We recently reviewed the wonderfully quirky mystery Nooks and Crannies and are excited to have the author with us today. Please welcome Jessica Lawson. Middle Grade Mafia: Can you tell us how you decided to become a writer and what your path to published author was like? Jessica Lawson: Back in 2009, I’d just had my first child and since she was a great sleeper and I had stopped working to be a stay-at-home-mom, I [...]
Arthur Whipple has a big problem. He’s extraordinarily ordinary. This just won’t do when you are a Whipple. The Whipple family has broken more world records than any other family on earth. For every child who ever dreamed of being in the Guinness Book of World Records comes a hilarious adventure sure to inspire some record breaking of its own! Arthur Whipple is doomed. His fate was sealed on the day he was born because [...]
UPDATE: Oops,The Truth Game comes out May 3rd, so PLEASE add it to your Goodreads To Read! Anna’s book Finders, Reapers (the sequel to I’m with Cupid) released March 1st! We love celebrating with authors when their books are released! Today’s shout out goes to Anna Staniszewski. Her MG book, The Truth Game releases today! First, a bit about the book! The blurb: The truth is more than just a game. 1.Do you have a best [...]
Ever been in a “tight spot”? Eleven-year-old Kammie Summers is literally in a tight spot when she falls into an abandoned well. As daylight fades, Kammie, her arms pinned against her body, can’t even wipe away her tears. Meanwhile, her three new “friends,” popular girls who got her into this jam as as part of a club initiation, take off. But they’ll be back to get her out. Won’t they? Kammie desperately hopes so, and I did, too, as I read The [...]
Lauren Oliver has joined forces with the mysterious collector H.C. Chester (who reportedly is her father Harold Schechter) to bring us an exciting new series that tells the adventures of four crime-solving orphans who live in the Dumfrey’s Museum of Freaks, Oddities and Wonders. Welcome to New York City in the 1930’s. Dime store museums are popular. They have collections of weird and valuable artifacts. Most of the artifacts are fake but people still flock [...]
Prepare yourself to enter the world of Alistair Grim's Odditorium - you'll be glad you came. Funaro's Odditorium takes the reader on a ride into a world full of magic and monsters that will keep the MG reader enthralled and entertained. The main character, Grubb, is an orphan who is taken into a home of a caring woman, Mrs. Smears, and her gruff husband. When she passes, Grubb is left with Mr. Smears, who puts the [...]
I must confess I love books with just a touch of magic mixed cleverly with heart, a positive message and adventure. To use a food analogy I like my stories sweet, but not too sweet. I want pumpkin pie. Margaret and the Moth Tree is just right, for the holidays or anytime. Margaret Grey is an orphan who gets passed around with relatives who believe in the phrase “children are to be seen but not [...]
It’s not an ordinary Christmas on the Larson farm in Denmark. Bettina’s parents are called away to care for other relatives, so twelve-year-old Bettina is given the responsibility of taking care of the farm and her baby sister Pia for a few days. Bettina feels she's up for the task and proud to help her family. There's just one tradition the family forgot in the chaos---putting out a bowl of rice pudding for their barn nisse (gnome-like person). [...]
Move over middle- grade graphic novel. Make room for something new. Take the best of picture book art, mix in an original layout, add equal bits comic, Victorian tale, suspense and horror, and wrap it all up with humor, and what do you get? You get a quirky middle-grade adventure so much like a rich bite of chocolate you will be asking the question: is there another one? Please? Thankfully, this is book one of [...]
As a lead up to the release of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, I have been indulging in the fun retelling of the original trilogy of Star Wars. A couple weeks ago, I reviewed Alexandra Braken's A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, & the Farm Boy and I couldn't wait to jump into Adam Gidwitz's Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to be a Jedi? The story takes you through the entire story, [...]
