Lately I've been hearing so much about how publishers and agents are looking for middle grade. The latest:
Agent Susan Hawk's wish list includes middle grade that goes beyond goofy boys and quirky girls.
Kat Salazar is a new agent, actively looking for middle grade. You can find more info about her in a recent agent spotlight at Literary Rambles.
Agent Mary Kole has updated her wish list (see sidebar of her blog) and writes about the need for "more meaty" middle grade" and notes the continued demand for fantasy and action-adventure in her report on Bologna.
So if you're writing middle grade and looking for representation, keep working and keep trying! There are opportunities out there.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records
Red Deer Press (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), 2010
From
the Publisher:
This is an extraordinary story about a 13-year-old boy named
Lee who loves setting personal and odd records. He's obsessed by them in fact -
from tracing the annual public marathon with his dog Santiago to bouncing a
basketball in the school playground for 12 hours straight with no one around -
but he's not interested in going public with them.
Along the way Lee collects famous quotes from all manner of
famous people whose lives and words have encouraged him - and provided
inspiration during trying times. In addition he sees himself as the director of
the definitive movie about his life, focusing on the light and dark moments he
experiences as he seeks a raison d'etre for his life.
Above all, he seeks to escape being ordinary, and when he's
confronted with the greatest challenge of his young life - saving his pesky
friend from certain death - his strength of character and purpose demonstrate
that he is anything but ordinary.
My Take:
The beginning of this quirky story
is all about getting to know Lee and his developing friendship with pesky
Rhonda, a girl who is three years younger than he is. Lee’s record setting
attempts and his unusual hobby of collecting quotes from famous people are
interesting, but make for a slow start to the story. If you hang in there, the second
half picks up, especially when Lee gets into a predicament that puts his
record-setting skills to the test and could mean big trouble for his now-friend
Rhonda. There is an interesting writing style where Lee narrates events in his
own life like a movie script, complete with stage directions. I liked the way the author used details to establish Lee's personality.
Other Info:
Colleen Sydor lives in Winnipeg
and first established her writing career with the picture books Camilla Chameleon and Raising a Little Stink.
This book is nominated for the
Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading in the Silver Birch (Fiction)
category for 2012. I’ve profiled some of the
other nominated books: Crossing to Freedom, Ghosts of the Titantic, Neil
Flambe and the Aztec Abduction, That
Boy Red, The Glory Wind, Ghost Messages, and Undergrounders.
Other books by this
author include:
My Mother is a French Fry and Further Proof of My Fuzzed
Up LifeCamilla Chameleon (picture book)
Timmerman Was Here
Raising a Little Stink (picture book)
OOO-CHA!
Fashion Fandango (GeneratioNorah Series)
Maxwell's Metamorphosis (GeneratioNorah Series)
Looking for more MMGM? Check
out these links:
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Kids Who Read Middle Grade Talk About Spring
To find out, I asked a few preteens what they like about spring. Here's what they said:
- using in-line skates again
- wearing flipflops and sandals!
- finding out you've grown a lot taller since last year
- swinging in the backyard swing
- not having to bring a jacket
- bouncing on the trampoline
- wearing sleeveless shirts again
- basketball
- flowers coming up
- it's warm when we go running outside for gym
What details do you use in your novels to describe spring?
Monday, March 19, 2012
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Crossing to Freedom
Scholastic, 2010
From
the Publisher:
Eleven-year-old Solomon is a fugitive slave on a dangerous
journey north to Canada, and to freedom. His young life has seen many losses:
his mother was sold in a slave auction when he was a baby; his father escaped
from the plantation and hasn’t been seen in five years; and now his
grandfather, who has been injured during the last leg of their journey to
freedom, and is forced to stay behind.Solomon continues with their group leader, but his feelings of loss and isolation haunt him, as he attempts to forge a new home in Canada.
It soon becomes apparent that racial prejudices know no borders, and while Solomon works hard and begins to experience some newfound freedoms, he faces discrimination and segregation and lives with the ongoing fear of being caught by slavecatchers and dragged back to the South.
With all of these barriers facing him, Solomon must find the strength — the same strength that brought him north, the same strength that gives him hope of finding his father — to persevere and understand the true meaning of freedom.
My Take:
This story opened my eyes to a
part of history I hadn’t known much about before. But even though there is a
wealth of carefully researched historical information in this novel, it’s woven
naturally into a suspenseful story. I worried right along with Solomon about
whether he’d find his father or his grandfather again, and how he would fit
into his new life and find the person he wanted to be. Solomon’s strong voice kept
me inside the story. As a writer, I admire the way the author uses visual and
other sensory images in her writing. I would read this novel again.
Other Info:
Virginia Frances Schwartz says: “As
a writer, I sit down at my desk, or lie in a field studying clouds in the sky,
and listen carefully to the words in my head, the same way I did as a child. I
try to get them down as fast as I can at first and do a lot of revision later.
The words often come in a rush and my hand moves so fast, it hurts.”
“Your notebook has the greatest memory. It’s
like a computer. It traps words like a spider’s web.”
She has written two other books
about slavery, Send One Angel Down
and If I Just Had Two Wings.
This book is nominated for the
Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading in the Silver Birch (Fiction)
category for 2012. I’ve profiled some of the
other nominated books: Ghosts of the Titantic, Neil
Flambe and the Aztec Abduction, That
Boy Red, The Glory Wind, Ghost Messages, and Undergrounders.
Other books by this
author include:Nutz
4 Kids in 5E and One
Crazy Year
Initiation
Messenger
If I Just Had Two
Wings
Send One Angel Down
Looking for more MMGM? Check
out these links:
Friday, March 16, 2012
Adult Reading for Children's Writers
I've taken advantage of having more time over the March break to do a little more reading -- but I've been reading books for adults. After reading so much MG and YA, I often find it hard to get into an adult novel (they are often too slow). But this week I read:
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
I enjoyed both of these and didn't have any trouble reading them, because the story in each case was compelling and kept me constantly wondering (like MG and YA books do). Interestingly, they both feature a teen or child in the story. I wonder if that's why I liked them so much!
What are you reading lately?
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
What are you reading lately?
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Meeting Up with Online Writing Friends
Although I've been part of MiG writers for several years now, I've only met one of my writing buddies in person - the amazing Christina Farley. But today I got to meet up with Debbie Ohi!
We had great fun talking about writing, writing and more writing! In my world of being a mother, taxi-driver (for the teenagers), dog-walker and teacher, it's so cool to be able to talk with someone who understands having a passion for writing as well as all the challenges. Debbie is just as enthusiastic about writing in person as she is online!
I'm looking forward to one day meeting up with the rest of my friends from MiG Writers.
We had great fun talking about writing, writing and more writing! In my world of being a mother, taxi-driver (for the teenagers), dog-walker and teacher, it's so cool to be able to talk with someone who understands having a passion for writing as well as all the challenges. Debbie is just as enthusiastic about writing in person as she is online!
I'm looking forward to one day meeting up with the rest of my friends from MiG Writers.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Ghosts of the Titantic
Scholastic Canada, 2011
From
the Book Jacket:
Where’s Michael? Has his body been taken by the sea?
What have you done, robber of the dead?
Kevin gagged with fear, his heart pounding in his throat. The girl was close enough for him to see her pale face, her wide, searching eyes. She was blaming him. Her arms reached out towards him. She wanted to punish him, to drag him under . . .
What was her connection to the Titanic? And how could he escape from a ghost?
Summary:
Kevin isn’t happy that he has to go and
live in Halifax, just because his father has inherited a house from a
mysterious man named Angus Seaton. As Kevin copes with living in a new place
and dealing with his father’s criticisms, he becomes more and more interested
in the mystery of Angus Seaton. Especially after Kevin starts to suspect he’s
being haunted. Meanwhile, a second, intertwined story tells of Angus Seaton, a
crewman on the Mackay-Bennett, who helped retrieve bodies and identify bodies after
the Titantic went down. In the end, Kevin pieces together the story of the
inheritance and how it’s connected to Seaton, the Titantic and a young female
ghost.
My Take:
I enjoyed the mystery of how the
different pieces of the story fit together. It was interesting to read the
historical details of the Titantic sinking and how the bodies were retrieved. Although
the ghost and ending of the story seemed a bit contrived, I liked the way Kevin
tried to figure out the mystery of how the house and ghost were connected to
him. There were some spooky moments with the ghost to keep up the suspense!
Other Info:
Julie Lawson says that writing a
book is like travelling: “When I start out with my
characters, I never know what's going to happen. I explore and make discoveries.”
This book is nominated for the
Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading in the Silver Birch (Fiction)
category for 2012. I’ve profiled some of the
other nominated books: Neil Flambe and the Aztec Abduction, That Boy Red, The
Glory Wind, Ghost
Messages, and Undergrounders.
Other books by this
author include:
White Jade Tiger
Fires Burning
Danger Game
Destination Gold
The Gold Stone Trilogy:
GoldstoneTurns on a Dime
The Ghost of Avalanche Mountain
Books in the Dear Canada series:
A Ribbon of
Shining SteelNo Safe Harbour
Where the River Takes Me
A Christmas to Remember
A Season for Miracles
And many picture books, such as The Klondike Cat, Kate’s
Castle, Bear on the Train and My Grandfather Loved the Stars.
For more, go to Julie Lawson’s website.
Joanne Fritz @ My Brain
on Books
Shannon Messenger
@ Ramblings of a Wannabe
Scribe
Shannon O'Donnell @
Book Dreaming
Sherrie Petersen @ Write
About Now
Brooke Favero @ Somewhere
in the Middle
Myrna Foster @ Night
Writer
Ally Beecher
@ Kid
Lit Frenzy
Barbara Watson
@ Novel and Nouveau
Deb Marshall
@ Just Deb!
Anita Laydon Miller's Middle Grade Blog
Michael G-G
@ Middle Grade Mafioso
Natalie
Aguirre @ Literary Rambles
Ms. Yingling @
Ms.
Yingling Reads
Jennifer
Rumberger
Pam Torres @
So I'm
Fifty
Mary @ Writer's Butt Does Not Apply to Me
The Accidental Novelist
G.S.
Prendergast @ Angelhorn
Gina Carey
Nye Louwen -
My Spirit
Looking for more MMGM? Check
out these links:
Friday, March 9, 2012
Reading vs. Listening to Books
Lately, I’ve been caught up in listening to an audio book.
Until now, I’ve only ever listened to audio books as a passenger in a car,
on a many-hour drive to a vacation destination. It was a great way to pass the time and the book had my full attention, more or less.
But this time, I’ve been listening while doing chores and
walking the dog. It’s interesting how much attention is needed to listen and
follow the story. I’ve found that I’ve had to “re-listen” to parts a couple of
times, just the way I’d go back and re-read if I got a bit lost while reading.
But it’s harder to find the part I need to hear again. My brain isn’t used to
processing books this way, so I’m finding I have to concentrate more to visualize
the story.
It's interesting. As a kid, the first stories I experienced were read to me, rather than read by me. But I'm not used to processing information that way now, after years of reading books myself.
Have you tried audio books? What do you think of them?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
But What I Wrote Yesterday Was Better!
One of the hard parts about writing for me is starting again without comparing what I'm doing today to what I wrote yesterday.
The part I've already written always sounds pretty good (at least, before editing) and the part I'm trying to work on doesn't seem like it's even worth writing down. Maybe this is self-doubt creeping in, or some kind of writing perfectionism. Do you have this problem? Some ways to deal with it:
1. Don't go back and read over too much of what's already there. It's too intimidating. I just go back a paragraph or so.
2. Leave a quick note at the end of each day's work about where the story is going so I don't have to read the "better" part of the book over again.
3. Begin writing in a fresh document and copy it into the rest of the novel later (if it's good enough).
I know some writers don't write sequentially, so maybe that helps.
When I start a writing session, I always think my writing should flow seamlessly on to the next section. What I forget is all the re-writing I did of each previous section while I was writing it.
The part I've already written always sounds pretty good (at least, before editing) and the part I'm trying to work on doesn't seem like it's even worth writing down. Maybe this is self-doubt creeping in, or some kind of writing perfectionism. Do you have this problem? Some ways to deal with it:
1. Don't go back and read over too much of what's already there. It's too intimidating. I just go back a paragraph or so.
2. Leave a quick note at the end of each day's work about where the story is going so I don't have to read the "better" part of the book over again.
3. Begin writing in a fresh document and copy it into the rest of the novel later (if it's good enough).
I know some writers don't write sequentially, so maybe that helps.
When I start a writing session, I always think my writing should flow seamlessly on to the next section. What I forget is all the re-writing I did of each previous section while I was writing it.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Neil Flambe and the Aztec Abduction
Key Porter Books, 2010
Publisher’s Description:
Fresh off his success in solving the Marco Polo murders, Neil Flambé heads to Mexico City to take part in the Azteca Cocina — a two-week battle of the chefs. But things start to go wrong at the very first battle. Neil’s box of secret ingredients contains more than he bargained for. There’s a note inside, telling him that Isabella has been kidnapped. He must lose in the final, or else she’ll be killed. The kidnappers are obviously having fun — with every ransom note they send, they include a lock of Isabella’s hair, not realizing how clever their captive really is! Knowing that Neil and his super-nose will be looking for her, Isabella does what she can to help, rubbing her hair in the smelliest thing she can find at each location. Neil can smell garbage, flowers, and animals, but this only helps him find out where Isabella has already been — not where’s she heading next! In order to solve this mystery, Neil will need Larry's knowledge of Mexican history and Spanish, Sean Nakamura's portable forensic lab, and Angel Jicama's mentorship. He’ll have to delve into Aztec history, symbolism, and even into the real ruins that are buried under the modern city. But will he figure it all out in time?
My Take:
Mixing cooking and a mystery is a recipe for a fun story! The main character, Neil Flambe, has a hefty dose of ego and an amazing sense of smell, but he has a strong sense of determination. There is a lot of humor in this story, which makes it entertaining and at times, a little over the top. The plot is far-fetched, but I think that adds to the humour. I like the author’s sketches that are sprinkled through the story. There is quite a bit of interesting historical information about Mexico woven into this story, which at times seems like a bit too much. But overall, this is a fun read with lots of humour that will appeal to both boys and girls.
Other Info:
This is the second book in a series, the first being Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders.
Other books by this author include:
Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders
Game Day
Gold Medal for Weird
Sports Hall of Weird
For more, go to the Neil Flambe website or visit Kevin Sylvester’s blog.
Looking for more MMGM? Check out these links:
Friday, March 2, 2012
What You Need to Know About Writing Middle Grade
Have you seen this great discussion about writing middle grade?
Literary agent Michael Bourret and editor Molly O'Neil give us the scoop on everything you wanted to know about middle grade. This is well worth reading and it's only part 1. There is more to come!
Here's a quote from Molly O'Neil: "I think about middle grade being the time when a lot of readers discover “that book”—the one that turns them into a lifelong reader, or explodes their world open with new ideas, or shares exactly the right truth at exactly the right moment in a way they’ll never forget."
Literary agent Michael Bourret and editor Molly O'Neil give us the scoop on everything you wanted to know about middle grade. This is well worth reading and it's only part 1. There is more to come!
Here's a quote from Molly O'Neil: "I think about middle grade being the time when a lot of readers discover “that book”—the one that turns them into a lifelong reader, or explodes their world open with new ideas, or shares exactly the right truth at exactly the right moment in a way they’ll never forget."
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