THE EXPLORERS blog tour: Interview and Giveaway

THE EXPLORERS:THE DOOR IN THE ALLEY by Adrienne Kress (Penguin Random House, April 25 2017)

The Don and I have been busy blog-touring this week--and we are thrilled to have been included in Adrienne Kress' tour. The Explorers has got it all: winning characters, frightening antagonists, and an appealing sense of whimsical humor. (Also, one of the coolest covers around!)

What It's About:
Featuring a mysterious society, a secretive past, and a pig in a teeny hat, The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a new series for fans of The Name of This Book Is a Secret and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Knock once if you can find it—but only members are allowed inside.

   This is one of those stories that start with a pig in a teeny hat. It’s not the one you’re thinking about. (This story is way better than that one.)
   This pig-in-a-teeny-hat story starts when a very uninquisitive boy stumbles upon a very mysterious society. After that, there is danger and adventure; there are missing persons, hired thugs, a hidden box, a lost map, and famous explorers; and there is a girl looking for help that only uninquisitive boys can offer.

The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a series that is sure to hit young readers right in the funny bone.

Opening Line:
"This story begins, like most stories do, with a pig wearing a teeny hat."

Q & A with Adrienne Kress

1) Who are your favorite (middle grade) writers? 

I'm a huge Norton Juster fan, and also Judy Blume (of course). And I'm definitely a Harry Potterphile, and so adore J.K. Rowling. I also really enjoy the classics including J.M. Barrie and Lewis Carroll.

2) What's on your nightstand now?

Right now I have Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me?, Lesley Livingston's The Valiant, Danielle Younge-Ullman's Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined and Melanie Fishbane's Maud.

3) Pick a favorite scene from your novel, and say why you like it.

Oh, man. That's really tough. I think, though . . . I think one of my favourite scenes isn't exactly a scene, it's more like a montage. It's the sequence where Sebastian gets to know The Explorers Society building and all the amazing rooms and objects inside. I think this is because I just really loved creating the Society and kind of sort of wish it was real and I could live there.  [MGM: It is a cool place!]

4) Fill in the blank: I'm really awesome at....

...at just being generally awesome :) . Okay, but if forced to choose, I suppose I'm pretty swell at absurdity. I love it so much, mostly because I tend to think the world in general is rather absurd.

5) My breakfast of writing champions is...

Yogurt and fruit, a couple of slices of cheese and English Breakfast tea.

6) If you could visit any place, real or imagined, where would it be?

I really really really want to go to New Zealand. So much. It just looks like one of the most beautiful places on earth.


And also Hogwarts. [MGM: Wouldn't we all!]

About the Author:
Adrienne Kress is a writer and an actress born and raised in Toronto. She is the daughter of two high school English teachers, and credits them with inspiring her love of both writing and performing. She also has a cat named Atticus, who unfortunately despises teeny hats. She is the author of The Explorers: The Door in the Alley and The Explorers: The Reckless Rescue. To find out more about Adrienne go to AdrienneKress.com and follow @AdrienneKress on Twitter and Instagram.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: LEMONS by Melissa Savage (Interview and Giveaway)

LEMONS by Melissa Savage (Crown Books for Young Readers, May 2nd, 2017)

The Don and I are thrilled to be part of Melissa Savage's book tour. Melissa also agreed to answer our patented Middle Grade Mafioso questions so, after you've read about Lemons, stick around to learn more about Melissa!

What It's About (from Goodreads):
The search for Bigfoot gets juicy in this funny and touching story that’s perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Flora & Ulysses and Katherine Applegate’s Crenshaw!

Lemonade Liberty Witt’s mama always told her: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But Lem can’t possibly make lemonade out of her new life in Willow Creek, California—the Bigfoot Capital of the World—where she’s forced to live with a grandfather she’s never met after her mother passes away.

Then she meets eleven-year-old Tobin Sky, the CEO of Bigfoot Detectives Inc., who is the sole Bigfoot investigator for their small town. After he invites Lem to be his assistant for the summer, they set out on an epic adventure to capture a shot of the elusive beast on film. But along the way, Lem and Tobin end up discovering more than they ever could have imagined. And Lem realizes that maybe she can make lemonade out of her new life after all

Opening Lines:

"Bigfoot.
It's the very first thing I see when we pull into town. A gargantuan wooden statue of the hairy beast, stuck right smack in the middle of the square, like he's the mayor or President Ford or someone real important like that."

Middle Grade Mafioso Questions for Melissa:

1) Who are your favorite (middle grade) writers?         

I love Kate DiCamillo, Gary Schmidt and Kelly Easton to name a few. I also grew up reading Judy Blume and Paula Danziger, two more favorites. One of my most beloved books growing up was Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? by Paula Danziger.  It was not one of her best known YA’s, but I loved it! That one and her Pistachio Prescription were books I read and reread growing up. It’s a hard question to answer because I’m always finding new favorites. I love going to the book store and finding a gem I didn’t know about. I just did that with Jason Reynold’s, As Brave As You. It should have been on my radar, but it wasn’t and it was just a gem to find. Now I’m a huge fan!

2) What's on your nightstand now? 

I’m reading Rain Reign right now and I LOVE it! I know whether or not I’m going to like a book by reading the very first page. And this was one I knew I needed to keep reading.

 3) Pick a favorite scene from your novel, and say why you like it.

I especially love to write dialogue between Tobin and Lemonade because they are so different. I think it’s fun for them to debate their differences and then have to come to some kind of agreement or compromise. However, one of my favorite scenes is when Tobin and Lemonade come upon the nest out back of Mrs. Dickerson’s house and find Scotty living there. The scene in which Charlie, Debbie, Scotty, Tobin and Lemonade all come to grips with Scotty being alive is so full of all kinds of different feelings all at once. And it also really shows Lemonade’s growth and healing as she reaches for Charlie’s hand just in case he has his own sadness quicksand.

4) Fill in the blank: I'm really awesome at.... 

Still being a ten-year-old on the inside, useless Seinfeld Trivia and binge watching cryptozoological reality shows of any kind.

5) My breakfast of writing champions is...

Matcha tea. I start my day every day with a cup of Matcha in my Bigfoot “I believe” mug for cryptozoological inspiration.


6) If you could visit any place, where would it be? 

I just took a trip this year to Scotland, my first time overseas and I loved it! I would love to visit England, Australia and Norway. And maybe . . . Cleveland? Just because I’ve never been there.

Thanks so much, Melissa!
For more information about Melissa, visit her website. And if you want to be entered into a drawing for your very own copy of LEMONS, leave a comment to say 'hi.' Ciao!

One Good Thing About America by Ruth Freeman (Blog Tour)

Welcome to Day #9 of the One Good Thing About America Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of One Good Thing About America by Ruth Freeman (3/14/17), blogs across the web are featuring exclusive content from Ruth and 10 chances to win a copy of One Good Thing About America, as well as a chance to win a Skype visit with Ruth in the Grand Prize Giveaway!

Shelfie by Ruth Freeman

Here’s a “shelfie” of me in front of one of my bookshelves. Travel books, history, novels, photograph albums and…children’s books! A few of the stranger ones are books left over from the research I did for my nonfiction books. The Philosophy of the Bed was for Bedtime, the picture book I did on the history of beds. And The Corset was one book I used when I was doing research for my book: Underwear: What We Wear Under There. I could talk about books and reading for ever but I don’t want to keep you that long. So, I wanted to show you my very, very favorite children’s books… When I read a book, I love going somewhere else, a place I’ve never been. Going on some kind of adventure. I love to find a book where the author uses words so well that you can believe the story is real. I will never go to Narnia, but I can tell you exactly what it feels like to be there with Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy. I will never live in the Plaza Hotel like Eloise, but I know her well enough to love her and Nanny. Reading brings us all these amazing experiences! I learned about being brave and making do in the Little House books, I learned about mean, wicked people in James and the Giant Peach and the Black Arrow, I learned about love in Charlotte’s Web. Books bring us whole worlds we will never know, but we learn so much from them about life and what is means to be a human being.

*****

Stop by The Hiding Spot tomorrow for the last stop on the tour!

Blog Tour Schedule:

April 10th – Geo Librarian April 11th – Late Bloomer's Book Blog April 12th – Mrs. Mommy BookNerd April 13th – Kristi's Book Nook April 14th – Life Naturally April 17th – Books My Kids Read April 18th – Chat with Vera April 19th – Word Spelunking April 20th – Middle Grade Mafioso April 21st – The Hiding Spot

Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Add on Goodreads

Follow Ruth: Website | Facebook Publisher: Holiday House

ONE GOOD THING ABOUT AMERICA is a sweet, often funny middle-grade novel that explores differences and common ground across cultures. It's hard to start at a new school . . . especially if you're in a new country. Back home, Anaïs was the best English student in her class. Here in Crazy America she feels like she doesn't know English at all. Nothing makes sense (chicken FINGERS?), and the kids at school have some very strange ideas about Africa. Anaïs misses her family . . . so she writes lots of letters to Oma, her grandmother. She tells her she misses her and hopes the war is over soon. She tells her about Halloween, snow, mac 'n' cheese dinners, and princess sleepovers. She tells her about the weird things Crazy Americans do, and how she just might be turning into a Crazy American herself.

About the Author: Ruth Freeman grew up in rural Pennsylvania but now lives in Maine where she teaches students who are English language learners, including many newly arrived immigrants. She is the author of several acclaimed nonfiction picture books. One Good Thing About America is her first novel..

GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY

• One (1) winner will receive a signed copy of One Good Thing About America for their personal collection, as well as a 30 minute Skype visit with Ruth Freeman to the school of their choice and a signed copy for the school's library.
• Enter via the rafflecopter below
• US Only
• Ends 4/23 at midnight ET

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's Up in Mafiosoland

Okay, it's officially that time of the year when I go "where the heck is the time going?!" Mid-April, already, folks!! I'd like to think the Don and I have been setting the world to rights, or strolling through the olive groves during our spring holidays, but it's actually been nose to the grindstone in my other official role as family chauffeur.

Those of you familiar with the Mafioso brood may remember that I have three sons. The oldest is in college, but the younger two are both still at home. Middle is a thespian and his latest play--ROBIN HOOD at Portland's Northwest Children's Theater--is about to start performances this week. (A LOT of driving to rehearsals and such.) Youngest is a basketball and baseball player, and we have been attempting to play baseball during what may turn out to be our wettest spring on record. They've played two games, and finally won a game for the first time in two years. O sweet victory! You'd have thought they'd won the World Series from all the carrying on.

In between, I've been trying to write my novels, keep Project Mayhem up-and-running, and reading all sorts of adult books for my various book groups. (One of the novels being The River Why, which I first read 20 years ago. It bears reading again!) Here's one quote I've just read:

"Always it is the same; it is the greedy, the cruel, the ungrateful that bring down suffering upon the people."

                                                                -- Thomas Bigeater

I do have a busy few weeks coming up, as I've been invited to take part in several blog tours. There will be a post this coming Thursday when I will be featuring Ruth Freeman's ONE GOOD THING ABOUT AMERICA.

I would love it if you would drop by on the 20th, to learn about  Ruth 's novel, and for the chance of winning an ARC.

Till then, you'll find me behind the wheel. Ciao!

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: JOURNEY'S END by Rachel Hawkins

Blog Tour for JOURNEY'S END by Rachel Hawkins (October 25th, 2016)

What It's About: 
The town of Journey's End may not literally be at the end of the world, but it sure feels like it to Nolie Stanhope. Spending the summer with her scientist father in the tiny Scottish village isn't exactly Nolie's idea of a good time, but she soon finds a friend: native Journey's Ender Bel McKissick.

While Nolie's father came to Journey's End to study the Boundary--a mysterious fog bank offshore--Bel's family can’t afford to consider it a threat. The McKissick’s livelihood depends on the tourists drawn by legends of a curse. Still, whether you believe in magic or science, going into the Boundary means you'll never come back.

…Unless you do. Albert Etheridge, a boy who disappeared into the Boundary in 1914, suddenly returns--without having aged a day and with no memory of the past hundred years. Then the Boundary starts creeping closer to the town, threatening to consume everyone within.


While Nolie's father wants to have the village evacuated, Bel's parents lead the charge to stay in Journey's End. Meanwhile, Albert and the girls look for ways to stop the encroaching boundary, coming across an ancient Scottish spell that requires magic, a quest, and a sacrifice.

First Lines:
"Albert Macleish woke up early on the morning he disappeared.

It had to be early is he was to leave without his mum and da noticing, so it was still murky and dim when he opened the front gate and slipped out into the quiet, rutted lane that ran past his house..."

Impressions:
I'm just in love with this cover! Spooky Scotland seems to be all the rage this year, Earlier this year, I reviewed Janet Fox's THE CHARMED CHILDREN OF ROOKSKILL CASTLE, and if you liked that I believe you will like Rachel Hawkin's JOURNEY'S END also. The friendships are strong, the fog is scary, and who doesn't feel the hairs on the back of their necks prickle when you hear the words "ancient Scottish spell that requires magic, a quest, and a sacrifice"?

About The Author:
Rachel Hawkins is the author of the Hex Hall series. She lives in Alabama.

Rachel Hawkins' Tumblr photo

Other stops on the Blog Tour:

10/24: The Reading Nook 

10/25: Buttermybooks 

10/26: Once Upon a Twilight 

10/27: Novel Novice 

10/28: In Wonderland 

10/31: Middle Grade Mafioso 

11/1: Green Bean Teen Queen 

11/2: YA Bibliophile 

11/3: Stories & Sweeties 

11/4: The Book Wars 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: HUNDRED PERCENT by Karen Romano Young

HUNDRED PERCENT by Karen Romano Young

 I am thrilled to be part of this blog tour for HUNDRED PERCENT, the latest by Karen Romano Young!

What It's About:

The last year of elementary school is big for every kid. Christine Gouda faces change at every turn, starting with her own nickname—Tink—which just doesn’t fit anymore. Readers will relate to this strong female protagonist whose voice rings with profound authenticity and absolute novelty, and her year’s cringingly painful trials in normalcy: uncomfortable Halloween costumes, premature sleepover parties, crushed crushes, and changing friendships. Throughout all this, Tink learns that what you call yourself, and how you do it, has a lot to do with who you are.

First Lines:
In late August, Tink got a new name. Her best friend, Jackie, renamed her. This was after Tink realized that none of her school clothes fit and her mother took her on a hellish shopping trip involving two sizes up, three bras-for-the-very-first-time, and four arguments about style that had both Mom and Tink in tears. On the way home, Tink convinced her mother to drop her at Jackie’s with all six shopping bags, so they could have a fashion show.

My Thoughts:
HUNDRED PERCENT is a tremendous portrayal of shifting friendships, and really captures all the confusion of 6th grade. I loved the characters' voices--and I think this is one of the truest renditions of the changing relationship between boys and girls at this age that I've read. I loved it!

Here's my interview with Karen Romano Young:

Who are your favorite (middle grade) writers?
• Christopher Paul Curtis (Bud, Not Buddy)  This book is in my dreams and notes or allusions to it pop up in my own writing often.
* Jean Craighead George (fiction and nonfiction) This woman followed her own star to the north, and nerded out exactly as much as she wanted to.
• Louise Fitzhugh (Harriet the Spy) Because Harriet, unapologetically curious and observant and obsessed by writing. That Fitzhugh, what an enabler!
• Eleanor Estes (The Witch Family, Pinky Pye, The Moffats, Rufus M.)   Her writing is so natural, enchanting, it feels like home.
• Nora Raleigh Baskin (Nine, Ten)  Always taking chances and doing amazing things with not very many words.
• Hilary McKay (Saffy’s Angel, Forever Rose) The Casson Family series are my go-to’s when I’m sad, or lonely, or want to do art or write or just about anything. I love these books so much, and when I learned my editor, Chronicle’s Taylor Norman, loved them too, I knew I was in the right place.
• David Macaulay (The Way Things Work) Macaulay is proof to me that you can be yourself and do it well and come up with great books that change people’s lives.
• Brian Selznick (Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck) I just can’t even talk to Brian Selznick, I am so in awe of him.  I see him at conferences and circle him but never approach.
• Grace Lin (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) Here is someone whose work started out great and just gets better and better. Lin is so talented!

2) What's on your nightstand now?
• Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books — They are a little dated in some ways but really are incredibly respectful toward children. These books emphasize something I can’t get enough of these days: the idea that kids are able, responsible, and capable of independence.
• The Girl Who Played with Fire — It’s not often I get drawn in by a thriller, but this series seems to break so many molds that I’m fascinated, waiting to see what will happen next.
• Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. I started working through this amazing book/program in September 2015 and have found it to be transformative.  It’s not easy being a writer sometimes — and this book helps.
• Eleanor Estes’s Pinky Pye.  Because it’s summer and the family’s at Fire Island and Uncle Bennie (age 4) is catching crickets every day and wondering why they are missing every morning. What’s getting them?  Don’t you want to know? Pinky the kitten is on the case…  Also, I find Edward Ardizzone’s illustrations to be sublime (he illustrated The Witch Family, too).

3) Pick a favorite scene from your novel, and say why you like it.
Oh wow!  What a question!  Is it the scene I like the most or the one in which I’m most pleased with my writing? I think it has to be one of the parts where people are playing with words. Jackie and Tink do it just as much as Bushwhack.  I do love the part where Bushwhack is in the bowling alley and Jackie is trying to teach Stanley to bowl, and Tink calls Keith “lava boy” and then realizes it sounds like “lover boy” and instead of being mortified, the two of them just burst out laughing.  But I also love the phone conversation where they are talking about Romeo and Juliet and lobsters at the same time, and one of them says, “O that I were a claw upon that lobster” instead of “O that I were a glove upon her hand.”

4) Fill in the blank: I'm really awesome at...
Um. Drawing skunks.

5) My breakfast of champions is…
This is funny because just last week I described my lunch of champions as peanut M & Ms and iced coffee.

 Breakfast is often yogurt, peaches, and/or cinnamon babka.

6) If you could visit any place, where would it be?
Antarctica.

I have a copy of this marvelous book I would like to send to one lucky commenter. Leave a comment, with your email address within, for a chance to win. (US and Canada only, please.) Ciao! UPDATE on 9/18: The winner, chosen by Random.org, is Andrea Mack. Andrea, I'll be getting in touch with you soon!

YA FOR THE DAY: Beth Kephart's THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU, interview and giveaway

The Don and I are huge Beth Kephart fans, and when Chronicle Books invited us to be part of the blog tour for Beth's latest YA novel, we jumped at the chance. (We're taking down all the middle grade wallpaper and being YA for a day! The Don's even allowing himself to smoke a cigar in the press room.)

I've raved about Beth before--on my dearly departed blog THE YEAR OF WRITING DANGEROUSLY--and in reviewing her previous novels, Small Damages and You are my Only, I wrote: "Kephart's stories are full of secrets and hurts, of small and sometimes painful declarations of love, and of what it means to expose one's heart to the joys and sorrows of the world." In this new novel, I stand by these assertions.

This is the Story of You takes place on Haven, a six-mile-long, one-half-mile-wide barrier island. It's linked to the mainland by a bridge, a bridge over which Mira Banul's younger brother, Jasper Lee, must regularly cross to get the infusions that will allow him to live with Hunter Syndrome.

Mira describes herself as "medium everything." She's not going anywhere because, on Haven, she has "responsibilities." These include not only her family, but also her friends--particularly Deni and Eva. Into this 'haven' then, rides a colossal storm. The bridge is out, property destroyed, lives lost. Amid the devastation, though, people hang on. There are rescues, and the rise of a patchwork community. Secrets are revealed.

If there is a more wonderful fashioner of sentences than Beth Kephart, then lead me to her, because in my book Beth is the best. Her sentences sing on the page. They are sinews, and sparkles, and strong undertows. Beth Kephart's writing is proof positive that writing can rescue us, can lead us into dark places and back to the light again. At several points in the novel I cried, and the Don claimed that the cigar smoke was bothering his eyes.

I am thrilled that Beth took time to answer our questions. Here we go:

Middle Grade Mafioso, thank you so much for making room for This Is the Story of You—and for your questions.

1. Do your stories germinate from a "what if?" question, or from a glimpse of a character, or some other inciting factor? Was Hurricane Sandy's devastation the catalyst for This is the Story of You?
Oh, the mysteries of the writing process. I wish I could name all the inspirations, all the influences, but perhaps it is best that some of this remains a mystery even to me. When I am writing I am in a mood. I am hearing voices. I am seeing something far away that is coming closer and closer, so close that now I trap it with words.

I love the Jersey shore. I am devastated by rising seas. I imagine the future.  I study these storms. And I love young people, these kids who survive in the wake of calamity. I love Jasper Lee, my young character with Hunter’s syndrome because I had, as part of my job, twice interviewed a person with this condition and grown to be so fond of him.

But in the beginning, I heard a handful of words. I knew I’d be writing about the sea and storms. My husband and I went to Beach Haven off season so that I could feel that world deeply. I got up before dawn each morning and watched the dolphins and the dogs. And the story began there.

2. You have written many wonderful things. What is the greatest challenge for getting words on the page? What is the greatest delight?
Well, first, thank you. I appreciate your words. And — the greatest challenge for me is finding the time. This past year, I have spent most of my time with my father, sorting out and packing up and cleaning and staging and hoping to sell his home, while helping him move into his new home. There was no room for words in all that until, finally, the silence in my writing head burst and I discovered stories waiting for me. Too many stories, perhaps.

When I began to write again—only for a half day here, two hours over there—it seemed as if I had never written before. And I think that maybe it always feels this way. That the new story is the first story. And, all things being new, I have to teach myself how to write again. It’s all hard. It’s all worth it.

3. What words of wisdom would your current self impart to your younger writer self?
Don’t be afraid of all the time you will (because of family responsibilities, because of your paying job, because of how life gets in the way) spend not writing. Something is churning. Your stories will find you.

4. In This is the Story of You, one of your characters has a rare syndrome. How did you learn about this syndrome, and what steps did you take to research it for your character?
As part of my day job, I have interviewed patients for many, many years. Patients with all different conditions, hopes, therapies. I interviewed a young man with Hunter syndrome and met others with the condition. I wrote about the infusion medicine that helps him for many years. I was deeply inspired. I wrote Jasper Lee to honor those who are living with Hunter.

5. Morning person or night owl? Cheesesteak or hoagie?
Morning person, starting at 4 AM. But since my husband is a night owl, I don’t often go to bed until 11 or later.

Can I have a chicken cheesesteak, please? And if you are visiting my hometown of Philadelphia, I think we ought to talk about hoagies. (MGM: If I ever get the chance to visit Philadelphia, I would love to talk about hoagies, as well as writing and life, with Beth Kephart. Beth, I'm holding you to the hoagie conversation!)

Thanks for taking time on a Saturday, no less, for this very special post. A comment here, or on my Facebook link, will give you the opportunity to win a copy of THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU from Chronicle Books. (US and Canada only, please.) Have a great weekend, cari amici.

Over at Project Mayhem today, featuring Tara Dairman's THE STARS OF SUMMER

Blog Tour button designed by Kristin Rae

I've been neglecting Middle Grade Mafioso horribly--mainly because I'm currently querying agents as well as cracking the whip as blog manager over at Project Mayhem.

Speaking of which, Project Mayhem is last stop on Tara Dairman's The Stars of Summer Blog Tour. 

As I say in my review, it's hard to get a grizzled old Middle Grade Mafioso to laugh. (Tears are a different story. I'm getting much more lachrymose in my old age, when I think of the vicissitudes of life.) But reading The Stars of Summer, I laughed a lot. Knowing, as I do, how much kids this age are into cooking shows, I'm betting that Tara has another hit on her hands.

If you're so inclined today, hop on over to the Project to say Hi! 

MMGM: RORY'S PROMISE by Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols

RORY'S PROMISE (by Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols, Calkins Creek, September 1st, 2014)

You know a novel's good when the first words out of the Don's mouth on a Monday morning are, "Get me this Rory girl, pronto. She'll be an asset to the famiglia."

Yup, those are the very words I heard this morning, and no surprise. Anyone who knows the Don (and me) knows that we are huge fans of Michaela MacColl. The Don went to Africa after reading Promise the Night, and he's been heard reciting Emily Dickinson (of course he thinks he's unobserved) after reading Nobody's Secret. Now, with Rory's Promise, he's inquiring about becoming a benefactor to nuns with their projects. As he said to me the other day, "Them Sisters! Che par di palle!" Which is to say, he thinks the good nuns have got chutzpah!

Michaela's latest project is with Calkins Creek, an imprint of Boyds Mill Press. With co-author Rosemary Nichols, she's kicking off a series called Hidden Histories. This particular book is about Irish orphans who are sent west on so-called Orphan Trains. We meet the orphans from "The Foundling Hospital," a foundation run by Catholic nuns, led by the redoubtable Sister Anna. They are well-cared for, compared to the children from the Children's Aid Society who are also traveling west.

What I Loved: Like the Don, I was captivated by the character of Rory Fitzpatrick, who is one of the spunkiest characters (male or female) I've read in a long while. Determined not to be separated from her younger sister, Violet, Rory gets arrested, stows aboard first a carriage, and then the orphan train itself, and generally stands up for herself in many ways--unafraid to tackle adults, as well as stand up to the formidable Sister Anna herself.

The Cover: The cover perfectly captures my idea of Rory. Go Red!

The Pacing: This novel moves at a clip. In fact, the Don barely looked up from it to sip from his morning cappuchino.

A look into a part of history of which I was unaware: Yes, the orphan trains actually existed. There are notes in the back of the book which tell all about it, as well as a great educator's guide which came with my copy. By the way, teachers, this would be an awesome novel to study in Grades 4-7 as part of a Language Arts or Social Studies Curriculum.

There's a blog tour going on--and Middle Grade Mafioso is stop numero due! Here's a list of the rest of the tour--be sure to stop by because, just like today, you could win a copy of this fantastic novel. Hey, the Don might even bring it to your door. (Oh, I guess not. He's in meetings with the sisters all week--so you'll have to rely on the good folks at Boyd's Creek to ship you your winning copy. JUST LEAVE A COMMENT. (U.S. addresses only for the win.)

Fri 9/19                 KirbyLarson

Mon 9/22             Middle Grade Mafioso 
Tue 9/23               Mother/Daughter Book Club 
Wed 9/24             Middle Grade Minded 
Thu 9/25              KidLit Frenzy 
Fri 9/26                Unleashing Readers

Here's more on Michaela, plus her book trailer. Thanks for stopping by. CIAO!

Michaela attended Vassar College and Yale University earning degrees in multi-disciplinary history. Unfortunately, it took her 20 years before she realized she was learning how to write historical fiction. Her favorite stories are the ones she finds about the childhood experiences of famous people. She has written about a teenaged Queen Victoria (Prisoners in the Palace, Chronicle 2010) and Beryl Markham’s childhood (Promise the Night, Chronicle 2011). She is writing a literary mystery series for teens featuring so far a young Emily Dickinson in Nobody’s Secret (2013) and the Bronte sisters in Always Emily (2014).  She has recently begun a new series with Boyd’s Mill/Highlights called Hidden Histories about odd events in America’s past. The first entry in the series is Rory’s Promise and will be published in September 2014. She frequently visits high schools and has taught at the Graduate Institute in Bethel, CT. She lives in Westport CT with her husband, two teenaged daughters and three extremely large cats. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: NOBODY'S SECRET, by Michaela MacColl: Interview and Giveaway

NOBODY'S SECRET by Michaela MacColl (Chronicle Books, April 2013)

Today I have the great pleasure to kick off the blog tour for Michaela MacColl's new novel, Nobody's Secret. This is--wait for it--a murder mystery starring a teen Emily Dickinson. Let me say that it is a tremendous historical novel, for all of you historical devotees. Emily is totally spunky; the identity of the murderer is not guessed at until very near the end--and the writing is topnotch and engrossing. I was lucky enough to get to interview Michaela, and am even luckier to be able to send a hardback, hot-off-the-presses copy to one lucky commenter.

Here's the blurb from Goodreads: 

One day, fifteen-year-old Emily Dickinson meets a mysterious, handsome young man. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to know who she or her family is. And even more surprisingly, he playfully refuses to divulge his name. Emily enjoys her secret flirtation with Mr. "Nobody" until he turns up dead in her family's pond. She's stricken with guilt. Only Emily can discover who this enigmatic stranger was before he's condemned to be buried in an anonymous grave. Her investigation takes her deep into town secrets, blossoming romance, and deadly danger. Exquisitely written and meticulously researched, this novel celebrates Emily Dickinson's intellect and spunk in a page-turner of a book that will excite fans of mystery, romance, and poetry alike.

Here's my interview with Michaela MacColl:

1.) Hi, Michaela. I loved PROMISE THE NIGHT, your novel about Beryl Markham--which I featured on Middle Grade Mafioso in January 2012. What draws you to characters like Beryl and Emily Dickinson?

I’ve always been drawn to interesting characters in history. I’m particularly fascinated by women, because let’s face it, there’s usually a lot holding them back.  Beryl was a girl who had to complete with boys to do what she wanted to do. Emily Dickinson lived a constricted life of a girl in the 19^th century, yet she found her freedom in her independence of mind.

2.) She certainly comes across as very independent minded! Another thing I really enjoyed was that you did a magnificent job with period details (for example, the fact that Emily and Vinny are no strangers to caring for dead bodies, as they have tended to the corpses of their deceased elderly relatives.) I'm sure you read widely--but was there one particular source you found yourself going to during your research?

I usually start with biographies. There are several good ones of Emily – my favorite was called My Wars are Laid Away in Books by Alfred Habegger. But they aren’t enough. I also visited Amherst, the Emily Dickinson Museum and the Digital Archives at the Amherst Library.  The archives were probably the most fun – they have Emily’s shopping lists and bits of poems written on any scrap of paper she could find.

3.) I hope one day to get to Amherst. Perhaps the Don will increase the travel budget, hint hint... Now, about the poetry, which you weave through the novel so well... here's a confession: although I studied English Literature at university in England, I shamefacedly admit I'd never heard of Emily Dickinson until I came to live in the States. (As for The Don, his favorite poet is Hallmark.) For novices like us, what favorite poem(s) by Emily would you recommend we read?

Emily’s poems don’t have titles. She didn’t use them. Her poems are usually identified by the first line. One of my favorites (and probably the one that might appeal most to young teens) is “This is my letter to the world, That never wrote to me.” Or “Hope is a Thing with Feathers.” The thing about Emily is that she wrote about what she thought and felt and saw. Her poems have an immediacy that keeps her modern almost 150 years after her death.

4.) They sure do. Now, I hope you'll excuse this fanboy moment, Michaela, but I truthfully have to say you are becoming one of my favorite writers--and I've never thought of myself as much of a historical novel buff. What new novels do you have in the pipeline? (So I can reserve my copy...) Any more murder mysteries?

Michael – that’s so nice of you to say! Thanks so much.  And I’m glad you asked! Nobody’s Secret is the first in a series of literary mysteries. The mystery in this novel was inspired by a poem. The next one is tentatively titled Always Emily (another Emily!) and it’s about… can you guess? That’s right, Emily Bronte and her sister Charlotte. The mystery in that novel is inspired by events in Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

5.) Really? I can't wait!! (I went to school in Yorkshire, not too far from the Brontes' stomping grounds.) Okay, final question: I love the way you've brought historical characters alive in your fiction. If you were to host a dinner party attended only by characters from history, who would you invite and why?

The problem with that question is that I would be too intimidated by anyone I would invite!  I’d love to meet Elinor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great. They’re all women who defined their times instead of allowing their times to define them!

Thanks for having me at Middle Grade Mafioso – It’s always a pleasure.

Thank you, Michaela. I bet that would be a dinner party for the ages. (The Don told me to crack that pun, and he's still chortling while chomping his cigar. Groan...) People, if you want to follow the Nobody's Secret bloggers, here's where they'll be tomorrow: The YA Book Shelf. And don't forget: comment for the win!

Have a great Middle Grade Monday, and happy reading!

POISON--Marvelous Monday Blog Tour

I'm taking a break from my normal MMGM (and from my 50th birthday celebrations, which have been stretching on for days) to celebrate the release of POISON, the debut of the late Bridget Zinn.

Bridget was only 33 when she died from cancer in 2011, with her book under contract. She and her husband, Barrett Dowell, had moved to Oregon from Wisconsin, and the first I ever heard of Bridget was the auction that our local SCBWI chapter held for her to help with her medical bills. Sad to say, I never got the chance to meet her, but in her short time in Oregon she made many friends and touched many hearts.

I am thoroughly enjoying POISON, with its spunky heroine, its whimsical humor, and its adventure. Here is what it's about:

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she's the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom's future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend. But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses. Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king's army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she's not alone. She's armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can't stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she's certainly no damsel-in-distress—she's the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

About Bridget:

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the "summer of love" and the two celebrated with several more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died. Her last tweet was "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

I can't think of anything sadder for a writer than not to hold a precious copy of his or her debut book. It is wonderful that many hands have been holding Bridget's book, and enjoying the fruits of her creative and ingenious mind. Please consider buying a copy, or asking your local library to order a copy. Sunshine, and a brand new book to you all.

Here's where you can buy POISON:

Barnes & Noble   POISON

IndieBound  

iTunes Bookstore POISON

Powell's Books 

And, if you must, Amazon 

Add Poison to your Goodreads pile!