MG Book Review: Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver & H.C. Chester

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 [...]

By |2016-02-11T13:31:07-05:00February 5th, 2016|Book Review|1 Comment
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The Writer’s Block: An Interview with Angelica Banks

Angelica Banks is the author of the Tuesday McGillycuddy series for middle grade readers. The first book in the series is Finding Serendipity (published by Henry Holt in the USA in 2015) and the sequel – A Week Without Tuesday – has just arrived in bookshops. The third book will be published in 2017. What you may not know is that Angelica Banks is the pen-name of the writing duo of Heather Rose and Danielle [...]

By |2016-02-11T13:40:43-05:00January 29th, 2016|Author Interview|1 Comment
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MG Book Review: Alistair Grim’s Odditorium by Greg Funaro

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 [...]

By |2016-01-27T13:40:14-05:00January 27th, 2016|Book Review|0 Comments
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MG Book Review: Margaret & the Moth Tree by Brit and Kari Trogen

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 [...]

By |2016-01-05T12:45:41-05:00January 5th, 2016|Book Review|0 Comments
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MG Cover Reveal: Dear Diary, E.P. Thompson Here

Today, we have the pleasure of hosting Judith Natelli McLaughlin and revealing the cover for her soon to be released middle grade novel Dear Diary, E.P. Thompson Here. More about Dear Diary, E.P. Thompson Here Dear Diary, E. P. Thompson here. Worst. Year. Ever. First semester in sixth grade, and my best friend Debbie has dropped me because my boobs aren’t big enough. Well, she didn’t say that exactly, but I just know that’s the reason. Then I [...]

By |2015-12-02T15:37:57-05:00December 2nd, 2015|Cover Reveal|0 Comments
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MG Book Review: The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon

Some children are destined for adventure. It’s in their blood! Meet Archer B. Helmsley, grandson of world explorers. He lives in his grandparents’ house that is full of oddities and treasures they have collected on their travels. He has everything he needs to spark his imagination and launch him on his own adventure. But there is a problem. He hasn’t had one yet. He is stuck in the DOLDRUMS. Here this phrase means calm but [...]

By |2015-11-02T14:34:26-05:00November 2nd, 2015|Book Review|0 Comments
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MG Book Review: Star Wars – The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy by Alexandra Bracken

I am a huge Star Wars fan, which could mean I could love the middle grade series of books based on the original three movies or I could hate it since each fan has a deep, personal bond to the original story. The first book up for review is STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE THE PRINCESS, THE SCOUNDREL, AND THE FARM BOY by Alexandra Bracken. To be honest, it took me a chapter or two to [...]

By |2015-10-22T14:26:56-04:00October 22nd, 2015|Book Review|0 Comments
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MG Book Review: Hook’s Revenge by Heidi Schulz

Peter Pan is one of my favorite books so I was eager to read HOOK’S REVENGE to see what else could possibly be done to an already terrific story. I was blown away by how Heidi Schultz added even more fun and suspense to this classic tale. The story features Jocelyn Hook, Captain Hook’s daughter. Jocelyn was raised on the mainland by her grandfather. When she was 12-years-old she was sent to a boarding school to [...]

By |2015-10-22T09:00:53-04:00October 19th, 2015|Book Review|0 Comments
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MG Book Review: Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

He’s big, likes to surf, take bubble baths and do back-flips, and oh yes, he’s an imaginary cat. He’s also Jackson’s imaginary friend. But the word imaginary doesn’t do him justice, because he’s the most reliable thing in Jackson’s life. He comes when Jackson needs him most. When Jackson was six his parents became one of the working homeless. They had jobs but couldn’t make ends meet. They loaded up Jackson, his baby sister, and [...]

By |2020-04-09T22:20:54-04:00October 12th, 2015|Book Review, Mo Reading|0 Comments
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The Writer’s Block: Interview with Self-Published Success, Whitney Dineen

Since the inception of the Middle Grade Mafia, we have showcased a wide range of authors in our Writer's Block series. We have had debut authors, small press authors, and those who have sold millions of book and have had movies based on their books. The one thing we were missing was the self-published author. When self-published author Whitney Dineen approached us to review her book, we had our reservations with featuring a self-published book. Once [...]

By |2016-02-25T16:19:16-05:00October 9th, 2015|Author Interview, Book Review|1 Comment
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