My love of realms and fantastic imagination comes from growing up in the backwoods of Alabama. The woods inspired me and beckoned me to dance and build and imagine among the trees. I created characters and worlds and could be a witch, a fairy, a troll, or a girl lost in time. I owe my love of creating characters to the woods that built me and one day I will go back and thank them for the beautiful life they gave me.
This book is a great stand-alone but thankfully is a series. It is a story about moving away and learning to integrate but also a young girl discovering strange things in the woods and finding herself immersed in a mystery you will not believe. I read this to my boys but I found myself more intrigued every chapter
New York Times bestselling author Margaret Peterson Haddix, the master of cliffhangers, delivers a pulse-pounding mystery perfect for fans of Jacqueline West and Kat Yeh, full of secrets, surprises, and the power of family.
One minute theyāre there: laughing and having fun at the house next door. The next minute, the teens are gone. Like magic. Marin canāt believe her eyes. Who are they? Can anyone else see them? What makes them so happy?
Marin is lonely in this new town of hers and eager to figure out more. Then she meets Charley, who reveals that he knows about them,ā¦
I love reading about artists and creators because Iāve been around them most of my life and they are the people I feel I understand the best ā though Iām always surprised by the new crafts, facets, and ideas I learn! I grew up in and around my motherās ceramic shop, my best friends in high school were artists and I was their dorky theater friend, and the two YA books I wrote centered on issues that face young creators. The passion of creative people and artistic friends has always driven me to do my best and not give up on my dreams.
Spaldingās book is such a fun read! It focuses on white blog writer and fashionista, Abby, who also happens to be plus-sized and wins the opportunity of a lifetime at her favorite local boutique. Itās there that she meets fellow intern and photographer Jordi Perez, a Latinx teen who makes that Los Angeles summer so much more romantic, creative, and sweeter. Add in Abbyās surprising bro-bestie Jax for some hamburger adventures and be prepared to swoon (and get hungry!) all around. Itās a great story of love and art, art and love, and how two creative spirits learn to intertwine their gifts and their goals.
Seventeen, fashion-obsessed, and gay, Abby Ives has always been content playing the sidekick in other people's lives. While her friends and sister have plunged headfirst into the world of dating and romances, Abby's been happy to focus on her plus-size style blog and her dreams of taking the fashion industry by storm. When she lands a great internship at her favorite boutique, she's thrilled to take the first step toward her dream career. Then she falls for her fellow intern, Jordi Perez. Hard. And now she's competing against the girl she's kissing to win the coveted paid job at theā¦
I always used food to cope with painful feelings, and I developed Binge Eating Disorder as a child. As an adult, I was in therapy to deal with traumatic stuff, and I lost 100 pounds. I finished therapy with a whole new set of tools with which to navigate the world, but I still regained the weight and started hating myself again. I said, āWhoa. Time-out. I am worthy of love. That has not changed, so why do I hate myself again?ā That is what I explore in Big Fat Disaster: what is our worth, and why should that worth depend on what we look like?
Jeff Zentnerās writing is lyrical and beautiful and indescribably wonderful (although I just tried to describe it and failed). Goodbye Days deals in such a raw way with grief and regretāto feel the feelings instead of avoiding themāand learn to face hard realities without much support, at least at first. Check out Goodbye Days and all of Jeffās amazing books. You will go on an emotional journey as his characters make hard choices and face new beginnings.
'Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately life-affirming' Nicola Yoon
'Hold on to your heart: this book will wreck you, fix you, and most definitely change you' Becky Albertalli
Can a text message destroy your life?
Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. Now Carver can't stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, there could be a criminal investigation into the deaths.
Then Blake's grandmother asks Carver to remember her grandson with a 'goodbye day' together. Carver has his misgivings, but he starts to help the familiesā¦
The first book in Pullmanās Book of Dust series, extending the story of Lyra from His Dark Materials trilogy of novels.
I fell in love with Lyraās world when I read the first fantasy trilogy, and then all over again when it became a wonderful series on the BBC. So, yes, I am biased. The book is written for young adults, and I havenāt been a young adult for a very long time, but Pullmanās storytelling and world building ability had me hooked from the get-go.
I also know Oxford well, having spent three formative years there. Lyraās Oxford is an alternative city with technologies and places that donāt exist in real life, but it is also very familiar to me. It drew me in and wouldnāt let go.
From the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials- now a major critically acclaimed BBC series
*Now coming to the stage in the summer of this year! Performed at The Bridge Theatre from July 2020, it will be a theatrical spectacle not to be missed*
A rich, imaginative, vividly characterised rite-of-passage tale - Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times
WINNER- AUTHOR OF THE YEAR, BRITISH BOOK AWARDS WINNER- UK AUTHOR, NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2018
A coming of age story like no other . . .
Philip Pullman's magnificent bestseller is now in paperback, with new additional illustrations.
Sunny Lancaster is an athlete and a dancer, moving through the world to the sounds of hip hop and his own thudding feet as he runs track.
Sunny has talent, but heās running more to honor his motherās legacy than to pursue his own dreams. I connected with this book as a teacher and a parent because it speaks so eloquently about letting young people find themselves and honoring their vision for the future.
Sunny tries to shine despite his troubled past in this third novel in the critically acclaimed Track series from National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds.
Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds, with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track teamāa team that could take them to the state championships. They all have a lot to lose, but they all have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is the main character in this novel, the third ofā¦
I was raised in a home where one parent was an acute alcoholic and the other parent was the child of an acute alcoholic, codependency and boundary issues flourished, and there was a touch of end-times religion to top it all off. This made me a kid who was highly tuned in to everything going on around me as a way to maintain a sense of control. Though that probably wasnāt the best thing for my emotional development, itās turned me into a writer who strives to delve into the authentic human experience and a reader who wants that, too. The books on this list meet that bar!
My loyalty as a reader and writer is to realism, and this is about as real as it gets. The narrator gets an older foster brother who comes with real complications and a backstory thatās more than a bit scary.
At the same time, the book is so full of familial love that I leaked tears from about chapter three until the end as I watched these characters try to give and receive it.
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. A heartbreaking story, narrated by twelve-year-old Jack, whose family is caring for fourteen-year-old Joseph. Joseph is misunderstood. He was incarcerated for trying to kill a teacher. Or so the rumours say. But Jack and his family see something others in town don't want to. What's more, Joseph has a daughter he's never seen. The two boys go on a journey through the bitter Maine winter to help Joseph find his baby - no matter the cost.
In fifth grade, I chose to play the clarinet. After a lot of cracked reeds and squeaky notes, I switched to choir. I still love to sing! I love books that explore young peopleās first experiences with music, whether itās as a star or as a way to express oneās true self. Music takes many forms, and for me, that includes the arrangement of sounds in a sentence. When I write for young people, I look for the musicality of words, how they flow, and how variety can make a story pop. Try reading aloud your own work or a favorite book and listen to the rhythm of language.
I am, and so is Apple Yengko, who wants desperately to learn to play the guitar but her mother says no. The family moved to Louisiana from the Philippines, after the death of Appleās father, and everything about her mom embarrasses Apple.
Then, at the start of sixth grade, Apple realizes her one-time best friend cares only about social tiers and lists, including the so-called dog log. I love that Erin Entrada Kelly doesnāt shy away from the meanness of middle school!
What saves Apple are two new friends, including one with a beautiful voice, and at last Apple is comfortable showing who she is: a naturally talented guitar player.
Future rock star or friendless misfit? That's no choice at all. In this acclaimed novel by Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, twelve-year-old Apple grapples with being different; with friends and backstabbers; and with following her dreams.
Publishers Weekly called Blackbird Fly "a true triumph," and the Los Angeles Times Book Review said, "Apple soars like the eponymous blackbird of her favorite Beatles song."
Apple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming "tooā¦
Iām a childrenās book writer from Frisco, Texas. Iāve published two middle grade chapter books, Pippa Park Raises Her Game and Pippa Park Crush at First Sight. Iāve always been captivated by novels that make me hungry; you can blame formative childrenās books like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or Stone Soup for that. Thatās why today Iām sharing my top 5 favorite middle grade books that have a foodie twist. Some of them revolve entirely around food; others simply offer a notable scene. Either way, I hope youāll find them as delectable as I do!
This isnāt a book about food. Instead, itās about middle grader Yumi Chung, who, in a case of mistaken identity, stumbles upon the opportunity to join a comedy camp taught by her favorite YouTuber.
Even so, I included it on this list because not only does Yumiās family own a Korean barbeque restaurant, but the other kids at school even call her āYu-MEATā because of it. Comedy plus cooking? No wonder I had to include this gem!
One lie snowballs into a full-blown double life in this irresistible story about an aspiring stand-up comedian.
On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her "Yu-MEAT" because she smells like her family's Korean barbecue restaurant. On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she's reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage.
Instead of spending the summer studying her favorite YouTube comedians, Yumi is enrolled in test-prep tutoring to qualify for a private school scholarship, which will help inā¦
I started drawing comics in the first grade and have never stopped. My syndicated comic strip, Cow & Boy, ran for eight years, and now I write and draw the middle-grade fantasy series Quest Kids. I am so fortunate to have cobbled together my love of comics into a career and to have been inspired by so many talented people along the way. Below is a collection of some of the best.
Ben Hatke can build worlds, and then some. Zitaās character design is amazingly detailed, yet also spontaneous and never out of reach for any kid looking to create operatic space comics of their very own.
I read this with my own children and I couldnāt say which one of us had more fun.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Zita's life took a cosmic left turn in the blink of an eye. When her best friend is abducted by an alien doomsday cult, Zita leaps to the rescue and finds herself a stranger on a strange planet. Humanoid chickens and neurotic robots are shocking enough as new experiences go, but Zita is even more surprised to find herself taking on the role of intergalactic hero. Before long, aliens in all shapes and sizes don't even phase her. Neither do ancient prophecies, doomed planets, or even a friendly con man who takes a mysterious interestā¦
āEvery
story has a villain, and the one in this story is me.ā With this fantastic
opening line, Kate introduces herself.
Changing friendships is a classic theme
of middle-grade fiction, but I love this unique point of view of the narrator
as the person who abandons her longtime best friend instead of the other way
around.
Kate is every bit the villain she claims to be, but I still rooted for her. My writer's brain loved the way Claire
Swinarski made that happen, and it got me thinking about how I might make my main
characters likable even when they make bad choices.
Blogger Adoma Adeniyi
turned me on to Swinarski, and now Iām a fan for life.
In this timely, call-to-action contemporary middle grade novel from Claire Swinarski, author of What Happens Next, a twelve-year-old girl must face herself, and the truth, after her participation in a bullying incident goes viral.
Kate McAllister is desperate for a change. Something to hit refresh and erase the pain of her mother leaving town without her. So when a group of popular girls folds Kate into their clique, it feels like the answer to all her problemsāeven if it means ditching Haddie, her childhood bestie.
But when Kateās new friends decide that Haddie is their next target, Kate becomes aā¦
