Middle Grade Reading for November

Middle Grade Reading for November

 

I've recently interviewed some middle grade authors about their new books on my blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, and here are some excerpts...

 

Brian Anderson is the creator of the new graphic novels Sophie: Jurassic Bark and Sophie: Frankenstein's Hound. When I asked him about the inspiration behind the books, he said: "Sophie was inspired by my real-lifedog, and the comic became a documentary with a touch of imagination when my sonwas born. I always planned to expand beyond the shrinking newspaper strips, andgraphic novels were the perfect way to unleash Sophie's adventures andcharacter growth." He added, "Plus, I got lots of emails from youngreaders who'd never even seen a newspaper, but loved Sophie. That was the finalpush to take the leap into graphic novels."

 

Meg Welch Dendler's new middle grade novel is called Poppy and Marigold. In our interview, she recounted the novel's origins: "Their book began as a short story about two adultwomen in the 1950s from different backgrounds. When I shared it in my critiquegroup, they hated it. I mean, HATED it. I stuck it in a drawer, where it remains to this day, butthe idea of two people kept apart by their cultural differences stuck with me.When I started fussing around with the difference being skin color, thisstory began to evolve. I routinely write for children, and in the sci-fi/fantasyrealm, so it evolved from there. I wanted the colors to be separate fromanything on Earth, so there were no comparisons. Setting these girls in a totalfantasy world allowed for so much freedom."

 

Finally, Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares have collaborated on the new middle grade novel Westfallen. When I asked them about a Publishers Weekly review that said, "TheBrashares vividly illustrate the perils of forgetting lessons of the past inthis historical science-fiction thriller...," Ben answered, "We hoped that would be a take-away from the book. Wewent in with an “entertain first” M.O. and tried not to hit any readers overthe head with any messages but they’re in there and that’s probably one of theclearer ones."

There's always a lot to read, and I wish you some good middle grade reading this November!

--Deborah Kalb