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-life dog, and the comic became a documentary with a touch of imagination when my son was born. I always planned to expand beyond the shrinking newspaper strips, and graphic novels were the perfect way to unleash Sophie's adventures and character growth." He added, "Plus, I got lots of emails from young readers who'd never even seen a newspaper, but loved Sophie. That was the final push 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 adult women in the 1950s from different backgrounds. When I shared it in my critique group, they hated it. I mean, HATED it. I stuck it in a drawer, where it remains to this day, but the idea of two people kept apart by their cultural differences stuck with me. When I started fussing around with the difference being skin color, this story began to evolve. I routinely write for children, and in the sci-fi/fantasy realm, so it evolved from there. I wanted the colors to be separate from anything on Earth, so there were no comparisons. Setting these girls in a total fantasy 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, "The Brashares vividly illustrate the perils of forgetting lessons of the past in this historical science-fiction thriller...," Ben answered, "We hoped that would be a take-away from the book. We went in with an “entertain first” M.O. and tried not to hit any readers over the head with any messages but they’re in there and that’s probably one of the clearer ones."

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

--Deborah Kalb