Middle Grade Reading for May

Hi everyone. I thought I'd highlight a few new middle grade books--I've interviewed the authors on my blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.

Daphne Benedis-Grab's new novel is called I Know You Started It. It's a mystery, the latest in her Secrets and Lies series. When I asked her what she hoped readers would take away from the book, she said, "I think it’s really easy for all of us to assume we know a person based a few things we see them do or say - that is definitely true of the four main characters in I Know You Started It." She added: "But it’s only when we truly get to know people that we can see who they are in all their messy complexity. People can be so different than how they present and the things people have been through shape so much of that exterior we see. And it is so worth it to hold off on judging, to listen and engage and maybe find that you have way more in common with someone that you ever might have imagined."

 

Emily B. Martin is the author and illustrator of the new novel Nell O'Dell Hates Quests. I asked her about the book's title, and she said: "Nell O’Dell’s name was a purposeful creation—I wanted her nickname to be something frank and practical that she shortened from a more flowery given name, while her last name added whimsy that she couldn’t shake. It reflects her circumstances—all she wants is a quiet, predictable life, but she can’t get away from questing drama." She added, "I worried that publishers might not like 'Hates Quests,' but its punchiness has been just right for the tone of the book. When combined with the cover illustration, the title highlights the key tension between the protagonist and her world!"

 

Yevgenia Nayberg is the author and illustrator of the new graphic memoir Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters. I asked her what she thought the book said about the role art has played in her life, and she said, "Growing up, this obsessive, perpetual drawing was the only thing I knew. I never thought of it as something unusual. In fact, I thought everyone who went to Art School with me was just as consumed by art." She added: "When I reflect on it now, I realize that wasn’t the case. Not everyone was so dramatic. Many of my classmates did not become artists after graduation and did just fine. But for me, it never changed. I usually don’t talk about 'the role of art in my life' because it sounds too profound, but there’s no safer, happier, more intimate space for me than paper and pencil."

 

Happy reading!

 

--Deborah Kalb