Middle Grade Ninja Episode 124: Author Ali Standish

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Ali Standish and I discuss her writer’s journey, which included an MFA in children's writing from Hollins University and an MPhil in Children's Literature from the University of Cambridge, as well as working in the same building as her future literary agent (and sitting in her chair). We talk about Ali’s newest novel, THE MENDING SUMMER, writing and launching a book with a new baby during a pandemic, the significance of food descriptions, virtual school visits, discussing adult subjects such as alcoholism in books for children, second book syndrome, Matt Damon, a super-creepy haunted doll house, and so much more.

Ali Standish grew up in North Carolina and graduated from Pomona College before spending several years as an educator in the Washington, D.C. public school system. She has an MFA in children's writing from Hollins University and an MPhil in Children's Literature from the University of Cambridge. She lives with her Finnish husband and rescue dogs in Raleigh, NC.

​Some summers are just meant to break your heart.

Georgia can almost feel hers cracking a little more every day, like a clay pot left in a kiln too long. Daddy is working nights, and often the man who comes home isn’t Daddy. He’s the man Daddy turns into when he drinks—the Shadow Man.

With her father sinking deeper into alcoholism and Mama struggling to keep the family afloat, Georgia is sent to stay with her mysterious great aunt in in the country. Soon, Georgia meets Angela—a girl with secrets of her own—and together they discover a magical lake. At first, the lake offers Georgia thrilling adventures with her new friend. But as things grow worse at home, the magic threatens to spiral out of control. . . .

Award-winning author Ali Standish explores the courage it takes to piece your heart back together again when those closest to you break it.

AliStandish.com