I wish I had a photographic memory. But I don’t. In order to remember something, I typically need to write about it. And as a children’s author, I want to remember the books that I read.

Through the years, I’ve tried several methods to chronicle the books I read. These techniques include the following:

A Reader Response Journal

This is where I note my immediate responses to a book. My writing is sloppy and comes out in a gush. In classrooms, teachers say they enjoy using this method as a way for students to learn how to become close readers. Readers organically engage with texts, and this feels very intimate. Additionally, you don’t have to write about an entire book, you can simply respond to particular passages or chapters.

For me, one of my flaws is that I tend to sometimes write  responses on my phone, sometimes in a journal and sometimes as a Word document and they are not collected in one place. But this is separate issue—more about my tendency to shirk from instituting routines/systems. How to organize everything could be its own separate post.

Craft Journal

This is very similar to a reader response journal in that you’re quickly responding to text, but the goals are different. In this sort of journal, I actively search the text for answers to a particular craft question. My reading itself becomes more strategic and less about pleasure. I might read for voice. Or to see how a particular author handles tertiary characters or how she folds in setting. The list goes on and on.

GoodReads

Sometimes I will post a quick review on GoodReads. Ha! I just fibbed. I’m not capable of writing something speedily that will be posted on a social media platform (even on X formerly known as Twitter). I’m not as active on GoodReads as I hoped to be. It seems like a smart way of chronicling books as well as boosting fellow authors. As an author, I really appreciate it when readers post their reviews on GoodReads as well as on retailer websites. However, I think that my ego gets in the way, and I want my review to be clever and it can stop me from posting here. I need to tame my ego!

Book Groups

In the past (pre-motherhood), I have been part of book groups. I love that these groups create community. I’m all in for circle time. As an author I have visited some book groups. I would like to get active in a book group again (but I also worry about time/commitment).

Reels/TikTok

Not me. At least yet. Now that TikTok will likely be banned, I suspect that the action will be on Reels.

How do you chronicle your reading? What works for you? And do you even need to chronicle the books you read? Is it enough to just enjoy them? Ponder them? Love them?

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 Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). And her nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster, August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University. In the summer, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s 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 Instagram, her Facebook page as well as on Twitter

The post 5 Ways to Remember What You Read: And Do You Need to “Remember” At All? appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

How do you manage the muse? That is a question that comes up a lot, and I admit I haven’t entirely figured it out. But I’ve muddled my way into strategies that work for me as a writer. And yes, there have been wrong turns, as well as bumps and moments when my motor wouldn’t turn on at all. But those dormant days aren’t so bad. Perennial plants during the winter focus on nourishing their roots. It’s a period of necessary restoration on a cellular level, so they can burst into spring. There is a big difference between productivity and creativity. And sometimes, in order to have a burst of creativity, we do need to winter our muse.

Still, there are ways, even during the dark and cold days of winter, you can coax the muse. The b.i.c. (butt in chair) method is certainly important. And yet that alone doesn’t always suffice. For me, it’s helpful to have an inspiring writing space. Above my desk, for example, is a lithograph of an eden of animals along a stream.  And sound is important. For the most part, I require soothing repetitive sounds that become white noise, where I stop paying attention to what I’m listening to and focus on my writing task at hand. This is because I’m easily distracted. In film, there’s diegetic and non-diabetic sound. Diegetic music, for example, means music that the characters in the film can hear. Where non-diegetic music would be the soundtrack that the viewer can hear but the characters can’t. I guess, in a sense, I’m character surrounded by non-diegetic music. If you stroll past my my office, you will hear the gush of a waterfall on Spotify, but I will be essentially unaware as I lean into a trance-like state. The sounds of waterfalls or rainwater soothe me as I can get very anxious while writing.

Being busy can help with anxiety. When I have a tight publishing deadline, I don’t have time to be self-critical. During those periods, I don’t even notice the clock. Yet sometimes the idea of too much b.i.c. is daunting, especially when I strive for balance. Time for friends, family, cooking, exercising, nature time. It can be easy to look at those with alleged free time with envy. But when I have too much unstructured time, I find that I read way too many newspapers, or scroll through Instagram Reels that just pop up about lots of random celebrities and animals. In other words, having “free” time doesn’t necessarily always give you an edge as a writer.

The post How do you manage the muse? appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Middle grade is without a doubt magical.

And by magical, I don’t mean that it’s all witches, elixirs, and pixies. But there’s certainly plenty of that. You’ll find gobs of delicious magic in lauded books such as The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill and The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton.

However, middle grade encompasses so many kinds of books, from contemporary realistic fiction to science fantasy from biography to adventure.

What I mean by magic—is the magic of childhood itself. After all, middle grade focuses on kids ages 8 until twelve—the very center of childhood. This is when you’re old enough to have hours of independent time away from your parents and yet not ready for the individuation shuffle away from parents and caregivers. At this age, while friendships and peers rule the day, children seek the guidance of kind and wise mentors. This might be parents, teachers, coaches, club advisors or yes, a witch, wizard or conjurer.

However, you don’t need to write about mystical creatures like, say, unicorns in order to find magic. You just need to remember what it is like to be a child.

When I was writing one of my middle grades, Queen of Likes, I momentarily forget what it was like to be a kid. In that book, 12-year-old Karma Cooper gets her phone taken away. At first, I got right to this punishment and had Karma communicating her regret.

Wrong! I had forgotten what it felt like to be a seventh grader. Instead, I was writing the text like—gulp–a mom. At the time, I hated how my kids and their friends were on the phone in the car and didn’t talk to each other. I didn’t allow phones at the kitchen table. I constantly made them put their phones away. But a kid might feel different. She might feel as though Mom is patently unfair. In revision, I had to remember how Karma felt about her phone, not me, the Mom. When I had Karma name her phone Floyd, I got back into a child head space.

One of my favorite authors is Beverly Clearly because she remembered what it was like to be a child.

For example, Cleary’s Ramona Quimby, Age 8, focuses on tension over a beloved eraser. As an adult, it is too easy to forget the attachment that children have to small inanimate objects. Sometimes as grown-ups, we see things merely as tools whereas to a child an eraser is an entire sensory experience and imbued with magic. When Ramona first receives her eraser, this is how her new treasure is described: “smooth, pearly pink, smelling softly of rubber, and just right for erasing pencil lines.”

Unfortunately, this treasure is taken away from her on the bus by some boys. To an adult, losing an eraser may seem trivial, but to Ramona, it’s a catastrophe. From an eight-year-old perspective, it is not just a common school supply, but a “beautiful pink eraser.”

It’s so easy to forget what it’s like to be truly young. In order not to forget, my kids’ preschool teacher, Mz. Lori, would have us adults do this exercise.

1. Lift up your hands over your head.
2. Hold them there for 3-5 minutes (it’s not easy) and march in place.

That is what is feels like to be a young child out on a walk and holding an adult’s hand.

What do you do to get back into the child mindset?

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 Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). And her nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster, August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University. In the summer, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s 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 Instagram, her Facebook page as well as on Twitter

The post The Magic of Writing Middle Grade: It’s All About Remembering the Child’s Perspective appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

1) The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

This moving middle grade novel shines a light on the struggles of moving (in this case from Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan) and leaving behind family and friends. It is ultimately a warm tribute to the love between a boy and his grandfather. The exploration of what it means to feels like to relocate are handled with nuance and levity.

Aref’s father had checked a large blue suitcase. He’d been urging Aref to get rid of extra possessions for weeks now, so Aref wouldn’t try to pack too much. But Aref didn’t like letting go of his things.

–from The Turtle of Oman

2) Spell it Like Samar by Shifa Safadi and illustrated by Saliha Caliskan

When Samar moves the United States from Syria, she confronts new challenges. While at first Samar is intimidated by Jenna, a class bully, as well as her new surroundings, she learns to stand up for herself. An uplifting story about the importance of persistence and resilience. And as a bonus, it’s by MUF member Shifa Safadi!

Samar’s face turned red. “I can’t do it, Ms. Bryan!” she said. In Syria, she had been the best student in her class. But here, it felt like she was the worst.
–from Spell it Like Samar

3) Farah Rocks Fifth Grade by Susan Muaddi Darraj and illustrated by Ruaida Mannaa

This is the first in a series of chapter books about 10 year-old Farrah Hajjar, a Palestinian American who deals with sibling relationships (her brother Samir has special needs), and stands up to bullying. The family is part of a tight knit community that goes to St. Jude’s Orthodox Church and supports Farah’s journey to attend a magnet school. Throughout the narrative, it is evident that Farah loves learning.

Even though I don’t like the word gifted, I’m thrilled about going to Magnet.
–from Farah Rocks Fifth Grade

4) Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

The story of Jude’s relocation from Syria to Cincinnati is poignant and relatable. The novel-in-verse, which was awarded a Newbery Honor in 2021, is accessible and beautiful. It also will challenge stereotypical ideas of Syria.

But our city does not look like Aleppo, before, or after./ It is not sprawling and noisy with buildings/pressed up against/one another/like they are crammed together in an elevator/with no room to breathe. 
–from Other Words for Home 

5) Muslim Girls Rise: Inspirational Champions of Our Time by Saira Mir and Aaliya Jaleel

This compilation of 21st century Muslim women who are leaders is inspirational. Nineteen women are profiled in this upper elementary picture book, from Amani Al-Khatahbeh, the creator of the website, Muslim Gir,l to NASA’s Hiba Rahmani Kuwait to Dalia Mogahed, an advisor to President Barack Obama.

Mogahed tells girls to be: “Be bold, be fearless and be confident, because you matter”

–from Muslim Girls Rise: Inspirational Champions of Our Time 

6) If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders Around the World by Hillary Homzie and illustrated by Udayana Lugo

I’m thrilled to include my newest release, a nonfiction picture book aimed at elementary school students. If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders Around the World features the stories of actual princesses who have made a difference in their community. Several princesses are from the Arab world, including Princess Alia of Jordan who established a wildlife sanctuary, Princess Rema of Saudi Arabia who has trekked up Mount Everest in honor of cancer patients (who is on the cover of the book) and Princess Nisreen el-Hashemite from Iraq, an MD/PHD researcher who worked at Harvard Medical school and established the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

After Princess Haya of Jordan’s mother died, her father presented a young horse to the princess to help her heal. This gift inspired a passion for show jumping. Princess Haya became the first Arab woman to compete in the Olympics, and then served on the International Olympic Committee

–from If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders Around the World

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 Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). And her nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster, August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University. In the summer, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s 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 Instagram, her Facebook page as well as on Twitter

The post Children’s Books to Honor Arab American Heritage Month appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

When I was in my early twenties a psychologist told me that I had dysthymia, which is low-grade depression occurring for at least two years. Kind of like a low-grade cold all of the time. Not big enough to really stop me, but never abating either. It was a relief to hear this because before that point I didn’t have a name for how I felt.

Finding the right word to describe something is important when it comes to your health. Ditto with writing.

At the same time you don’t want to get so perfectionistic that you lose your flow, especially during a first draft.  After all, you likely are going to cut your first few chapters anyway. At least if you are me. My plots never really get going until chapter three or four or even five or six. With my current WIP, I just chopped off sixty pages! Ouch and also—so satisfying.

Frown–this is the flip side to smile. And everything I would say about smile, I would say about frowning.

Laugh–this is obviously related to the smile issue. And my advice is the same. And whatever you do, don’t use laugh as a dialogue tag.  For example, avoid this: “Do you really mean that,” laughed Hillary. Instead: “Yes, I do.” She laughed.

During the writing process of a first draft, you might feel agitated seeing all those spots that you have circled. But don’t despair. If you put the manuscript down for a few weeks or more, you’ll forget about some of the sweat and toil.

And you’ll also be able to appreciate all of those wonderful sentences.

The post Placeholders in the First Draft appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Today, on the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors we welcome Michelle Jabès Corpora, who is a writer, editor, community organizer and martial artist. In addition to working in the publishing industry for fifteen years as an editor, she has ghostwritten five novels in a long-running middle grade mystery series. She is the author of The Dust Bowl (Penguin Workshop) and The Fog of War: Martha Gellhorn at the D-Day Landings(Pushkin Press).

Congratulations on publishing two middle grade novels in one year. Today, we’re going to discuss The Dust Bowl, which is the inaugural book in the middle grade series, American Horse Tales. Congratulations to you Michelle!

I’m so excited to talk with you about your love of writing historical fiction for middle grade readers. I love that you’ve been able to jump from the editing side to the authoring side.

You have so many visceral details about what it was like to live in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl. In fact, the dust and the setting become like a character in the book. Can you talk a little bit about your research process?

I love that you said that the setting became “like a character in the book” – that perfectly describes how I felt about it too! Some might see the research process as the “boring part” of the writing process, but it’s actually what made me fall in love with historical fiction. Not only is it fun to do, but it really enriched me as a person in a way that stayed with me long after I finished writing the book. In preparation for Dust Bowl, I watched Ken Burns’ documentary about the event itself, as well as his (14 hour?) documentary about the Roosevelts, which really helped set the stage for the eras that led to and followed the Dust Bowl. Watching the footage of the dust storms, listening to interviews with people who lived through it, and learning about the historical context about the time really helped not only create the setting, but also the plot itself and what my characters would have been going through. I also read The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, which was essential in writing Ginny’s voice in the dialect of the time. I collected digital photographs from the era, and did exhaustive internet research as well, to make sure I had every detail right—from the kind of food Ginny would have eaten, down to the type of radio they’d have in their farmhouse. To me, it was essential to have the setting come alive, so that young readers would really get a visceral understanding of what it is was to live through this remarkable time in our history.

Your main character Ginny loves her horse Thimble and would do anything to keep Pa from selling him. I could really feel Ginny’s affection for her horse. What is your relationship to horses and how did you go about creating Thimble as a character?

As a child, I wasn’t really a “horse girl” myself, but I was definitely a huge animal lover. I volunteered at a wildlife rescue during college, and my first job out of college was as a veterinary technician. My goal with Thimble was to make him a character in a realistic—non magical—way. I wanted to try and recreate the relationship we have with our animal companions, where we talk to them, see their reactions and their expressions, and imagine what they might be saying to us if they could talk. To me, Thimble was kind of like an extension of Ginny’s personality, a bit like her subconscious mind. When she was excited about adventure, she imagined his own excitement to join her on that adventure. But when she tried to push away the doubts about what she was doing, she imagined that Thimble, her partner and protector, seemed to confirm those doubts with his worried glances. I think there’s a reason that people seem to “look like their pets” – when we become close to an animal, we create an emotional bond with them unlike any other. I did my best to recreate that bond between Ginny and Thimble.

Ginny is a bit of a trickster in some respects and very determined. Was she hard to write? How much were you like Ginny as a child?

Ginny was fun to write—and definitely not like me! I was a shy, very rule-abiding kid. But I had daring friends who helped pull me out of my shell, so maybe my friends helped to inform Ginny’s character. I think what really helped solidify the character in my mind was the essential struggle between Ginny and Pa. Both father and daughter were willing to do anything to protect the things that defined their family—but they disagreed on the right way to go about doing that. I envisioned Ginny and Pa as reflections of the same character, who ultimately find a way to see that they’re both right, and that they’re both wrong. I think it’s a situation that many of us as children and as parents have experienced with our loved ones, which is why the story felt so meaningful to me. I love Ginny for her courage, for her wit, and for her ability to change her mind, or admit fault. In some ways, that’s the biggest test of courage a person can face.

I enjoyed Silvio as a character. He’s another very determined character. What do you like best about him?

I loved Silvio’s easygoing manner, his humor, and his charm. Silvio was the light in a fairly dark story, and I appreciate him for that. Even though he had experienced terrible personal tragedy, Silvio kept his eyes on the horizon, dreaming about his future, and throwing himself into the unknown in order to take care of his family. I love his breezy heroism. I felt like Silvio is the kind of friend everyone wants—someone who will make you a sandwich on a bad day and make you laugh, but who also isn’t afraid to stand up and tell you when you’re being ridiculous!

Before you became an author, you had extensive experience as an editor (Greenwillow, Working Partners, a major book packager). How did being on the other side of the fence inform your work as a writer? What did you learn that you were able to carry into your work?

There is absolutely no way I would be the writer I am today without my years as an editor. Being an editor taught me to be ruthless, not romantic, with words, and never to let myself get too emotionally involved in my own skills. My career taught me that writing is something I do, not something I am, and that distinction removed a lot of the insecurities I suffered from in my early years. I learned never to wait for “the muse” to strike, because although there will be moments of inspiration and epiphanies and all those lovely things, at the end of the day writing is work. No matter what, you must sit down and do it. It doesn’t matter if it is the best thing ever written, it doesn’t matter if reading it will change someone’s life. Because surely, those things will never be true if you never write at all! What I have found is that by treating my work in this way, it frees my mind of personal judgment and allows me to just let it flow. Early in my career, writing a single page felt like pulling teeth. I agonized over every word! Now, I can write ten pages in an afternoon, no problem. I completely attribute this to the experiences of my career, which not only taught me the essential structure and form of story, but also forced me to write regularly.

How did you discover that writing historical fiction was your jam? Was it a major aha moment?

Honestly, I feel like almost everything is my jam! Back in high school, a teacher once said to me that I was a “Jack of all Trades,” because there were so many things I loved to do. I really think I’ve continued that throughout my life and my fiction. I even have a chameleon on my website as my personal mascot! I started my writing career with mysteries, then wrote historical, and now I’m starting to work on two horror novels. I think the a-ha! moment came during the writing of Dust Bowl and Fog of War, when I sat back and realized I didn’t need to label myself as this kind of writer or that kind. I write fiction for young people, and I write all kinds. I just love stories, and I love trying new things. Making that personal discovery and embracing that truth really expanded my vision for my career as an author.

Why do you write middle grade fiction?

The ages of 7-12 are a magical time in life. It’s this moment in our childhood where we become fully realized human beings, where we begin to find ourselves and to develop beliefs about life and our moral code. Because of that, writing for this age group is a huge and important responsibility that I take very seriously. When I write a story for middle grade readers, I ask myself what this story is teaching them about being human. My greatest book memories are of authors whose novels I read when I was a middle grade reader myself: Madeline L’Engle, Susan Cooper, James Howe, Louis Sachar, John Bellairs. If a book I wrote had that kind of impact on even one child, I think that would be a job well done.

Anything else you’d like us to know about the Dust Bowl as well as the American Horse Tales series?

I just finished my first school visit with Dust Bowl, and I was amazed at how interested the kids were in history. Right now, as all of us go through such a difficult time in our own history, I think it’s more important than ever to encourage kids to learn about the past, and to teach them in ways that really touch them and demonstrate commonalities between their lives and their ancestors’.

I encourage everyone to check out the other books in the series, which are all written by amazing writers. Horse lovers everywhere will love them! Thanks so much for the opportunity to chat on the blog!

Thanks so much for joining us here at the Mixed-Up Files!

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 Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). And her nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster, August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University. In the summer, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s 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.

The post An Interview with Historical Fiction Author Michelle Jabès Corpora about her latest, The Dust Bowl appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Chambers is the editor for Narrative Projects at the New York Times. As an author, she is best known for the New York Times-bestseller Finish the Fight!, which was named a best book of the year by the Washington Post and the New York Public Library. Her other works include the critically acclaimed memoir Mama’s Girl, Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb, and the anthologies The Meaning of Michelle—a collection of writers celebrating former first lady Michelle Obama—and Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, she writes often about her Afro-Latino heritage. You can find her online at veronicachambers.com or on Twitter and Instagram @vvchambers

Congratulations to you and your team at the New York Times on the release of Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matters.

I can’t wait to virtually sit down with you and ask you some questions about this essential history of the Black Lives Matter movement for young people. I’m especially excited since I share certain New York City experiences with you, having been a journalist there (features writer for New York Newsday) and living for awhile in Brooklyn. I love that you’re bridging a career as an editor/journalist with being an author.

In the book, readers are introduced to the concept that “the power of the people is greater than the people in power.” Can you elaborate a little bit about that?

 Sure. Experts believe that up to 26 million Americans participated in some sort of Black Lives Matters protest, which would make it one of the largest protests in the nation’s history.

Peaceful protest is the most effective form of protest in the world. A study conducted by researchers Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan compared the outcomes of hundreds of violent insurgencies with those of major nonviolent resistance campaigns from 1900 to 2006; they found that over 50 percent of the nonviolent movements succeeded, compared with about 25 percent of the violent insurgencies.

The text addresses some universal questions, such as how does a movement become a movement? You spend time looking at contemporary events and leaders as well as historical antecedents and galvanizing moments. Was it hard for you and your team to figure out how you wanted to balance all of these elements?

 There’s a famous phrase that “journalism is the first draft of history.” The Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 were still ongoing when we started working on the book. There was a real challenge in trying to figure out what to immortalize in a book when the story was changing and growing every day.

That’s why the decision to lean in on the incredible photography of the New York Times was so meaningful to us. This is what the great photojournalists who contribute to the daily report saw and while we wrote text that put the movement in a broad historical context, each of the photos tells a deep and powerful story of its own, without any need for us to editorialize or comment on the images.

You make a point that the protest is larger than the people gathering in the street (although is certainly part of it). Protest can mean “making art with a message” or “calling elected officials.” How would you define protest for children?

Protest is anything we do to say we want things to be different. I think a lot about the kid I was when I’m working on these books. When I was growing up, and reading about the modern civil rights movement, I thought those are stories about heroes whose bravery and wisdom I could never match. I’ll never make a difference in those ways.

I understood as I got older that we all have a role to play in shaping the world we live in. Coretta Scott King once said, “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” I think that’s some of the truest words ever uttered.

The book makes a point to say that children are never too young to lead. In the text, you offer many examples of young leaders from teen environmentalist Greta Thunberg to eight-year-old Mari Copeny, who protested the water conditions in Flint Michigan. How might younger children participate in standing up for what they believe in?

One of the highlights of my year was this piece I did about Paola Velez and Bakers Against Racism. Bake sales associated with that group have raised more than two million dollars in a single year towards social justice causes.

Paola is not just an incredible culinary talent but also one of the most eloquent, thoughtful people I’ve ever interviewed. One of the things she said was this: “When we speak about issues that we care about, we do it with a pie in hand. And so sometimes it’s a little more graceful and a little more palatable because there’s something sweet at the end of this, like, very charged, very truth-forward statement that we have to make.”

The piece is here.

The founders of Black Lives Matters are three women: Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors. They were all in their late twenties or early thirties when they started BLM. However, I was intrigued to learn that Garza began her activism at the age of 12, focusing on reproductive rights. And it was in high school that Tometi became aware of the need to stand up for the rights of immigrants, particularly the undocumented. And Cullors learned first-hand about systemic racism as a kid when her family would go hungry. Veronica, did you have any powerful experiences as a child that also led you to career as an author, journalist and editor?

I think being a chronic outsider really helped me become a reader and then a writer. My family is from Panama, I’m Afro-Latina. I came to the country when I was 5, just becoming a reader and  one of the things I was looking at books to do was teach me how to be an American.  So many of the books published today remind me of the curiosity I felt at that moment – how do things work or don’t work here?

Black Lives Matter is the story of collaboration. It was Garza who wrote on Facebook in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin; it was Cullors who created the hashtag “blacklivesmatter,” and it was Tometti who created the initial Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts for the movement. In your career as an editor and writer, why is the collaborative experience so important?

Collaboration is one of my super powers. But when I was a kid, it was something I really railed against. I hated having to do projects or presentations as a team. I think it was because I was shy and I felt like I never got the credit for all my hard work.

But I’m also a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in some ways, I think that oeuvre really mimics the creative journey.  Turns out you need more than one superhero to save the world. Similarly, you need lots of great minds to make extraordinary journalism.

You write that the book is “built upon the work of incredible photographers and photo editors.” How did you work with Photo Editor Anika Burgess to select the images? There must have been so many to choose from.

Anika Burgess, the photo editor on the project, as well as Jennifer Harlan, my co-author, had all worked on a history based project at the Times called Past Tense. We had a years long history of sifting through hundreds of photos and really sitting back together and discussing what moves us.  What’s incredible was that 90% of the time, the photos we loved the most, we all had the same reaction to. Viewing a powerful photo is like hearing a truly great pop song, it just grabs you. What was hard was winnowing it down. There are more than 100 photos in the book. I would love to have run 200 photos. Making those cuts was brutal.

In an interview with National Geographic in 2020, Garza said, “In the midst of the all the grief and rage and pain, there’s hopefulness.” Can you speak to that and elaborate on hopefulness?

I’m incredibly hopeful. As a first generation American, what I’ve always gotten from black history is that, despite all of the challenges, African-Americans are in the business of Hope. Every decade, every chapter of the history of black people in this country is infused with countless moments of hope, resilience and creativity. I think that at this particular moment in the nation, black history and its masterclass in hope and possibility, can be useful to Americans of all backgrounds.

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 Get 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 Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). Her forthcoming nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster in August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University and, in the summers, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s 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.

The post An interview with New York Times Editor Veronica Chambers on Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matters appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Congratulations, Kate, on your launching of Boots! You’ve been on quite a journey with your three main characters Josie, Akiko and Mae who have been fighting super villains, World War II enemies as well as racism and sexism. Welcome to the Mixed Up Files Blog. In this book, the girls find themselves in Chicago, Sweetwater, Texas as well as Paris–all significant places during World War II, during the time period that your series is set. Tell us a little bit about the research you did to conjure up each of these places.

I love diving into research—sometimes even more than the writing itself! So I had incredible fun pulling together this series. Spotlighting the real-life women from history drove the setting, so for CAPE(Book 1) it made sense to set it in Philadelphia since the ENIAC Six mathematicians were my focus. These women were programming the top-secret computer that was being built at University of Pennsylvania during the war. MASK(Book 2) is set in San Francisco because much of the story focuses on things happening on the West Coast during the war. And now with BOOTS(Book 3), I wanted to focus on the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) and other women pilots during this time in history, so it made sense to feature Sweetwater, Texas—where the WASPs did their training—and Chicago, where I live, and the remarkable women pilots here.

I’ve long been fascinated with the WASPs and their role in WWII history, so when I read about their homecoming celebrations in Sweetwater, where former WASPs take part, I jumped on a plane to see for myself. There was incredible warmth to the weekend, as history buffs, aviation lovers, members of the Ninety-Nines(an international organization of women pilots), and families and friends of the WASPs gathered to celebrate their accomplishments. I was lucky to meet WASP Jane Doyle, who was 96 years old at the time, and interview her for the book. My superhero girls fly with Jane.

Each girl in addition to superpowers, has real life powers such as the ability to do math (Josie), crack ciphers (Akiko) or lockpicking (Mae). Are these any of your superpowers?

My sister’s superpower is math, and I could imagine her jumping into an exciting role during WWII if she were there at the time! For me, I love puzzles and grew up solving ones in the newspaper during breakfast. But I have to admit that my current superpower is a bit less glamorous: parallel parking. After living in San Francisco and now Chicago, there’s no space too small for me to tackle!

I loved reading about Aunt Janet and Aunt Willa, and the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots). I must confess to not knowing very much about this history before. What do you hope readers take away about these fearless flyers?

First I hope young readers find these figures interesting and want to learn more. That’s the whole reason I write historical fiction: to show kids where we’ve been and how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. And second, to show girls especially that they can succeed in male-dominated fields and that while it may seem that women haven’t been there historically, they have. Their stories just haven’t been told.

I love how you consistently don’t shy away from some difficult truths, especially racism and sexism. These are painful but you don’t talk down to kids. How do you handle discussing these difficult realities with your own family?

These are painful topics. And can make us feel small sometimes. But the only way to address difficult things is head-on. So I feel like finding something we can all relate to—wanting to sit down for pie at a restaurant—and looking at it from different perspectives can help us understand why things were the way they were and what we can do to fight unfairness when we see it.

The Infinity Trinity is such a wonderful concept–I appreciate how the girls operate as a superhero trio. How did you decide on three girls?

This was a deliberate decision. I don’t mean to shut out the boys, of course, but I do feel like males have been represented pretty well in literature, film, and everything else for . . . millennia! Haha! So I wanted to write a book where girls are the focus and girls have agency. Where they can feel like a part of something big, where they’re crucial to its success, where they have to use their own smarts and skills, and where they can kick evil in the throat. So as I began sketching out the story, I had to make some big choices: to see these kids battle evil and really wallop some baddies, I was heading into the fantasy genre; and to emphasize the role of women in this period of history, I was going to focus just on females. So I made the decision that the superhero trio, their comic book mentors, and the real-life figures from history they work with would all be female.

What are you working on next? Anything you can share?

I’m obsessed with the year 1920! A whole lot was happening then. So I’m working on a middle-grade mystery set at this time, with some fascinating historical figures walking around with my young detective. It’s been so much fun to research, and now I’m writing every single day to get a solid draft done. We’ll see what happens!

We can’t wait to hear an update. Thanks so much for being on the blog today, Kate!

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 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.

The post Author Kate Hannigan discusses Boots, the third book in her League of Secret Heroes series appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Before our discussion officially gets underway, I want to make one thing clear. I’m not an unbiased interviewer. I had the great honor to serve as Ali’s  MFA thesis advisor at Hollins University Summer Graduate Program in Children’s Literature & Writing. It gives me great joy to speak with her now about new middle grade, The Mending Summer.

• Water plays a central role as a healer and teacher in The Mending Summer. Why did you choose a lake as a setting? How did lakes figure into your own childhood?

 What a great question, Hillary! And thank you so much for having me. I am no unbiased interviewee either.

I think you’re absolutely right that the lake both heals and teaches. That was my experience attending camp each summer on the shores of Lake Wylie, SC. Being around a body of water, be it a lake, a river or an ocean, has always been both uplifting and humbling for me. Water reminds us of how beautiful and wonderous life can be—what’s more majestic than watching the sun set over the sea?—but it’s also something we can’t control or tame, or really even fully understand. It forces us to let go of the idea that we have total agency over our own lives. In children’s literature, we tend to want to emphasize the power of agency, but for children like Georgia whose lives have spun out of control, it’s important to show that there are things, like another person’s addiction, that we don’t have power over. When we relinquish that idea, we can start to focus on what we can control, which is how we treat ourselves.

• Georgia’s father is an alcoholic, whose drinking increasingly interferes with his ability to be a reliable parent. You don’t shirk from showing us scenes when he becomes “the Shadow Man,” weaving to the front door or even passed out. And yet, you offer the reader many moments, often in flashback, of magical father/daughter engagement. When someone is suffering from alcoholism it’s easy to fall into the trap of defining them only by their disease. You carefully weave in Daddy’s interests from his passion for music to his love of stories. How did you balance this portrait so carefully?

I was very intentional about wanting to show the essence of Daddy’s character—funny, loving, creative—instead of making him into a caricature of an alcoholic or a simple villain. Because my own family members have struggled with alcoholism, and I’ve had many years to process that, I had a lot of empathy for Georgia’s daddy. I think anyone who has loved an alcoholic or an addict has that empathy, even if it is buried under feelings of betrayal, anger, or loss. We know the person underneath the disease, and it’s important to continue to honor, celebrate, and love that individual, even if it needs to be from a distance. Equally, though, it was important to me not to shy away from the more painful scenes where we see how much alcoholism has changed Daddy, or minimize the impact it has on Georgia.

I hope that in showing him from both those angles, readers who may be impacted by addictions in their own family might feel some comfort. If alcoholism can turn a man like Daddy into the Shadow Man, then maybe they will feel less shame and confusion about why it’s happening to their loved ones. Alcoholism can affect anyone.

• The Mending Summer braids together elements of mystery, adventure, and fantasy, while still giving quite a bit of weight to Georgia’s shifting feelings. She’s quite emotionally intelligent and sensitive. When you were Georgia’s age, were you aware of your own conflicting feelings? How did you figure out how much time to give to Georgia’s interior life versus the exterior action?

 Kids of alcoholics often develop that kind of emotional intelligence early on as a defense mechanism. It’s important to be able to read the room, the situation, the person sitting across from you, so that you can anticipate what’s coming next. I think it took me longer than Georgia to turn that sensitivity inward. It wasn’t until after my family members had been in recovery for a while and our family had stabilized that I was able to understand my own feelings around things. And what I found was that I had swung between healthy ways of dealing with things (focusing on my own achievements, hobbies, relationships with friends) and unhealthy ways (not reaching out for support or sharing what was going on, but instead turning my turbulent emotions inward). In The Mending Summer, that tug-of-war becomes concrete in the form of the wishing lake, and the two children Georgia meets there. Externalizing the struggle in that way meant that there was plenty of room for action and adventure, so that the story (I hope!) didn’t become too weighed down by Georgia’s internal conflict.

• Aunt Marigold, with whom Georgia stays with in the country during her mending summer, is a potter. Not only does pottery work as a powerful metaphor but eventually Georgia learns how to shape her own clay pieces. How did you come to weave this element into the book?

At first, I actually experimented with Aunt Marigold teaching Georgia piano, but that didn’t feel quite right. With pottery, you are creating a physical object out of a lump of mud (okay not exactly but you get the gist!). That power to create something whole becomes an important counterbalance to Georgia’s home life, which is fracturing into pieces. I experimented with pottery a few summers at camp and always wished I had been able to do more with it. Pottery also has a long history in North Carolina, where I live and where the book is set. Seagrove, NC, is the largest community of active potters in the country!

• Aunt Marigold, who is actually a great aunt, is one of my favorite characters. She “walked barefoot through the garden and read William Faulkner at the table and wore overalls like a man.” Did you base Aunt Marigold on a real person? If so, I want to meet her!

Me too! Alas, she is not based on a real person, though I did have an image of Sissy Spacek in my mind when I was writing her… I do like to think that I have my own version of Aunt Marigold inside of me—a strong woman who is unapologetic about who she is, and who can be both surprisingly tender and fiercely protective. We all deserve an Aunt Marigold to give us the resolve to keep going when times get tough.

• A lonely looking gravestone, a mystery room, odd sounds, and eerie characters all figure into this story. There were places I found myself turning on the reading lamp a little brighter. How did you feel about scary stories as a kid? How did you manage to weave in some many spooky moments and yet have the overall story feel uplifting?

I LOVED spooky stories as a kid. Still do! I remember how devastated I was when I first realized that I was too old to really enjoy Goosebumps anymore. I had no idea how to fill the void! I think many young readers are drawn to these kinds of mysteries that carry a hint of danger. My stories are usually about a kid who is struggling with something tough, but they always have room for a few southern gothic tropes. But those locked doors and spooky gravestones always have a human story behind them which, once uncovered, usually have something in them to support the protagonist on their journey to healing. So…come for the scares, stay for the character development—hah!

• The story includes quite a bit of adventure and some thrilling moments. Did you know in advance that this story would go there? Or did it take you by surprise?

 I did know that it would go there. What happens at the lake mirrors what is happening in Georgia’s psyche. Since she went to some dark places, it was only natural that the lake would, too. Of course, the adventures start out as quite exciting and fun, and that was one of the ways that I tried to keep balance in the book between exploring the tough stuff but threading it through with the kind of mystery and adventure I loved reading as a middle grader.

• Nature is a both fearsome and healing. In many ways, I was getting some Bridge to Terabithia I’m assuming Katherine Patterson is an influence. I’d be curious to learn a little bit about some of your favorite middle grade books and why you love them.

 I will happily take that comparison, thank you very much! (No take-backsies.) Bridge to Terabithia was a hugely influential book for me. You know how sometimes you see a tree that grows around a large stone, or some man-made object? I feel like my soul kind of grew around that book. It even inspired an entire fantasy world in my backyard—Narbithia (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was also a favorite!). That book gave me a blueprint for how to exercise my imagination, while also showing me the supreme power of story to make readers feel.

More recent favorites include Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me(okay, not that recent, but a perfectly plotted book, in my humble opinion, and one that any aspiring writer can learn so much from) and this year’s Newbery winner, Tae Keller’s When You Trap a Tiger. In fact, I had the honor of blurbing the latter (and will continue to mention this for the rest of my life when given the most minuscule opportunity). When You Trap a Tiger is also a book that blurs the lines between magic and a child’s inner-turmoil. It weaves together Korean folklore with a universal story of family history, love and loss in a beautiful, haunting way.

• Are you an outliner, panster or a hybrid writer?

 I write books like Boomers drive cars. (At least the Boomers in my family!) I know where I want to start and where I want to go, and I’m pretty sure I know how to do it, but I’m sure as heck not going to bother with a GPS. So there will inevitably be some wrong cars (and some choice language) but eventually, I usually find my way.

• Anything else you’d like readers to know about The Mending Summer?

Importantly, the cast includes a grumpy cow named Ruby. Why does no one mention her?!

Just kidding, mostly I just want educators, librarians, and young readers to know that there are stories out there for kids who are impacted by alcoholism and addiction. Hopeful, engaging stories that might make them feel less alone and that might help guide them toward making healthy choices, rather than self-destructive ones. And while they deal with serious issues, these stories are necessary to keep on classroom and library bookshelves, because you never know which child might be walking into school each morning with this weighing on their shoulders.

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  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.

The post Author Ali Standish discusses The Mending Summer, the power of healing and writing honestly about addiction appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

My hands grew clammy. My heart wobbled. My legs refused to budge another step. It appeared as if were at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and I was facing a sheer cliff of anxiety. My fears were exacerbated by the fact that I hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before. Plus, evil fingers of mist blew in from the bay and my skin got all goose pimpled. I literally stopped in my tracks, frozen as much the deer that eats the sweet bunchgrass in my front yard.

Then I told myself. Hey, wait a minute, Hillary, don’t look up at the top instead keep your eyes right in front of you, just go one step at a time. So I lowered my gaze and I studied the pavement and pretended it was fascinating. I took one step and then another and, then suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about how I can’t do this crazy hill because it’s too steep and I’m just too tired. Instead, I was thinking, wow the air is not actually too cold or too warm and listen to that birds singing. Look, there’s a Blue Jay hopping along the base of the driveway. And look, how the shadow plays on the road, creating stripes on the pavement in front of me and how that rock glistens in the sunlight.

Then guess what? Before I knew it, I was at the top of the hill. And it’s all because I remembered to appreciate all the steps of the journey.

When we write, we need to do the same thing. If we look at an already created books, which have been through hundreds of drafts with the help of writing groups, agents and editors, and we can compare it to our own work, it’s daunting. In fact, at times, it might seem impossible. We feel as if we are not good enough, unworthy or perhaps that it’s just too much work. And not just books. This applies to almost everything. At the same time, I’m not saying don’t ever look at the tops of things. But just that if you focus only on the finish, the final goal, it’s daunting. So during these times, just remember to breath, and appreciate that bird who hopped down (maybe from the peak of the mountain) to come say hello.

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  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.

The post The Myth of the Mountain appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.