more than I let myself realize when I sat down to write her.

Research/Writing

You tackled a lot of important topics (mental illness, embracing one’s sexuality, dealing with miscarriages, and family secrets). Was there one of these topics that you started with? Can you tell us how the story then came together?

Mental health and embracing one’s sexuality are two things I always aim to write about in my books, so I didn’t start with these topics but I always knew that they’d be included. And for this book in particular, I knew that I wanted Winnie to be well aware of her own sexuality and confident about it—she’s not confused about liking girls. But what I actually started with was the idea that Winnie’s mom had struggled with these miscarriages she had.

One in four pregnancies end in miscarriages, so I know that Winnie as an “almost-sibling” isn’t alone. It’s not my story to tell, but before my younger brother was born, my mom had miscarriages—I was younger than Winnie and it didn’t affect my own life like it does Winnie’s, and now being an adult who has friends who have experienced their own losses, it’s something that I thought deserved space on the page in a middle grade book. It’s sad, and it’s hard, but like I said earlier (thanks to what I’ve learned by reading Kate DiCamillo) kids can be sad, they can go through hard things, and they deserve to have stories written about them, too.

Which topic was the most difficult to write about?

The miscarriages, and how it affected Winnie’s parents. I think it was a difficult balance to get right; Winnie’s mom and her dad are human, they’re people, they’re struggling. And they make mistakes. They try and protect and shield Winnie, but only end up hurting her more. They are in the middle of their own grief and fear and trying to find their way to the other side of it. They suck at it; they’re doing their best. They make a lot of bad choices, but it’s the only choices they know how to make. Hopefully they learn. Hopefully they grow. Hopefully Winnie finds strength in the relationships she has with her grandmother and the people around her so that she’ll be okay.

A lot of my readers have been coming down hard on Winnie’s parents, and I get it, I do. I’m mad at them, too. But I think that life is hard and complicated for everyone involved, and writing that, figuring it out and getting this family to a place where they could maybe, hopefully, someday be okay, was the one thing I wanted to do right.

I read on your website [nicolemelleby.com] that you have a lot of Easter eggs connecting your books! I love that idea. Any hints?

Here is my favorite easter egg: Every single one of my books has the characters ordering or eating pizza from Timoney’s Pizzeria—which some readers may recognize from my book How to Become a Planet (every single one, including the books that came before How to Become a Planet did!) But since all of my books take place in the same area of New Jersey, if you read carefully enough, you might just find even more overlap!

For Teachers

Are you doing school visits related to this book?

I love doing school visits and am happy to and available to do visits with middle school students! I usually do visits with 5^th-8^th grade classrooms, where I talk about what it’s like to be a writer, how I became a writer, and what it’s like to write about mental health and identity. If you want to find out more about my school visits, you can head to hownowbooking.com!

How can we learn more about you?

You can find out more about me at www.nicolemelleby.com, or say hey to me on social media! I’m currently most active on Instagram, @nicolemelleby.

Thanks for your time, Nicole.

Be sure to check out Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine!

The post Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine: An Interview with Author Nicole Melleby appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

About the Book

Hihi! Thank you for inviting onto your site. I love what you’ve done with the place. It’s gorgeous and so comfy here.

The Fifth Hero: Escape Plastic Island is a choose-your-own-adventure, interactive story of four kids who couldn’t be less likely candidates for heroes of the climate…and yet they find themselves thrust into the role of Earth superheroes. One has the power to talk to animals (though he’s freaked out by nearly every animal); one controls the ground and can cause earthquakes and other ground-breaking acts (but she doesn’t seem to get that Earth can be broken and sometimes human actions go too far); the third can manipulate the water (but isn’t a fan of swimming); and the fourth can control the weather (but “control” is the wrong word…because every time she tries, things spin out of control!). And…the read is The Fifth Hero, making decisions at critical points to shape the narrative and the story’s outcome. Each of the decisions are “small” ones that have to do with the environment and small everyday actions we can take to help make a difference. Readers will see firsthand in this non-preachy, action-packed story how even the tiniest changes in our daily routines can have a massive ripple effect.

I love that they of the kids has a superpower. Who would especially enjoy this book?

Kids who like choose your own adventures; kids who want to make a difference and be agents of change in the world around them; kids who like action stories with a touch of humor.

Would you classify this as science fiction or fantasy? 

I’d qualify The Fifth Hero series as science fiction. It takes place in the near-future and I tried to make all the innovations (like the gas-guzzling, disposable scooters) things that could actually exist soon. Yes, the kids gain superpowers by grabbing onto the spheres called the Four Ponies (yes, yes, like the Four Horsemen), but I still tried to keep everything based in science.

About the Author

How did your writing journey begin? Any other interesting jobs you have had?

Oh! I’ve ALWAYS wanted to be a writer. It’s the very first thing, seriously. I asked for a plastic toy typewriter when I was 7 or so, and I used to bang out stories on that. Along the way, I’ve been an editor with magazines, like Cat Companion (ha!), TIME For Kids, Sports Illustrated Kids, Kid City (aka Electric Company), and Scholastic News.

What authors (and/or books) would you say influenced your writing style and/or this book? [And did you read Choose Your Own Adventure books growing up?]

Yes, I did read Choose Your Adventures growing up, but, honestly, I wasn’t always crazy about them. Ugh. That sounds harsh, and I don’t mean to be. It’s just they often left me a little cold, and I wanted to have more connection with the character in the story. So I was determined in my books to make sure that I characters that kids will hopefully care about.

OK, and re writers who influenced me…get ready for name dropping! While I was getting my MFA in Dramatic Writing from Tisch at NYU, I had Arthur Miller teach me playwriting. Um. I know! Crazy, right? Plus, John Guar came in, and David Mamet, and John Patrick Shanley. One writer though who really affected me was a writer named Milan Stitt (he wrote the Tony-winning play The Runner Stumbles). He taught me something called The Major Dramatic Question. Anything worth reading has to have a Major Dramatic Question, he’d say…it’s the question the writer poses at the beginning of the story and maintains the tension around for the entire tale. It’s the reason readers want to keep turning pages, because they have to know the answer to the question.

Which of the characters in your book would you say you were most like growing up?

People might think I’d be most like Jarrett, who is a little more thoughtful and introspective than the other characters. But honestly, I think I was more like Agnes. I loved playing outside and being a little reckless…my brothers and I would try to have ski spills where we’d lose both skis and our poles (a yard sale, we’d call it) or we’d race backwards down the steepest hills on our skateboards. Agnes is brave, naively at times, when it comes to play, and I think I was the same.

Which power element would you want to possess?

Oh! I’d love to have the power to talk with animals, like Jarrett does. To know more about what my dog is think would be incredible!

Me too! What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book?

For this book, I included a tiny bit of the feeling of a “crush” I think we all felt when were around 11 or 12. Just that wonderful feeling of liking spending time with someone.

Hi! This is me at around 8 on Lake Michigan reading The Hobbit. The first “grown-up” book I read on my own.

About Writing Series Books

Would you share the premise of the series?

Four 11-year-olds touch powerful spheres that are meant to destroy the world. The kids absorb the spheres and must harness their power to save the planet from the wicked family who wants to convince everyone to move up to the space hotels and colonies. The reader is the 5^th Hero who must make decisions at crucial points in the plot to help save the day. 

How did you get the idea for a series that addresses climate change?

As Editor of Scholastic News magazine, I get bombarded with the same scary climate news that lots of kids are seeing. And I also get to visit lots of schools…so I could see the environmental issues are very important to kids. I wanted to find a way to empower kids, to show them that they can make a difference…even with very small changes to their daily routine.

Where did you get the idea for this particular book in the series?

The idea for Escape Plastic Island came from just seeing pictures of plastic islands in the ocean, and reading about how the largest one is bigger than the state of Texas. Holy moly. That image just stuck in my head, and I knew had to write about it.

Where in the journey did you decide it would be a series vs. a stand-alone book?

Hopefully the two books so far in the series can stand alone, but the idea for making it a series was baked in from the very beginning.

Can you share any tips for writing a series? [Especially for avoiding too big a recap at the beginning of each book]

When writing a series, I usually try to do the recap or “previously on…” during an action sequence of some kind. I sprinkle it around fast-moving descriptions, trying to make the medicine of the exposition go down more smoothly!

Research/Writing

Did you always plan on involving the reader to make decisions, or is this something that came about later?

Empowering the reader with the superpower of changing the narrative was always part of the plan with this series. It’s something I love giving to kids. Normally that power is reserved for authors…only they get to control the story. But, thanks to time with screens, kids have come to expect a little more control in the stories they encounter. And they deserve that control too!

What research did you do for this book?

I actually got in touch with friend at Oceana.org, the world’s largest nonprofit that completely devoted to our oceans. They are true worldwide resource and I really, really recommend that people check out their work!

For Teachers

How can teachers make the most out of the message in this book?

Tackling stories about the environment in the classroom can be complicated, stressful, and, frankly, depressing. I hope my books and their positive message about the future can help with that. I feel like the message that kids can make simple, everyday changes in their routines to help out the planet is one that any student can grasp. I give specific examples of what those change might be in the books—and the ripple effect they might have on the health of our environment.

Are you doing school visits related to this book?

Yes! Yes! Definitely doing school visits. That’s one of my favorite things to do! I can make a school visit work with third graders all the way up through eighth grade. I usually do a fun, interactive writing workshop with the kids, so that by the time I go we’ve had a great time developing at least one new stellar idea for a series.

How can we learn more about you? 

So…the best way to learn more about me and to reach out to me is through my website: www.billdoyle.net. Please come visit me there!

Thanks for your time, Bill.

Be sure to check out The Fifth Hero: Escape Plastic Island!

The post The Fifth Hero: Escape Plastic Island—An Interview with Bill Doyle appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

About Nicole: Her Role as a Writer

Hi Nicole! Tell us about yourself.

I live in the Chicago suburbs with my husband, three kids (one of whom is away at college) and three dogs. I was actually a theater major when I went to school, but it’s been quite awhile since I’ve been on a stage. When my kids were younger, I was a homeschooling mom. I taught theater, language arts and writing at a large homeschool co-op, which I loved!

How fun for them! How did you start writing? What do you like to write?

I always wanted to write when I was younger, but I could never figure out how to write a whole book. I wrote lots of snippets and some chapters, but I didn’t really understand how to structure a story. But once I started blogging, my passion for writing was reignited, and I thought I’d give it another try. I joined NaNoWriMo (which is a challenge to write a 50,000 word book in the month of November) and wrote the required words, but once again, I couldn’t quite get to the words “The End.” But I kept at it. I wrote my first full novel between classes while I worked at the homeschool co-op and kept going from there!

You have a new book coming out. What is it about?

My debut is called THE SONG OF ORPHAN’S GARDEN, and it will be releasing in early 2025 (it takes a long time to publish a book!).

 The book is a fantasy re-imagining of Oscar Wilde’s short story “The Selfish Giant” and it’s written in verse. We pitched it as FROZEN meets THE BFG, which I think fits the book really well. It’s about an orphaned Human girl and a banished Giant boy who both need the same magical garden in order to survive in their arctic world that’s getting colder every day!

It sounds really fun! Do you feel your other jobs helped you to revise this book?

I definitely think my experience with blogging helped me understand storytelling in a way that I hadn’t before. Reviewing books and thinking about them critically gives you a good sense of what works and what doesn’t. I was also working as a freelance editor for a while, and that absolutely helped me with my writing. I didn’t start working as a bookseller until after I’d written my current book, and I’m not sure it’s helped my writing (if anything, it takes up a lot of my writing time), but I love connecting people with books they’ll love, so it’s worth it.

About Her Blog: How It Helps Her as a Writer

You also write a blog feedyourfictionaddiction.com Tell us about it.

Feed Your Fiction Addiction is a mostly middle grade and YA blog where I talk about the many books I love! I also sometimes host giveaways and post general bookish discussions. I’ll admit that I’ve had less time to keep up with my blog lately, but I still generally post several times a month.

From reading so many books, are there any trends you’re finding right now?

Oooh! This is a good question. Middle grade horror has become all the rage lately. R.L. Stine has always known that kids like to be scared, but now more and more authors are jumping in with spooky reads.

I agree—kids love scary books! When you’re reading through a middle-grade novel, is there anything that writers do that you feel may be a turn-off to middle schoolers?

If a story is too didactic, this can be an issue. Kids know when they’re being talked down to. That doesn’t mean books can’t have important themes or that the author can’t have a distinct point-of-view in their writing, but you don’t want to hit kids over the head with the message in a way that feels preachy.

What are some of your favorite middle grade books from 2023?

I’ve read so many I loved! Here are a few middle grades:

BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS by Alysa Wishingrad

THE GOLDEN FROG GAMES (Witchlings #2) by Claribel A. Ortega

GOOD DIFFERENT by Meg Eden Kuyatt

And a few YA:

ONE GIRL IN ALL THE WORLD (In Every Generation #2) by Kendare Blake

ALWAYS ISN’T FOREVER by J.C. Cervantes

GIVE ME A SIGN by Anna Sortino

Any books you’re looking forward to their upcoming release?

My mentee through a program called Author Mentor Match is debuting with the book we worked on in 2024. Her name is Anne Rellihan and the book is called NOT THE WORST FRIEND IN THE WORLD. The book is truly fantastic, and kids are going to love it!

 Another book I’ve already read and loved is THE MYSTERY OF LOCKED ROOMS by Lindsay Currie. As a big fan of escape rooms, this book was perfect for me!

About Being a Book Buyer: Trends/Holes in the Market

You also work at Barnes & Noble. What do you do there?

I’m a senior bookseller. I work throughout the store, but tend to specialize in the kids’ department (which covers everything from board books on up to middle grade).

So you choose which books to purchase? Do you ever help people find books?

I can request books to be ordered for the store by doing what we call “shortlisting” them. All of the books that are shortlisted get reviewed by someone who does the actual ordering (usually I get the books I’ve shortlisted, but occasionally there are reasons that a book can’t be ordered into the store). I definitely help people find books. That’s one of my main responsibilities and my favorite part of the job. I love helping people find something that will be perfect for them (or for the child they’re buying for).

What types of books would you say are hot right now?

In picture books, funny always seems to sell. A personal favorite is THE KNIGHT SNACKER by Valerie Wicker.

 Like I already mentioned, MG horror is big right now. I also get a lot of people looking for funny books for younger MG readers. For them, I often recommend THE AREA 51 FILES by Julie Buxbaum.

 In YA, mysteries are where it’s at, especially if there’s a bit of romance thrown in. THE INHERITANCE GAMES series is huge, along with other series like A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER. Sad also sells well in YA, the sadder the better!!

 As far as non-fiction for kids goes, National Geographic Kids books and the WHO WAS series really can’t be beat.

What titles do you often suggest to kids?

I already mentioned some, but here are a few more that I consistently recommend:

ALONE by Megan E. Freeman (for kids who like verse novels, survival story, or just an intriguing read)

SCRITCH SCRATCH by Lindsay Currie (for MG horror fans)

THE INCREDIBLY DEAD PETS OF REX DEXTER by Aaron Reynolds (for kids looking for a funny read)

JENNIFER CHAN IS NOT ALONE by Tae Keller (for kids who like contemporary with heart or kids who are looking for an excellent story about bullying)

The ARU SHAH series by Roshani Chokshi (for fantasy lovers)

 I could honestly go on and on…

What types/subjects of books are kids requesting that you’re finding there’s not enough of?

We talk a lot about that gap between MG and YA, and I often see that at the store. For instance, there are some good MG romance books out there (I sent a girl home just today with THIS IS HOW I ROLL by Debbi Michiko Florence – I hope she loves it!), but I’d love to see more. A lot of younger readers end up in YA, where they might not quite be ready for all the themes and content.

About School Visits & Social Media

Are you doing school visits related to your book?

Yes, even though my book isn’t releasing until 2025, I’ve got school visits lined up for next year, mostly doing poetry workshops with kids.

How can we learn more about you?

You can find me on my blog at feedyourfictionaddiction.com and on my website at nicolemhewitt.com. I’m also on Instagram @NicoleFictionAddiction and on Twitter and Bluesky @NicoleMHewitt!

Great information and book lists. I’m excited to check out some of these titles! 

Thanks so much for having me on the blog!

The post Interview with Nicole M. Hewitt appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

About the Book

Hi Lindsay! I believe I discovered your books on Twitter. When I saw the cover of It Found Us, I had to read it! As I was waiting for the release of the ARC, I read What Lives in the Woods (LOVED IT!). Can you give us a short summary of your newest spooky middle grade, It Found Us?

Absolutely! IT FOUND US follows the story of aspiring podcaster and amateur sleuth, Hazel Woods. Hazel is a gifted young detective, but the adults in her life don’t see it that way. They use words like “snoop” and “pest” to describe her which is hurtful to Hazel. So, when the opportunity to solve a very big, very serious mystery falls into her lap – the vanishing of her older brother Den’s best friend, Everett Michaels – she takes it. Everett was last seen playing an after-dark game of hide-and-seek with Den and a group of friends in a local graveyard – a notoriously haunted graveyard. When terrifying clues begin to appear to Hazel, she realizes there might be more to finding Everett than scent tracking dogs and search parties . . . and time is ticking.

Who would especially enjoy this book?
Anyone who enjoys mysteries, forgotten history, or ghost stories is going to love this book! Same for those who read and appreciated Nancy Drew. Hazel is such a brave, courageous, and empathetic sleuth, and her relationship with her brother is layered and realistic.

About the Author

Did you enjoy scary books as a child? What were some of your favorites?

I did, but there really weren’t as many as there should’ve been! One of the first ones I remember reading (and being wholeheartedly frightened of, haha) was called The Dollhouse Murders. I’ve talked about this book in other interviews because while there are elements of it that did not age well, the mystery did unfold in a fantastically tense way. I recall being simultaneously afraid to continue reading, but too hooked to stop. The perfect blend!

What books and movies have influenced your books? 

Oh, so many! I’ll admit that I’m a fan of leaving what I call Easter eggs in my stories – little homages to movies or books I love. IT FOUND US opens with Hazel sneaking around her neighborhood to find out who is allowing their dog to poop on cranky Mr. Andrew’s lawn. This is a small nod to the movie The Burbs, where we see two characters arguing over a dog that has been trained to relieve itself on other people’s lawns. I’m sure most of my readers won’t see that connection, but it made me smile And truly, I was a Nancy Drew fan (still am) and intentionally tried to create a vibe that was reminiscent of those books. Lastly, there is a mention of Kate Warne in this book. Kate is largely considered to be the first female detective and worked with Pinkerton’s detective agency. She is buried about five minutes from my house in my favorite graveyard, Graceland cemetery.

What was your path to becoming an author? Any other interesting jobs you have had?
I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years! I wrote business conferences, sold real estate, and was even in flight school because I was training to interview with the FBI. No, I’m not joking. Can you imagine me as Special Agent Currie? *cue laughter* When I finally decided to pursue writing as a career, it took a long time to break in. Many years to get an agent and many years to sell a book. I wouldn’t trade any of it, though. I learned how to work through rejection and showed my children (who were little at the time) that if you don’t give up, you can succeed.

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book? (Were you similar to Hazel and liked to investigate?)
I was definitely a curious child who talked a lot and asked all the questions. I distinctly remember feeling as though I was never going to be taken seriously by the adults in my life and I hated it. That’s who I wrote this book for. The pests and snoops of the world.

All right, I have to ask: Do you believe in ghosts? Tell us more!
Yes! I get this question a lot at school visits and the truth is, I’m one of those people who is open to believing until you prove I shouldn’t. So, no . . . I haven’t seen a ghost. But I also haven’t seen evidence that they don’t exist. I’ve also had some genuinely hair-raising experiences while researching that makes me wonder.

Research/Writing

Your books are scary! I was surprised how, as an adult, I was actually scared! LOL. How do you decide what is too scary for middle grade?

I generally feel like this is a gut instinct. I don’t write any gore into my books, so that avoids ever having to draw a line there. But in terms of the other scares, if it feels like too much, I give it extra consideration. I’m also lucky to have wonderful critique partners and a fantastic editor who not only understands what I’m trying to do, but supports me by making sure I stay inside the lines.

Did you always set out to write scary middle grade?

Not really, no! My first middle-grade story, THE PECULIAR INCIDENT ON SHADY STREET, came to me as an idea first. It had this Goonies vibe that just struck me as so fun and so perfectly middle-grade that I decided to give it a shot. Then I never looked back. Middle-grade readers are so clever and fun and up for adventure. I love writing for this age group!

Where does your story idea begin—with the scary element? The resolution? Do you make an outline? (Are you a plotter or a pantser with the genre?)

I’ve always been so jealous of people who can plot with their beautiful corkboards and post it notes and highlighted, bullet-pointed lists. I cannot do that. I’m a pantser all the way! I generally know where my story is going to begin and where I want it to end, but the middle is all just one big roller coaster!

I love how there is a real historic connection with this story. Do all your spooky books have a historic connection?
Thank you! I love this, too. It’s no secret that I’m a history nerd – especially when it comes to people and events that can be considered “lost” or forgotten history. Once I come across something that captures my imagination, I build my story from there. I don’t want to give away anything, but the tragedy at the heart of IT FOUND US is something I’d never heard of before writing this book and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to highlight it through the mystery in this story. As of right now, all of my books with the exception of THE GIRL IN WHITE, do feature some connection to real history!

For Teachers

Do you have a curriculum guide or discussion questions posted online? 
Yes! Check out the teacher resources page on my website at: https://www.lindsaycurrie.com/spooky-101. There is a detailed discussion guide with questions for all of my titles posted there!

Are you doing school visits related to this book? 
Absolutely! My school presentations are generally targeted at grades 4th-7th and I’m taking requests for October/November currently. Check out this link for details! https://www.lindsaycurrie.com/school-visit 

How can we learn more about you?
My website is www.lindsaycurrie.com and I can be found goofing off on Twitter (I’m a Chicagoan who still says “Sears Tower” so I’m not likely to adopt “X” anytime soon), Instagram, Threads and Bluesky under the username @lindsayncurrie. I’m also on TikTok at @lindsaycurrieauthor! Come say hi!

I’m excited to read more of your books, Lindsay! Thanks for your time.
Thank you so much for this delightful interview! I’m so excited for IT FOUND US to hit shelves. Be on the lookout for a cover reveal soon for my next book – THE MYSTERY OF LOCKED ROOMS, which is action-packed adventure novel about three friends who team up to find a hidden treasure in an abandoned 1950’s funhouse!

The post It Found Us: Lindsay Currie Interview appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Welcome to the blog tour for

How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs,

part of National Geographic Kids’ DinoMAYnia – a month-long celebration of all things prehistoric!

All week blogs are hosting fun excerpts from this handy guide so you will know just what it takes to dodge deadly dinosaurs, ride out mega monsoons and escape other perils of the prehistoric!

How To Survive the Jurassic

Feeling proud for making it this far? Well, that was just the warm-up. In the Jurassic, Earth’s land begins to split apart. Enormous cracks appear in the ground. The planet strains and shakes. Finally, Pangaea splinters. The climate changes, too: What was once hot and dry becomes warm and wet. Lush plants sprout up, a feast for some of the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. And predators evolve, too — large and ferocious enough to take the others down. This is a dino-eat-dino world.

• The Jurassic: 201-145 million years ago
• Known For: The dinosaur takeover
• Best Place for Home Base: Ginkgo forests
• Your Main Food Source: Jurassic plants
• Try to avoid: Meat-eating dinosaurs

Prehistoric Problem: Biting Bugs

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The Jurassic was definitely a period of dino domination. But it was also an awesome time to be an insect. During the Jurassic, insects crawl and buzz around every inch of the earth and skies. And to them, you’re nothing but a tasty, walking meal.

Because they evolved to feed on animals that no longer exist, many Jurassic insects—such as the parasite Qiyia jurassica—have features that would be unfamiliar to modern humans. These fly larvae have an abdomen that has been transformed into a giant sucker — perfect for devouring the blood of Jurassic salamanders. The sucker is surrounded by six spines that help the larvae stick to their slippery victim.

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Picture a dog infested with fleas: It scratches and rolls, trying to deal with the maddening itch. Now imagine a Brachiosaurus doing the same thing! Flea-like insects first evolved during this time, and they probably plagued the dinosaurs just as badly as they do your modern-day Labrador retriever. Ten times the size of modern fleas, they had a huge proboscis (a long, sucking mouthpart) that would have felt like a hypodermic needle as it plunged into the skin. Ouch!

Fortunately, not all Jurassic insects are bloodsuckers. Creatures called kalligrammatids flap from leaf to leaf, pollinating extinct seed plants called bennettitales as they sip on their nectar, just like modern butterflies. Also like butterflies, their wings are decorated with spots that look like eyes. But kalligrammatids aren’t butterflies— those won’t evolve for another 40 to 85 million years.

Considering you’re trying to get by in a time before insect repellent, these are some awful pests. But you have one hope: They might not see you as a victim. Modern bloodsuckers often have specialized mouthparts and attack only one kind of prey. So keep your fingers crossed— perhaps these nasty invertebrates will only attack critters they’re familiar with, leaving you bite free.

Did You Know?

Rex and Velociraptor, stars of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, actually lived during the Cretaceous. Oops!

Buy | Buy on Bookshop.org

How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs:

A Handy Guide to Dodging Deadly Predators, Riding Out Mega-Monsoons and Escaping Other Perils of the Prehistoric

(ages 8-12, Paperback, National Geographic Kids Books)

Boom, boom, BOOM … Look out! That’s a T. rex coming your way!? You’ve been transported back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. What do you do?!

Test your chops and discover if you have what it takes to survive at a time when Earth looked, well, a tad different in this ultimate survival guide to the prehistoric age.

Find out how to make it through exploding volcanoes and mega monsoons—while dodging giant Permian bugs! See how to fend off an angry pterosaur and learn what to do if you’re caught in a stampede of enormous titanosaurs. Discover what you could eat (spoiler alert: You better like the taste of insects!), and find out which hungry creatures just might try to eat you!

Packed with tips, tricks, and helpful maps, this is the ultimate handbook for dinosaur fans who want to know what life on Earth was really like when dinos ruled. Could you survive in the age of dinosaurs?

About the Author

Stephanie Warren Drimmer is an award winning science writer based in Los Angeles, California. She writes books and magazine features for kids about everything from the strangest places in space, to the chemistry of cookies, to the mysteries of the human brain. She has a degree in science journalism from New York University…but she thinks she likes writing for kids because she’s secretly still one herself.

Website

About the Expert Contributor

Dr. Steve Brusatte vertebrate paleontologist and evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Edinburgh who specializes in the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of dinosaurs and other fossil organisms. He has written over 110 scientific papers, published six books (including the adult pop science book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, the textbook Dinosaur Paleobiology, and the coffee table book Dinosaurs), and has described over 15 new species of fossil animals. He has done fieldwork in Brazil, Britain, China, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and the United States. His research is profiled often in the popular press and he is a “resident paleontologist” and scientific consultant for the BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs team.

Website | Twitter

GIVEAWAY

• One (1) winner will receive a copy of How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs!
• US/Can only
• Ends 6/3 at 11:59 pm ET
• Enter via the form below

Visit the other stops on the tour for more chances to win

The post How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs Blog Tour and Giveaway appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Jarrett Lerner —Interview

I am been following author/illustrator Jarrett Lerner on Twitter for years. What really caught my eye is how during the pandemic he posted drawing activities for kids. He is the author/illustrator of the humorous EngiNerds and Geiger the Robot series as well as the new Nat the Cat series. Now he has a new book out written in verse on a more serious topic.

About the Book

Hi Jarrett! I was so honored to get to read A Work in Progress. Can you give us a short summary about the book?

Thank you! Here’s the official description from my publisher:

Will is the only round kid in a school full of this ones. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who knows he doesn’t have a chance with—string beans only date string beans—but he can’t help wondering what if?

Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise. But the results are either frustratingly slow or infuriatingly unsuccessful, and Will’s shame begins to morph into self-loathing.

As he resorts to increasingly drastic measures to transform his appearance, Will meets skateboarder Markus, who helps him see his body and all it contains as an ever-evolving work in progress.

Tell us who would especially enjoy this book?

I worked had to make sure this book would be enjoyable for as many readers as possible. The book is physically big – 360-something pages – but is only 18,000 words long (other Middle Grade books of that page length contain probably four or five times that many words). It’s also highly illustrated. I hope kids (and adults!) who see bits of themselves in Will’s story will read it, and that they’ll find comfort and hope. But I also hope just as many, if not more, kids (and adults!) will read it, too, and hopefully be left with greater empathy for their peers.

I saw your tweet about misconceptions of eating disorders. What misconceptions did you address in your book?

I think the biggest misconception is that disordered eating and eating disorders are things that are only developed by girls. Growing up, when I was going through what Will goes through in the book, I sought out books that addressed body image, disordered eating, and body dysmorphia (though I certainly hadn’t learned all those terms yet). I found very few, and all of them had two things in common: the protagonists were girls, and they were always extreme cases. It wasn’t until a couple years ago, when I had already begun working on what would become A Work in Progress, that I first read a book about a boy who had a troubled relationship with their body and food and eating, but whose troubles didn’t require medical intervention. I hope Will’s story helps fill that still-enormous gap in the literature. We need those books that I did find on shelves back when I was in middle school, but we also need ones about the kids silently suffering with problems that fall just short of grabbing adults’ attention. Unfortunately, when it comes to bodily insecurity and disordered eating, there are a tremendous number of kids suffering.

About the Author/Illustrator

How did your childhood help to shape this book (both content and format)?

Will’s story is a fictionalized version of my own. My own story took place over more time, and featured a larger cast of characters. In order to make the book as powerful as possible, I had to compress time and characters. And while having had all these experiences certainly gave me the ability to authentically tell this story, that doesn’t mean it was easy. Making A Work in Progress was the toughest creative challenge of my life. I’d been trying for over a decade to get the story out of me in a way that felt “right.” It wasn’t until I finally landed on the idea of telling the story as if it were being set down in real time in Will’s private notebook/sketchbook that things started moving in that “right” direction. And Will’s notebook looks very much like my own notebooks did back when I was his age – a mishmash of free verse, doodles, and drawings.

What authors and/or illustrators would you say influenced your writing and illustration style?

So many. Too many to name. There’s a quote I think about (and share) nearly every day of my life: “Reading is breathing in, writing is breathing out.” Pam Allen said that. It’s just brilliant. And so very true. You can’t write well without reading. And you can’t draw well without “reading” drawings. These two things – reading and writing (and drawing, if you tell stories visually) – are two parts of the same process. The more you do one, the better you get at the other. So I read constantly, and have been influenced by so, so many. Along with that, I’m constantly exposing myself to new authors and illustrators – always seeking to be influenced in new ways and continue growing as a creator.

Do you share any personality traits with Will Chambers and/or Markus?

I think there’s a part of me in every one of my characters. I’m not sure if it starts that way, or if the process of writing and drawing them engages my empathy in a way that I just, by the end of it all, feel so connected and close to them. I guess, when it comes to Will and Markus, I’d say that I’m just where Will is at the end of book – he’s still himself, but he’s trying his best to adopt some of the approaches to life that Markus embodies and shares.

For Artists

I love how the artwork adds an additional layer to the story. Do you incorporate the artwork in your brainstorming/early draft? Please share your process.

Yes. I start all of my projects longhand, usually in composition notebooks. I write and draw, back and forth, sometimes leaning more heavily on one or another – whatever language, verbal or visual, I can use to get my ideas out of my head and down onto paper at any given moment. Usually, once I’ve got a clearer idea of the story I’m trying to tell, I try to figure out what specific format will best serve the story. Sometimes, I decide that it’s best to stick with just text, that I want my readers to provide all the story’s visuals in their imagination. Sometimes I decide text with occasional illustrations will be ideal to tell a story in the most funny or exciting or powerful or emotionally resonant (or whatever I’m going for) way. And sometimes, I have to sort of create my own form. My editor has taken to calling many of my upcoming books “hybrids,” because the usual terminology can’t really capture what they are. They’re not traditional chapter books, but not full graphic novels – I’ve taken to telling each part of a story using whatever tool best accomplishes what I want that part to do. There are a lot of other creators who’ve begun doing this. Each season, more and more books get published that defy these easy classifications. I think it’s one of the most exciting trends in publishing right now, and will only grow in the coming years.

And are these illustrations done by hand or on a computer?

I work on all my art on paper, but once I’ve got a clear conception of what a final piece needs to be, I work digitally. The art you see in my books is all done on an iPad Pro using an Apple Pencil (second generation) and the Procreate app.

What’s your art background? Were you a writer or illustrator first? And how did the second one happen?

I’m self-taught, so to speak. Growing up, I took every art class and every creative writing course offered in school. But I don’t have any formal training in either writing or drawing. I read, and looked, and copied and copied and copied, gradually finding my own approach and processes and developing my own style.

More About Jarrett

How can we learn more about you?

Website: jarrettlerner.com

Twitter and Instagram: @Jarrett_Lerner

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JarrettLernerBooks

Thanks for your time, Jarrett!

Thank YOU! Really excellent questions. I appreciate them very much, and the opportunity to share.

Jarrett will be giving a copy of  A Work in Progress to a lucky reader. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a copy. (U.S. addresses only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post A Work in Progress: Jarrett Lerner Interview + Giveaway appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Scrolling through Twitter, I saw the cover of Frozen Peaches with the sled dogs and ice castle. I had to read it! I was fortunate enough to get a chance to interview the author, Erin Soderberg Downing. Read on for a chance to enter the giveaway for a copy of the book.

Erin Soderberg Downing — Interview

About the Book

Hi Erin! Thank you for sharing the latest book in The Great Peach Experiment series: Frozen Peaches with me (and such a clever and fitting title!). Congratulations on its recent release. Can you give us a short summary about the book?

Sure! The third Peach adventure opens with Freddy Peach’s announcement that he’s been testing his family’s recent good-luck streak by entering them in a series of sweepstakes, and they’ve actually won a few of them! One prize they win is….a year’s worth of free yogurt! But the other sweepstakes win has earned the Peaches…a free trip to the Icehotel in Sweden, where the Peaches will get to learn about running a tourist hotel from the best of the best! When they arrive, they discover that they are one of several hotel-owning families who have won, and while they’re at the Icehotel they’ll have the chance to compete in a series of competitions (dogsledding, ice carving, sled racing) to try to win the title of FROZEN BEST!

Who would especially enjoy this book?

Any kids (or adults!) who love stories with a lot of action, humor, and fun settings (I love when a book can transport you somewhere wonderful, even from the comfort and warmth of your own bed).

About the Author: Erin Soderberg Downing

Path to Publication

What was your path to becoming an author? Any other interesting jobs you have had?

When I was a kid, I actually didn’t really like writing and never would have imagined I’d write a book (let alone almost 100 of them!) someday. But I was a big reader as a kid, which is what led me to get a job as a children’s book editor at Scholastic when I graduated from college. It was in this job that I learned what makes a great book, and I figured out how much fun it can be to put a story together. After I left that job, I realized I missed creating stories…and that’s when I started writing for fun and with an eye toward publication. I have also worked as a rollerblading waitress, a tour guide on a boat in Duluth, MN, at several coffee shops, as a marketing person at Nickelodeon, and I worked in “snack innovation” for a short time at Pepperidge Farm. I’ve met a lot of interesting characters over the years!

Influences

What authors (and/or books) would you say influenced your writing style?

My favorite series growing up were the Ramona series (Beverly Cleary), the Fudge series (Judy Blume), and the Baby-sitter’s Club series (Ann M. Martin). I loved these series for their humor, but also for the powerful connections and relationships between characters in the stories. I have always been a huge fan of series, both as a reader and a writer, because every time you open up a new book in a series it’s like opening the door to a whole house full of friends – you’ve already met, and can get right into the good part of the story!

My more recent favorite series include the Penderwicks (which I read aloud to my kids when they were in elementary school) and the Vanderbeekers series—and I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from both for The Great Peach Experiment series.

Which of the Peach children would you say you were most like growing up?

Definitely Lucy – I was pretty responsible and mature (I’m an only child) and I loved reading.

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book?

I stole my best friend’s Sarah’s house to use as inspiration for The Peach Pit, including her closet with a secret reading/fort nook tucked up into a corner!

Research/Writing

How the Book/Series Came to Be

How did The Great Peach Experiment series come about?

I was inspired to start thinking about this series after my family’s road trip in an RV. My kids kept begging me to buy a scratch off lottery ticket at every gas station we stopped at and when I finally caved, I made them play a game with me – what would you do if we actually won? What if you suddenly had a million bucks…how would you spend it? And I rolled on from there!

And how did you get the idea for the premise for this book in the series, Frozen Peaches?

After visiting the Swedish Icehotel for real about twenty years ago, I knew someday I would want to use that setting for a book I wrote someday. I’ve been saving this truly special setting for a truly special book ever since. Before I’d even finished writing the first book in the Great Peach Experiment series, I knew this was the perfect family to send on an adventure to this frozen wonderland!

I know that you lived in Sweden for a year, so you already had a lot of background knowledge to set a book there. What research did you still end up having to do?

The best research I got to do for this book was to try dogsledding! I didn’t know anything about that sport, and knew I had to at least have some fundamentals in order to write the dogsledding scenes. So my family and I booked a dogsledding adventure on Minnesota’s North Shore, and got to spend a day learning about harnessing, caring for, and guiding dogs through the woods!

Writing Tip!

Can you share any tips for writing a series?

The most important thing I do when I know I’m planning out a series is to keep a running series bible from the very beginning. Eye color, favorite stuffed animals, fears, room color, best friend names – you don’t realize how many things get casually mentioned in a book, and then you forget about them a few books later! So I keep a series bible where I note any details about characters that I include at any point in my stories.

For Teachers

Curriculum Guide

Do you have a curriculum guide or discussion questions posted online?

Yes! Pixel + Ink created both an educator guide and a Peach Family Recipe book! Check it out: https://holidayhouse.com/site/pixel-ink/?book=the-great-peach-experiment-1-when-life-gives-you-lemons-make-peach-pie 

School Visits

Are you doing school visits related to this book?

I absolutely love doing school visits – it’s the best part of my job! I’ve been lucky enough to visit a ton of schools this past year to talk about the “ingredients” I use when I create my stories, as well as the recipe I follow when I’m writing. I’ve been to many schools in Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Texas, New Hampshire, New York, and many others via Zoom! I have so many new releases between 2021-2024 that my school visits are extra exciting right now. There’s more info for me to share during each visit than I have time for, which keeps things interesting for me, too!

How can we learn more about you?

I have a ton of info and details about my books, the research I’ve done, my family/dogs/favorite things, and author visits on my website – www.erinsoderberg.com

Thanks for your time, Erin!

Erin will be giving a copy of Frozen Peaches to a lucky reader. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a copy. (U.S. addresses only)
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The post Frozen Peaches: Author Interview + Giveaway appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

María José Fitzgerald takes us on an adventure to Honduras where we encounter many twists and turns in solving a mystery. I had a chance to find out more of the behind-the-scenes with my interview with her. Read to find out about how this book came to be, tips on writing your own eco-mystery, and ways to use the book in your classroom. Plus, enter the book giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Turtles of the Midnight Moon!

Maria Jose’ Fitzgerald – Debut Author Interview

About the Book

Hi Maria! Thank you for sharing Turtles of the Midnight Moon with me. I love a good eco-mystery! Can you give us a short summary about the book?

Thank you so much for sharing my debut novel in From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors!

Turtles of the Midnight Moon follows two 12-year-old girls, Barana and Abby, as they attempt to solve a sea turtle egg poaching mystery in Barana’s coastal village in Honduras. Barana has a special—almost magical—connection to the leatherback sea turtles that come to her beach to nest. She is a poet and an artist with great compassion for the planet and its creatures. She also feels invisible and misunderstood by her family. Abby lives in New Jersey and is a multi-cultural kid with a Honduran father and American mom. She is a budding photographer who sees the world through her camera. Abby longs to one day visit her father’s homeland. As she struggles to reckon with a difficult year in 6^th grade, she’s overjoyed to finally get the opportunity to join her Papi on a work trip to his childhood home. Abby and Barana’s stories come together when Abby and her father stay at Barana’s abuela’s casita, or guest house. Upon first meeting, Barana and Abby want nothing to do with each other, but soon enough, they join forces as the two commit to trying to stop the poachers and bring them to justice. As they hunt for clues and follow leads, the two of them also wrestle with questions of identity, family, and friendship. Turtles of the Midnight Moon is a story about our connection to the natural world and each other, and how compassion and courage can cause big waves of change.   

Preorder Available Now

When does it come out?

The book is available for pre-order now and will hit bookshelves on March 14^th, 2023!

Tell us who would especially enjoy this book?  

Readers who love a character-driven mystery and who appreciate our amazing planet and its creatures will especially enjoy this novel.

Weaving Parts of Yourself into the Story

How did your childhood help to shape this book? (Be sure to tell us about your grandfather’s impact on you!)

 As a kid I was a little scared of the ocean, but I loved it anyway, and I believed there was something magical about it. Every year, we spent time on the beach with my family. It was my paternal grandmother, Bela’s, happy place, and where she was born. One of her favorite stories to tell us was how they’d set up shark alarms on the beach to alert the fishermen when there was a shark in the water! I learned to swim and snorkel at an early age, and I would explore until my fingers looked like raisins, despite constantly looking over my shoulder for sharks and barracudas. Though I never saw a leatherback sea turtle, I did see many other beautiful creatures in the reefs, including other species of sea turtles. My paternal grandfather was a big nature lover. He’d go on long walks in the woods and sometimes take us with him for parts of it, pointing out birds and other critters. He nicknamed each of us after an animal. I was his bunny—Coneja. Many of the characters in my story have bits of my childhood and my family. Tulu’s disdain for plastic and trash, Chiqui’s art, Abby’s questions about her identity as a Honduran-American, the food in the novel, and so much more. I think it’s impossible to tell a story without weaving in parts of yourself, little anecdotes, and even things that we are not even conscious about as we’re writing them!

Becoming an Author

How did you end up becoming an author? And did you have other jobs before that?

I always loved stories, writing, poetry, and keeping a journal, but I never, ever imagined I’d be a published author. I studied Ecology, Education, and became a teacher. Though I was a teacher for a long time, I also had other odd jobs throughout my young-adult life, all of which have shaped who I am. In 2019 I turned 40 and decided to take a break from my teaching career to focus on my family (and to possibly give writing a try) …That summer, Barana and Abby came to me as fully formed characters, and I wrote a (pretty bad) first draft that year. A little backstory: when I was in my twenties, I wrote a picture book about sea turtles. The opening poem in Turtles of the Midnight Moon is a revised iteration of that picture book!

As writers do, I started querying after sharing my first draft with a handful of friends. I received a lot of rejections in 2020, and a couple of R&R’s. It was discouraging, but I wasn’t about to give up. Later that same year, my manuscript was selected for Pitch Wars. That was the moment everything changed. Under the mentorship of Jessica Vitalis and Julie Artz, I was able to rewrite, revise, and polish my manuscript and sign with my agent. While I returned to the classroom this year, I am still writing and dreaming up stories in my free time. Stay tuned for my second book announcement sometime this year.

Congratulations on your second book! What authors (and/or books) would you say influenced your writing style?

So many authors have inspired me and influenced who I am as a writer. E.B. White is a big one that comes to mind–I love the compassion in his stories. Erin Entrada Kelly is a master at creating memorable, relatable characters, and I love to read her stories as mentor texts for that reason. Other authors whose work inspires me are Katherine Applegate, Adrianna Cuevas, Meg Medina, Heather Murphy Capps, Anne Ursu, Rebecca Balcárcel, Kim Baker, Anna Sewell, and Rebecca Stead, to name a few!

Character Connections

You mentioned the characters Abby and Barana are inspired by your daughters. Who do you feel you’re more like of the two?

I am definitely a little bit like both of them, but perhaps I share a few more traits with Barana than I do with Abby. Barana’s love of words and poetry, her special connection to Luna, her compassion for wildlife, and her frustration with the gender roles she must abide to in Honduras are things I have in common with her. I wish I were as brave as Barana though! She is certainly much more of a risk taker than I ever was at her age. I can relate deeply to Abby’s struggle with not feeling “Honduran enough” or “Latina enough,” and also like Abby, I dealt with my closest friend moving away in 6^th grade.

Research/Writing

What was your original spark for the book?

It’s hard to explain, but the stories that come to me just show up like lightning in my mind. I have no idea what sparks them. Life experiences, personal interests, timing, and the mystery of the human imagination!

I know that you grew up in Honduras, but I’m guessing you still needed to fill in some holes. What research did you end up having to do?

Yes, I did have to fill in some holes. I spent a lot of time reading about the lobster diving industry, decompression sickness, and the many issues faced by lobster divers and environmental activists in Honduras. I knew quite a bit about sea turtles already, but I did have to do some fact checking about leatherbacks for the novel. For Abby, I spent a lot of time following, reading about, and admiring some amazing wildlife photographers on social media.

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book? 

I snuck in a lot of things, but I’m not sure I can list them all here! The food, for one. I included my favorite dishes growing up in Honduras, which continue to be my comfort food. The trash collecting and recycling we see Tulu doing is something my father still does to this day. He does not make art sculptures per se, but he will reuse anything and everything, and he’s built a lot of decorative windows from recycled bottles. The scuba diving, sibling rivalries, and church-going in the story are all very loosely based on my own experiences as a child.

Turtles of the MidniAny tips on writing an eco-mystery or a mystery in general?

Writing mysteries can be scary for writers. They’re like a big puzzle that you have to somehow structure in your mind and then get on the page. For me, it required lots of pre-writing and lots of thinking! Here are three tip I can offer for writing a mystery in general:

1. Know who your villain/culprit is from the get-go. Whether you are a plotter, a pantser, or anything in between, knowing the ending is crucial for a mystery.
2. Try to include a plot twist after the mystery has been ‘solved’ so that both the reader and the protagonist can discover the real truth at the same time.
3. Remember your readers are smart! Leave hints and plant them throughout the novel but keep them subtle and organic so they feel naturally a part of the scene.

For Teachers

This would be a great read aloud or small group novel in the classroom, teachers! My suggestion of topics to discuss and research: the impact of humans on wildlife, the culture and the biodiversity of Honduras, and friendship.

Maria, any suggestions you have for ways to use Turtles of the Midnight Moon in the classroom?

I think this novel lends itself nicely to an interdisciplinary unit that includes science, language arts, social studies/geography, and art. Students can research marine ecosystems and sea turtle ecology in science, explore the themes, magical elements, and structure of the eco-mystery novel in language arts, make art sculptures or collages from recycled plastic in art, and perhaps study Central American geography in social studies.

Are you doing school visits related to this book? Tell us more!

Absolutely! I am very excited to do school visits! The target grade range is 4^th-7^th grade, with the sweet spot being 4^th and 5^th grade. I’ll cover topics such as the writing process, how a book gets published, and share a little bit about the novel itself (without spoilers), Honduras, and sea turtles. I will try to deliver a message of hope and empowerment, so that kids leave my presentation knowing that they, too, can have a great impact in their local community’s natural environment.

How can we learn more about you?

My website is www.mariajosefitzgerald.com

I am mostly on Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/mariajosewrites/

 María José Fitzgerald will be giving a copy of Turtles of the Midnight Moon to a lucky reader. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a copy. (U.S. addresses only, no P.O. Boxes)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Turtles of the Midnight Moon: Debut Author Interview + Giveaway appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.