Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: KELSEY GREEN, READING QUEEN by Claudia Mills

KELSEY GREEN, READING QUEEN by Claudia Mills (Margaret Ferguson Books, FSG 2013)

What It's About (via Goodreads blurb): 
Kelsey Green is the best reader in the third grade--well, maybe tied for best with know-it-all Simon Ellis. When the principal Mr. Boone announces  a school-wide reading contest, complete with a pizza party for the winning class and a special certificate for the top readers in each grade, she knows she's just the person to lead Mrs. Molina's third graders to victory. But how can they win when her classmate Cody Harmon doesn't want to read anything, and even Kelsey's best friends Annika and Izzy don't live up to her expectations? And could Simon possibly be reading all of those books that he claims he is, or is he lying to steal Kelsey's rightful spot at the top?

Opening Lines: "Kelsey Green no longer heard any of the voices in her third-grade classroom. All her attention was focused on the book spread open beneath her desk."

Why I Liked It: This is probably more chapter book than middle grade, but it did have an appealing character in Kelsey, and a strong arc. Kelsey is far from perfect--she's bossy and competitive for a start--but she is also redeemable. The strongest evidence about this is in her change of heart about Cody, who struggles with reading about as much as Kelsey does with math. Kelsey has to rein in her impatience and gets some self-knowledge as she helps Cody haltingly read his way through Henry and Mudge.

There are some nice friendships, an appealing Principal, and a long-suffering teacher in the mix. The writing is very assured.

I'm looking forward to the next in the series of Franklin School Friends: Annika Riz, Math Whiz and Izzy Barr, Running Star.

About the Author (from the back jacket): Claudia Mills is the acclaimed author of many books for children, including Fractions = Trouble and Being Teddy Roosevelt. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. 

Web site: Claudia Mills, Author
Blog: An Hour A Day

Claudia Mills is represented by Stephen Fraser (my agent) at the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Icefall

ICEFALL by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic, 2011)

What it's about: (via Goodreads) 
Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. A malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, and a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.

Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig and her siblings survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he succeeds in destroying a kingdom?

Opening Lines: "The fjord is freezing over. I watch it from the edge of our cliff near our hall, and each day the ice claims more of the narrow winding of ocean. It squeezes out the waves and the blue-black water, while it squeezes us in. Just as Father intended it to. Winter is here to wall us up, to bury us in snow and keep us safe."

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Why I liked it: As you can see from the opening lines, the SETTING of the novel is a character in itself. The opening manages to convey two apparently contradictory things: they are trapped, and they are safe. As someone who, shall we say, finds setting a challenge when writing, I enjoyed seeing how Matthew Kirby brought the Nordic-like landscape to life.

I adore the COVER on so many levels. Great colors, and you immediately know you are in some mythic past which will be brimming with action.

Solveig, the narrator, is a very interesting CHARACTER, the plain child who is last-placed of her siblings in her kingly father's affections, but who proves she has strength of character as she works to become a skald or storyteller/minstrel.

There is ACTION aplenty, with the arrival of "berserkers" who are there to protect the children, but are scary in their unpredictability. And there is the constant TENSION, as we wonder who is the traitor. This is one of those rare books that kept me up past my bedtime!

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Awards: ICEFALL won the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery and the 2012 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Children's Literature, among many others.

About the Author, from his website: Matthew J. Kirby was born in Utah, but with a father in the navy lived all over: Rhode Island, Maryland, California (twice), and Hawaii. As an undergraduate at Utah State University, he majored in history. He then went on to earn M.S. and Ed. S degrees in school psychology. he lives in Utah with his wife and works as a school psychologist for a large district.

Other novels: The Clockwork Three (Scholastic 2010). Matthew Kirby is also part of the Infinity Ring Series. His book (#5) will appear in September 2013.

Sidenote: Matthew Kirby's agent is my agent too. (Stephen Fraser at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.) So I am in exalted company!

My BIG News (Don Vito's "Over the Moon")

We've been very European here at Middle Grade Mafioso, and taken a nice long holiday break. But the grass hasn't been growing under our feet, because...

The Middle Grade Mafioso has an agent.

You heard that right. On January 9th, Stephen Fraser of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency offered to represent me and my middle grade time travel novel, Shakespeare on the Lam.

We had a tremendous conversation, in which he said wonderful things about the novel and asked me about my writing goals.

The Don's cry of Mamma Mia! is still ringing in my ears. He's even talking about awarding me the Order of the Eggplant, and giving me a year's supply of panettone.

It all seems a little unreal.

Here I am, signing the agency agreement:

(Notice all the giants of children's literature by my side?)

I want to thank you all for your support on this journey. You have read, commented, and cheered me on. I am so grateful for your friendship.

I'll leave you with a picture of the littlest author. (My 5-year old, who lamented that no one wanted to buy his painstakingly illustrated books--for $14, no less. His 8-year-old brother kindly agreed to be his agent.)

Holding the manuscript of the next generation

Now the Don says I have to get back to work. We've got a FANTASTICALLY Marvelous Middle Grade Monday event for the 16th, when I'll be kicking off a blog tour for the crazily good novel, Promise The Night, and interviewing the author, Michaela MacColl. Plus, the publisher's giving you the chance to win a copy of the novel. Be here, or be square!!