Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Literary Agent Laura Rennert

Laura Rennert has been a Senior Agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency since 1998. She thinks of herself as a “literary omnivore” and specializes in all categories of children’s books, from picture books to young adult, and in up-market women’s fiction and narrative nonfiction. She represents award-winning and best-selling authors, including #1 NYT bestsellers Ellen […]

Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Literary Agent Molly Ker Hawn

Molly Ker Hawn represents authors who write for the young adult and middle grade market. Here she is in her own words: My time in the children’s publishing industry has included editorial roles at Chronicle Books and Dial Books for Young Readers, early social media development for a major teen magazine, and serving as National […]

Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Literary Agent Stephen Barr

Stephen Barr is an agent with Writers House, and holy crap does he like books – unexpected memoirs with itchy voices, narrative non-fiction that tackles hard-to-tackle issues, wry and rarely paranormal YA, laugh-until-you-squirt-milk-out-of-your-nose middle grade, sweet and wacky (but still logical!) picture books from author/illustrators, and rarest of all, fiction that rewards the reader line-by-line […]

Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Author Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the […]

Middle Grade Ninja: 7 Questions For: Author Sheila Kelly Welch

Sheila Kelly Welch is the author of Waiting to Forget. Click here to read my review. Sheila Kelly Welch began writing and drawing in elementary school. Her black crayon was always worn to a nub from sketching horses with long manes and sweeping tails. Now she writes and illustrates for children of all ages. Her […]

Middle Grade Ninja: A Writer’s Best Feeling

What a fine day it is, Esteemed Reader. As I write this, the world outside is a frozen landscape of things quiet and dead. I have a pile of snotty tissues beside me and I’m hacking my head off every few moments. My vision is blurred, I have no strength, and my brain is as […]

Middle Grade Ninja: An Afterword for PIZZA DELIVERY

WARNING: This ADULT novelette is mean and nasty and intended for a mature audience. It is absolutely not appropriate for younger readers. It is a gruesome, repugnant tale sure to warp young minds and it contains EXTREMELY COARSE LANGUAGE. Seriously. The following is an afterword for Pizza Delivery, but I’m not going to spoil the story and I’m mostly […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES by Rob Kent

First Paragraph(s): IN SOME WAYS, SCHOOL IS better than prison. Not many, but some. Like prison, school is all about routine. At 5:30 each morning, Ellicott Skullworth’s mother woke him. At 6:30 he rode the school bus. At 7:00 the first bell rang and class began, recess was at 9:30, lunch was at 12:30, […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: CRACKED UP TO BE by Courtney Summers

Note: This week’s book is actually YA and filled with adult language and adult content. It is absolutely not appropriate for younger readers and adults should view it as the equivalent of an ‘R’ rated movie. I am gaga, over the moon crazy about a book by a debut author. It’s just so very, very […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: THE FOURTH STALL by Chris Rylander

First Paragraph(s): You need something? I can get it for you. You have a problem? I can solve it. That’s why they come to me. By “they” I mean every kid in the school. First graders up to eighth graders. Everyone comes to me for help, and most of the time I’m happy to provide it. […]

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