Marvelous Middle Grades – Page 17

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Bliss, by Kathryn Littlewood

14OctoberSuzanne7 CommentsMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf

The Bliss family owns a bakery in a charming little town where they know everyone and everyone loves their baked goods.Â They also happen to be magical bakers–whenÂ a little boy is electrocuted, they save him by bottling lighting and mixing it up in a special cake–which means they’re pretty handy to have around.Â And, everybody

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Letters From Rapunzel

7OctoberSuzanne15 CommentsMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf#mmgm, cat, character, fractured fairy tale, funny, humor, joke, kitty, laugh, letters from rapunzel, marvelous middle grade monday, review, spotlight

My latest middle grade project,Â Pandora’s Popcorn Potion,Â is a kind of fractured fairy tale, so I picked this up after I finished the first draft toÂ see what my comps are doing.Â I thought it would be light and sassy–which it was–but had no idea it would also bring tears to my eyes!Â After finishing it, I

Why the Carolinas have the Best SCBWI Conference

30SeptemberSuzanne3 CommentsMarvelous Middle Grades, Writingchildren's publishing, dan yaccarino, illustrating, scbwi carolinas, scbwi regional conference, writing

First there’s the obvious reason–’cause we rock!Â Then there’s our tireless (I swear, she really doesn’t appear to have a ‘tired’ setting!) RA Teresa Fannin, and all our great PAL members that are super generous with their time.Â But let me share a few of the highlights from the conference speakers–just a few–andÂ you decide for

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Cheshire Cheese Cat

23SeptemberSuzanne1 CommentMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelfbook, dickens, funny story, middle grade novel, the cheshire cheese cat, writer, ye olde cheshire cheese

This book was soo much fun!Â It really was the kind of book you can’t recommend highly enough–and it’s rather telling that when I brought it home I was already a few pages in ’cause I’d read a bit in the car…and didn’t read another word for several days. How is that high praise, you’d

Mavelous Middle Grade Monday: The Fairy’s Mistake, by Gail Carson Levine

16SeptemberSuzanne1 CommentMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf

I loved Ms. Levine’s beautiful cinderella retelling, Ella Echanted, so when I picked up The Fairy’s MistakeÂ I decided to try it even though the cover looked a little…passive? Or maybe awkwardÂ is the word.Â But the story was nice and active–frankly quite better than the cover promised.Â Of course, having said that, this is no Ella

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Howl’s Moving Castle (Picture Book) by Hayao Miyazaki

9SeptemberSuzanne8 CommentsMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf#MMM, books, cat, diana winne jones, hayao miyazaki, howl's moving castle, middle grade monday, picture book, review, spotlight

In order to properly spotlight this book I must first trust you all with a small confession.Â A confession which I find is just a little hard to put to keyboard now that I come to it…so no laughing, alright? The thing is, when I heard that Mr. Miyazaki was retiring, I was horrified.Â [that’s

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Whatever After, by Sarah Mlynowski

2SeptemberSuzanne1 CommentMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelfmarvelous middle grade monday #MMGM sarah mlynowski whatever after fairest of all book spotlight review funny cat humor joke

Once Upon A Time there was a slim little book on the shelf, with pink on the cover and a veeery girly look. But, I tried it anyway–andÂ that ended happily ever afterÂ for me!Â Â Whatever After: Fairest of AllÂ was just as slim as it looked–not a lot of plot twists there, and we only see a small

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Monster’s Ring, by Bruce Coville

26AugustSuzanneMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelfmarvelous middle grade monday #MMGM bruce coville the magic shop the monstery's ring book spotlight review funny cat humor joke

I know, I know!Â How is itÂ I haven’t read any ofÂ The Magic Shop books?Â And more, still call myself a middle grade writer?Â Well, I missed them the first go round, and probably the second, but just think of them as a lovely dessert I was saving for last!Â Today’s spotlight is The Monster’s Ring,

Marvelous Middlegrades: Urchin of the Riding Stars, by M. I. McAllister

19AugustSuzanne1 CommentMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf

I’ve decided to give the blog a bit of structure, and to kick that off I’ll be spotlighting a middle grade book here every Monday–a marvelous plan, don’t you think?Â I love to read middle grades, and love to share them!Â First up is my beach week read, Urchin of the Riding Stars, first in

Suzanne Warr

Narrative designer, game designer, author

Category Archives: Marvelous Middle Grades