Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Author Susan Runholt

Award-winning Susan Runholt, author of the Kari and Lucas mystery series (click for my review), shares her teenage heroines’ love of art and travel and commitment to feminism. She has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and Africa, and lived in Amsterdam and Paris, working as a bank clerk and an au pair. She’s also been […]

Middle Grade Ninja: ALL TOGETHER NOW: A ZOMBIE STORY Chapters 1-5

The following is the first 14 chapters from my book of 96 Chapters, All Together Now: A Zombie Story. You can get the whole thing here. WARNING This YOUNG ADULT novel is mean and nasty and intended for a mature audience. It is absolutely not appropriate for younger readers. In no way is this warning […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Banneker Bones Appendix

Because this blog has always doubled as my writer’s notebook, I sometimes store things here that may not interest regular Esteemed Readers, such as my handy Middle Grade Ninja Style Guide. I check that page (and update it frequently). I direct editors of my work there as well. And because it’s online, anyone who needs […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: BORN TO FLY by Michael Ferrari

Born to Fly is a an extemely enjoyable adventure novel that stars a girl, but which will be loved by both boys and girls. Ferrari’s writing is wonderful throughout and I have a number of great excerpts to share with you. To start with, here is the novel’s first sentence: Just because I was a girl in […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: DON’T KNOW WHERE, DON’T KNOW WHEN by Annette Laing

Today we’re talking about The Snipesville Chronicles, Book One: Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When. Do you like time travel, esteemed reader? Do you like being immersed in the world of the past and learning about another time and place? Do you like educational fiction that aims to expand your knowledge base as well as […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: GIDEON’S SPEAR by Darby Karchut

First Paragraph(s): Screaming bored out of his mind, thirteen-year-old Finn MacCullen blew a long sigh as he wandered around the clearing in the woods. The late-afternoon rays of the summer sun lit the trees surrounding him, tinting the trunks of the Ponderosa pines with the same shade of bronze as that of the large knife, […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: LIZZY SPEARE AND THE CURSED TOMB by Ally Malinenko

First Paragraph: Her feet didn’t seem to touch the steps. She pounded, step after step, Sammy right behind her. Each footfall fell in line with her thumping heart. Downstairs, in the kitchen she could still hear her father fighting with the man who rang their bell. Her father had told her and Sammy to get upstairs. He sounded […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN by Bruce Coville

First Paragraph(s): “Hey, Geekoid!” yelled Duncan Dougal as he snatched Peter Thompson’s book out of his hand. “Why do you read so much? Don’t you know how to watch TV?” Poor Peter. I could see that he wanted to grab the book back from Duncan. But I also knew that if he tried, Duncan would cream […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: THE SECRET IN THE WOOD by S. L. Lipson

First Paragraph(s): Tears welled up in Sara’s big, green eyes as she gazed out her bedroom window at the tall pine tree grove. The trees—her trees—waved their branches to and fro, slowly, sadly. It looked as if they were waving goodbye. Home just wasn’t the same now that she was moving. She imagined the branches […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams

I’m so excited, Esteemed Reader, because this week I get to share with you one of my most favorite books of all time. I’m not sure if I could ever possibly pick an absolute favorite book, but if I did, Watership Down would surely be a strong contender for the top spot. And that pretty […]

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