MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with Jenny Lundquist

It's a brand new year and time to spotlight some more of my favorite middle grade authors!

For January, we have Jenny Lundquist whose sinfully adorable debut novel, Seeing Cinderella, comes out on March 20th. Got a girl with glasses in your life? How about any kid who's ever felt a little awkward? Alternately hilarious and sweet, this book is destined to be an instant favorite!

Jenny has also generously donated a signed ARC for me to give away in conjunction with this interview! Read on to find out how to win it.

Calliope Meadow Anderson is terrified to start seventh grade. Not that the summer has been so great— her overachieving best friend, Ellen, is slipping away, her parents’ marriage is falling apart, and to top it all off, she has to get glasses the day before school starts. Life isn’t going too smoothly.

But things get unexpectedly weird when Callie meets her wacky optometrist and receives a pair of glasses so ugly they make braces and headgear look cute. But pretty soon, Callie makes a freaky discovery. Her glasses have magic powers: they can read people’s thoughts (and she’s pretty sure they repel boys, too).

Callie uses her new glasses to navigate middle school life and learns things she never knew about the people around her. That overachieving Ellen isn’t so super confident, after all. That neither of her parents are who she thought they were. That it’s a good idea to make sure your crush Knows Your Name before you spy on his thoughts. But when the glasses show Callie that Ana Garcia—a new student from Mexico and Callie’s Spanish tutor—has become a real-life Cinderella in her uncle’s house, she has to make a choice. Will she stay in the shadows and hide behind her magic glasses, or step out of the background and stand up for her friend?

What's the first book that you remember LOVING as a child?J
Jenny Lundquist: As a child I loved the Trixie Belden series. She always seemed so brave and strong to me, and I wished I could become a member of the Bob-Whites of the Glen. And I kept waiting for her and Jim to get together already!

To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word?”
JL: That's an easy one! Merlin's Beard, from Harry Potter, as I think it's by far the most creative.

If you had a pair of magic glasses, what one superpower would you wish they had?
JL: That would depend upon the day. Yesterday, I would've liked my magic glasses to tell me the exact location of my son's missing shoes. Today, I’d love a pair of glasses that can teleport chocolate cupcakes my way at the exact moment I require them. But for the record, I wouldn't actually want glasses that can read minds—when it comes to people's private thoughts I tend to think ignorance is bliss!

What’s your favorite version of Cinderella (book, movie, remake, adaptation) that you’ve ever read or seen?
JL: I would have to say Margaret Peterson Haddix's Just Ella. I loved her realistic take on the downside of happily-ever-after when you find yourself engaged to a dim-witted prince and spend your days learning embroidery and etiquette.

What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
JL: Hmmm, that's a tough one. I mean, I could say your book, The Mapmaker and the Ghost [and...this is where I blush]. Or I could say, The Cabinet of Earths, by Anne Nesbet. Then again, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. But then there's always Thirteen by Candice Ransom—one of my personal favorites when I was in middle school. And who could forget Little Women? I mean, the possibilities are endless! (Do you like how I just cheated?)

Thanks so much, Jenny! For the record, I definitely don't mind cheating when it involves adding fabulous MG books to everyone's TBR piles.

GIVEAWAY:
This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with A.J. Hartley

I'm so pleased to have this month's MG author on my blog. A.J. Hartley is a New York Times bestselling author and a Shakespearean professor. His first middle grade novel came out just last month. It's called Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact and it's filled with adventure, fantasy and a great, great friendship at its core. It also has a British protagonist (and, you might know, I'm a bit of an anglophile) and is a novel suitable for boys and girls of all ages.

Read on after the interview to see how you can enter to win a copy of A.J.'s book!



Eleven-year-old Darwen Arkwright has spent his whole life in a tiny town in England. So when he is forced to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to live with his aunt, he knows things will be different - but what he finds there is beyond even his wildest imaginings!

Darwen discovers an enchanting world through the old mirror hanging in his closet - a world that holds as many dangers as it does wonders. Scrobblers on motorbikes with nets big enough to fit a human boy. Gnashers with no eyes, but monstrous mouths full of teeth. Flittercrakes with bat-like bodies and the faces of men. Along with his new friends Rich and Alexandra, Darwen becomes entangled in an adventure and a mystery that involves the safety of his entire school. They soon realize that the creatures are after something in our world - something that only human children possess.

To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word” or insult?
A.J. Hartley: As a Brit, all my favorite curse words are a bit obscure. My current favorite is "chuff": a nicely flexible Northen English curse which can mean happy or pleased (as in "I'm right chuffed that Chelsea lost on Saturday") but is also a less specific intensifier: "He's a right chuffin' idiot, he is." Or "What the chuff do you think you're playing at?" "Chuffin' 'eck!" is the exclamation form. It's a chuffin' useful word to have in your arsenal.

If you could step into a magic mirror and go anywhere, where would you go?
AJH: I have favorite places in the world. Delphi, in Greece, for instance. Uxmal, in Mexico. Kenilworth castle or the Castlerigg stone circle in England. But I think if I had a truly magical mirror I'd want to be surprised. Take me somewhere completely unknown. Somewhere impossible.

You're already a bestselling author, but Darwen Arkwright is your first children's book. Were there any challenges you didn't expect in writing for a younger audience? Were there any similarities in your process?

AJH: It really is a completely different process in some ways, and not at all in others. I hope that in the end children's, YA and adult books are all finally about story, character and good prose, but the MG market is entirely new for me and in many respects what I've tried to do with DARWEN feels like an entirely different entity from anything I've written before. At first I worried that I might be pitching the language at too sophisticated a level, but I talked to R.L. Stine about this and he assured me that if I considered "dumbing down" the book, I would be making a huge mistake and that my readers would sniff out that they were being condescended to. In the end, I took the path of a great storyteller like Dickens, who knows how to be absolutely clear and straightforward without simplifying his ideas. Shakespeare too, though his language seems more arcane to us now, is often at his most powerful when he is most simple in his word choice.

One of the things I love about writing middle grade books, though, is that I don't have to worry quite so much about genre, since MG is defined by age group rather than literary categories. When I write adult books I'm accutely conscious that I'm often blurring or straying entirely from the genre I'm supposed to be working in, and that this will irritate my editors and readers. I don't feel that in MG. So long as the story makes sense according to its own internal logic, I don't worry if the tone shifts, or that some scenes are closer to horror than to fantasy, humor to sci-fi etc. I'm also delighted that I don't have to DECIDE not to write literary fiction for younger readers, or that sensational story lines might disqualify me from being a 'serious' writer :)

Like Darwen, you're an Englishman who now lives in the South. Do you remember the first American phrase/idiom that really caught you off-guard?
AJH: Tricky. Like most Brits I've been exposed to American language use through film and television from an early age, and British English continues to morph towards an American standard. No one where I grew up would ever use the word "guys" to describe a group including women, and when I first spent time with Americans I found it bizarre to the point of irritation. I now use it all the time regardless of gender. I still refuse to use "momentarily" to mean "in a moment" rather than "for a moment." I just can't get away from the grammatical logic of the thing no matter how many times I am told someone will be with me momentarily. But then I also wince when people (everyone, now, it seems) use "impact" as a verb... I know, I know. I'm a fuddy duddy. Which is ironic, when you think about it. No one says fuddy duddy anymore except fuddy duddies.

What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
AJH: John Masefield's The Box of the Delights, because it's old and reminds me of childhood Christmases, and is one of those archetypal Travels to Other Worlds stories (like my own) which I always loved as a kid. The resolution of the story feels a little dated now, but I love the villainous card-sharping curates on the train who, when looked at the right way, look like foxes...

Right now I'm just discovering (somewhat behind the curve) the delights of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles. Fun stuff. I love the bickering narrators and the sense of ancient magic.

Oh, and can I add Joseph Delaney's Last Apprentice series? Tales of seventeenth century Lancashire witchcraft. I grew up in the bleak hills which are the core of the stories and he manages to master an understated creep factor which really gets under your skin. The first MG books to actually give me nightmares for a very long time!

Thank you A.J. for an awesome interview. My goal for the year is to find a way to use 'chuffed' in daily conversation.


GIVEAWAY:
And now, I'm right chuffed to present this giveaway! (Mission...accomplished)

The giveaway is now closed! Congratulation to winner, Aiecha, and thanks to everyone who entered!

MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with Greg R. Fishbone

This month's Middle Grade author spotlight and giveaway is extra special because it's also part of a much larger blog tour for Greg R. Fishbone's new book, Galaxy Games: The Challengers!

In this blog post you get:
- an interview with Greg
- a chance to win Greg's book plus a bonus book (courtesy of me)
- a chance to gather a puzzle piece for Greg's blog tour filled with other fabulous prizes
- to marvel at the fact that Greg R. Fishbone has the best children's author name ever

And all for the low, low price of...nothing! It's a bargain.

First, here is a bit about Greg's book.

Things are looking up for Tyler Sato (literally!) as he and his friends scan the night sky for a star named for him by his Tokyo cousins in honor of his eleventh birthday. Ordinary stars tend to stay in one place, but Ty’s seems to be streaking directly toward Earth at an alarming rate. Soon the whole world is talking about TY SATO, the doomsday asteroid, and life is turned upside down for Ty Sato, the boy, who would rather be playing hoops in his best friend’s driveway.

Meanwhile, aboard a silver spaceship heading for Earth, M’Frozza, a girl with three eyes and five nose holes, is on a secret mission. M’Frozza is the captain of planet Mrendaria’s Galaxy Games team, and she is desperate to save her world from a dishonorable performance in the biggest sporting event in the universe.

What will happen when Ty meets M’Frozza? Get ready for the most important event in human history—it’ll be off the backboard, around the rim, and out of this world!

INTERVIEW
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word?"
Greg R. Fishbone: M'Frozza likes to say "smazzroot" when there's something really good that she can't quite have. Smazzroot literally means "rotten fruit" because of a famous Mrendarian story about a child whose deliciously rotten fruit rolls into a ditch and out of reach.

Describe your elementary-school self in three words.
GRF: Imaginative, helpful, and friendly. But my daughter has those three traits down even more than I ever did.

If you were chosen to lead an intergalactic sporting event, which sport or event would you hope it was?
GRF: The Galaxy Game, of course! Any other game you can think of can be part of it, and the rules are different every time.

If aliens invaded the earth, what’s one technology you would hope they’d bring with them and share with earthlings?

GRF: If they've already taken control and it's not purely a social visit? In that case I'd hope they've come because they think we'd make cute and cuddly pets, and not because we all look so delicious... Maybe the aliens would bring a technology to provide us with endless hours of excitement and entertainment, like the way we use laser pointers with our cats!

What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
GRF: There are so many! Readers looking for other books that combine science fiction with humor will enjoy The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. I'd also recommend the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer--the books seem like fantasy at first, because there are fairies, dwarves, and centaurs in them, but they're all creatures of science and advanced technology. Colfer takes tired old myths and reworks them in an original and refreshing way.

Thank you, Greg! Read on for how you can win out-of-this-world prizes. (Yes, I had to go there.)

BLOG TOUR
Here's the info you need for Greg's blog tour! An exclusive puzzle piece is below. Go to http://galaxygam.es/tour/ to find out how you can gather more pieces.

MY GIVEAWAY
Is now closed and the winner is Suzanne. Thanks to everyone who entered!

MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with Stephanie Burgis

I am very excited to present a new monthly feature on my blog: the MG Author Spotlight and Giveaway! Every month, I will be featuring an interview with a Middle Grade author along with a giveaway of the author's book.

And I am extra, ginormously, stupendously excited to present the first author to be a part of this: Stephanie Burgis, author of Kat, Incorrigible. If that title sounds familiar, it may be because you read me raving about it just a couple of weeks ago.

First, a little about Stephanie's wonderful book:

Katherine Ann Stephenson has just discovered that she's inherited her mother's magical talents, and despite Stepmama's stern objections, she's determined to learn how to use them. But with her eldest sister Elissa's intended fiancé, the sinister Sir Neville, showing a dangerous interest in Kat's magical potential; her other sister, Angeline, wreaking romantic havoc with her own witchcraft; and a highwayman lurking in the forest, even Kat's reckless heroism will be tested to the upmost. If she can learn to control her new powers, will Kat be able to rescue her family and win her sisters their true love?

And now for the interview:

To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word” or insult?
Stephanie Burgis: Since I'm a Regency author, of course my answer has to be: "Dash it!" ;)

If you could be BFF with any Jane Austen character, who would you pick?
SB: Definitely Elizabeth Bennet! There might be other Austen heroines that are even more admirable, but none that would be more fun to hang out with - and she's loyal to her friends even when they make choices she hates, so that's just one more bonus!

If you had only five minutes with Kat's mother's spellbooks, which spell would you look up and try to master?
SB: Since I'm often wrangling a toddler nowadays, I'd love to be able to make teapots and other practical things move without using my hands!
 

In your acknowledgments, you mention you have a "writing club" with your brothers. Tell me more about that. Did your relationship with them inform the relationship between the three sisters in the book?
SB: I'm the oldest in my own family, with two younger brothers, both of whom are also writers. (My brother Ben has published several science fiction and fantasy short stories for adults, while my brother David works in film and also writes screenplays.) So of course we had a secret writing club as kids! It was great to have a critique group within my own house as I grew up, and now that we're adults, we still read and critique most of each other's stories.

When it came to writing Kat, I didn't base any of the characters on real people, but the fact that I come from a noisy, loving, close-knit family definitely influenced the way I wrote Kat's noisy, loving, close-knit family! Kat's the youngest of four, with two older sisters, whereas I'm the oldest of three with no sisters at all...but her siblings, just like mine, all bicker, laugh, irritate, enjoy and love each other deeply.

What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
Maryrose Wood's The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book One: The Mysterious Howling made me laugh out loud several times. It's incredibly funny and just so much fun to read!
 
And Sheela Chari's Vanished is a wonderful, globe-trotting MG mystery about music and curses that's also a beautifully-written novel about family and growing up. I absolutely loved it.

Thank you so much for the interview, Steph! I can't wait for Renegade Magic, the sequel to Kat, Incorrigible, which will be out in April.

GIVEAWAY
The giveaway is now closed. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who entered! I had such a blast reading all your comments.

After the random.org drawing, congratulations to...Heidi Grange! Heidi has won a copy of Kat, Incorrigible and one copy of Sheela Chari's Vanished (Stephanie's MG recommendation).

Stay tuned for next month's MG Author Spotlight and Giveaway. It'll be a good one, I promise!

Books I Love: Kat, Incorrigible

This weekend, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene (by which I mean the inordinate amount of cans of tuna I now have in my cupboards), I fell in love.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Kat, Incorrigible.

Yes, it's a book. Don't tell me you're surprised.

Here's another non-surprising factoid: two of my favorite things in the world are Jane Austen and Harry Potter. So when I first heard about this Middle Grade book a few months ago--a story that was inspired by Jane Austen, took place in Regency England and involved magic--I was absolutely intrigued. I knew I had to read it. I hoped very much that I would love it but I also knew that, with my high expectations, there was a good chance it could disappoint me.

It. didn't. In the least. I spent my Sunday afternoon reading the book and--when I wasn't laughing out loud--batting my eyelashes at it moonily.

As just an example, here are the first two lines:

I was twelve years of age when I chopped off my hair, dressed as a a boy, and set off to save my family from impending ruin.

I made it almost to the end of my front garden.

It only gets better from there. This book is hilarious, charming and gorgeously, effortlessly plotted. I'm in awe of how author Stephanie Burgis brought the period of Regency England to life while still making the relationship between her three main characters (three sisters) feel absolutely timeless. With the exception of certain vocabulary, they could be having those conversations in 2011, practically anywhere in the world. It's marvelous writing...it really is.

And speaking of those characters: I can't begin to describe how much I adore them. The heroines! The villains! The would-be villains! The tragic, romantic guy! (Seriously...they're all in there). And then, wonderful, glorious Kat. Our plucky, twelve-year-old heroine who can get herself out of any jam.

No doubt, kids will love this book. But I really think adults will love this book, too. Especially anyone looking for a massively fun page-turner and an exceedingly pleasant afternoon of reading. In my opinion, Jane Austen would most definitely approve.

Acronym City: MG FAQs

I will begin this post with a completely unrelated anecdote.

When I was growing up, I loved the movie With Honors. It's about a Harvard student (Brendan Fraser) who loses the only copy of his thesis down a grate. It's found by a homeless man (Joe Pesci) who proceeds to give him back one page per favor. I found the movie both touching and funny. And the title of my post is reminding me of one particular bit of dialogue.

Joe Pesci is being interviewed by a social worker about receiving disability payments. He is, shall we say, a bit facetious.

Social Worker: DOB?
Joe Pesci: EFGHIK

This exchange has always cracked me up, even upon repeated viewing. I think it mostly has to do with the delivery.

Anyhoo, so acronyms. The title of this blog post...

Hey, I'm a guest over at YA author Gennifer Albin's blog today, answering some frequently asked questions about writing Middle Grade! Dying to know my thoughts on MG language, trends, marketing and more? Read it here.