Highlighting Great New MG Fiction

 

Highlighting Great New Middle Grade Fiction

 

There’s some great new middle grade fiction out there, and I’ve highlighted some of it on my other blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.

 

Janet Sumner Johnson’s new novel, The Winterton Deception: Final Word, focuses on a family competing to win an unusual spelling bee. She said the inspiration for the book came from an old favorite of hers: “The Winterton Deception: Final Word started with The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. I stumbled on my childhood copy and decided to reread it. Quite frankly, the book is brilliant. It’s unlike any other book I’ve read, and I marveled at Ms. Raskin’s skills.” Johnson added, “I loved the puzzle mystery aspect. I loved the unique voice and point of view. I wished there were more books like it. So what’s an author to do, but take a stab at writing my own?”

 

Shari Green’s novel in verse, Game Face, looks at a young hockey player dealing with anxiety issues. “For me, character creation comes by “writing my way in”—into the character and into the story—by freewriting snippets of internal dialogue that reveal the character’s heart and wounds and hopes, and mini-scenes that hint at what may become key moments,” Green said. “So for Jonah, basically I just started writing! When I realized how much anxiety impacted Jonah both on and off the ice, I knew I needed to tell his story.”

 

Clar Angkasa has created a graphic novel, Stories of the Islands, based on Indonesian folk tales she heard as a child. She said, “I decided to illustrate a feminist retelling of the folktales I grew up with because it felt the most personal and meaningful to me. Thinking back on the narratives I grew up, I became very determined to create the type of stories that I felt was missing in my childhood, ones where girls are so much more than a mother, or a daughter or a love interest, and women’s choices aren’t limited to stereotypical gender roles.”

Deborah Hopkinson’s historical novel, The Plot to Kill a Queen, takes us back to Elizabethan England. She said, “Emilia and her trusty spaniel, Mouse, are sent on a mission to spy on Mary, Queen of Scots, held captive in Sheffield Castle. That castle is long gone, but I researched medieval castles, signed up for online historic talks about the Scots Queen, and read academic research papers as well as books about daily life in Elizabethan England. We included some period illustrations to help set the stage!”

 

And Michelle Mohrweis’s novel, The Problem with Gravity, highlights STEM themes. Mohrweis, a STEM educator, said: “I love STEM. I adore robotics and engineering. As an autistic adult, space is one of my main special interests! So when writing my books, I poured my love of STEM into them as much as I could. In Gravity, Tatum and Maggie aren’t just trying to figure out all these first crush feelings they have towards each other…they also are paired together for an engineering contest!”

 

--Deborah Kalb