Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle
Here is a wonderful book for you, Esteemed Reader. If you haven’t read it, you should. I guarantee you’re going to have a laugh or two and what’s more, you’re going to be thoroughly engaged in a work of science fiction unlike any other you’ve ever read. A teacher read this book to my class […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: THE WITCHES by Roald Dahl
Happy Halloween, Esteemed Reader! I’ve got some great writer interviews and interviews with literary agents coming up. I’ll begin posting those again as of next week and we’ll return you to your regularly scheduled ninja. But as this week is nearly over, I’m just going to push those interviews back a little longer and focus instead on a […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: WISHTREE by Katherine Applegate
First Paragraph(s): It’s hard to talk to trees. We’re not big on chitchat. That’s not to say we can’t do amazing things, things you’ll probably never do. Cradle downy owlets. Steady flimsy tree forts. Photosynthesize. But talk to people? Not so much. And just try to get a tree to tell a good joke. Trees do […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: WISH YOU WEREN’T by Sherrie Petersen
First Paragraph(s): IT’S MIDNIGHT AND I’M FLAT ON MY BACK on a patch of grass in front of our hotel room, hoping that no one looks outside and wonders what the weirdos from California are doing. Tonight is the peak of the Perseids meteor shower. Every year my mom drags us out of bed just […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: WINDBLOWNE by Stephen Messer
Do you like kites, Esteemed Reader? If I were to say to you: “let’s go fly a kite, up to the highest height. Let’s go, let’s go—” Okay, I’ll stop now. But honestly, I love kite flying on a good windy day in the fall. I realize we’re almost out of those and no one […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: WHIRLWIND by Alison Hart
To be fair, Whirlwind is actually a book for teens, or a young adult novel, or possibly even a tween novel. Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago we discussed Emma’s River, a middle grade novel by Alison Hart. If you don’t remember that, here’s the link.I’m trying to leave YA books […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET by Tricia Springstubb
You know how agents and editors and writing guides like to say that the setting should be a character in your story? No? Well, gee, this is awkward:) But if you have heard that, and I’d guess you have and you wondered what it meant, read What Happened on Fox Street. Fox Street is a […]
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 […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: WATCHDOG by Will McIntosh
First Paragraph(s): Vick never got used to the smell. Usually he stopped noticing bad smells after a while, but the eye-watering stink of mountains of trash baking in the blazing August sun was so bad, it made every breath an ordeal. And then there were the flies buzzing around Vick’s face, landing on him with their […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: WAITING TO FORGET by Sheila Kelly Welch
Meet T.J., also known as Timothy, also known as Terry Jerry, and “it’s not unusual” for him to be referred to as Tom Jones (cracking myself up this week). But he prefers T.J. (for most of the story) and he’s an eleven-year-old kid with an adult’s problems because there is no adult to handle his […]