Rereading my friend Kat Yeh‘s debut middle grade book THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE makes me think how great a holiday gift this book would be. Twinkie Pie is my favorite kind of book: a wonderful voice, characters I care about and an unexpected but thoroughly satisfying ending. See my interview with Kat on . . .
Not only is SUNNY SIDE UP a wonderful graphic novel for middle grade, but you can also find out tons of behind-the-scenes info about how it was made in THE YARN. I met Jenni Holm at NerdCampMI earlier this year and found her super-friendly and down-to-earth. Found out more about Jenni . . .
I read middle grade novel THE NEST (written by Kenneth Oppel and illustrated by Jon Klassen) in one sitting last night. Totally lives up to the hype. I’m a horror fan and this was genuinely scary, with tension and dread gradually building to a nightmare-inducing climax. Yowza.If you or your 8-12 year old are looking . . .
LOUD LULA launches from Two Lions today! Written by Katy Duffield and illustrated by Mike Boldt, LOUD LULA is southern-flavored tall tale about a little girl with a big voice. “…Little ol’ Lula’s big ol’ voice wreaks ten kinds of havoc from the day she’s born, and that doesn’t change one smidgen when Lula . . .
Looking for some new Halloween books to share with young readers? Here are two recent releases that would make fun read-a-louds: BOO-LA-LA Witch Spa, written by Samantha Berger and illustrated by Isabel Roxas (Penguin Random House): and THE GHOSTS GO SPOOKING, written by Chrissy Bozik and illustrated by Patricia Storms (Scholastic Canada):
I’ve been a fan of dystopian YA long before it became a trend, and confess I had been turned off the genre because of so many jumping on the bandwagon. THE SCORPION RULES by Erin Bow (Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster) however, has such original and multi-layered world-building plus I find the main antagonist (Talis) . . .
In honor of Banned Books Week, I’ve illustrated one of my favorite Judy Blume quotes: “Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.” I was lucky that way, too. My father used to take the whole family to our . . .
For more info about Sylvia McNicoll, see SylviaMcNicoll.com.
If you’re looking for funny, smart middle grade books and lots of entertaining animal facts, you need to check out Jess Keating’s “My Life Is A Zoo” series. I met Jess through Torkidlit and Nerd Camp; she’s funny, smart and entertaining in person, too :-). The third book in her series, . . .