Oz: Middle Grade – Lemuria Books

Category: Oz: Middle Grade (Page 1 of 2)

by Andrew Hedglin

William “Scoob” Lamar, the protagonist of Nic Stone’s fantastic new middle grade adventure, Clean Getaway, has a lot of questions at the beginning of the book. He just doesn’t know it yet.

When his grandmother, his beloved “G’ma,” shows up in an RV at the beginning of his spring break, to jailbreak him from being grounded, he jumps at the chance. He writes a note to his dad, and leaves his phone at home so he can’t be called. Just the wide open road, and the person he adores and trusts most in the world.

It’s not until they leave Atlanta and cross into Alabama that things start to get a little…weird. Why has G’ma sold her house to buy this RV? Did she really just dine-and-dash? Are they really headed all the way to Mexico? And does Scoob’s dad even know where they are?

He’s not getting answers to these questions immediately, but he is learning a lot, that’s for sure. It turns out his G’ma, a white lady, and his G’pop, a black man who he never met and died in prison, tried to take this very road trip all the way back in the 1960s. Of course, they had some help from Green Book, the famous guide for black travelers in the dangerous days of segregation and Jim Crow. As an African-American himself (with a serious, conscientious father), Scoob already knows some things about his history–he’s read To Kill a Mockingbird, and visits MLK’s home and church every January)–but some of what he learns really opens his eyes to how things were (and what still is).

Nic Stone has written an outrageously fun adventure with real tension and emotion mixed in. What really stands as a highlight in how well Stone understand how kids and adults relate to each other, even (and especially) they care a lot about each other. G’ma is completely over-the-top, fun, emotional, and increasingly mysterious, torn between unburdening secrets and teaching and protecting Scoob. Scoob himself is smart and and has a certain down-to-earth cool (he has a girlfriend, Shenice, back home in Atlanta), but can sometimes be a little impulsive and mistake-prone, as well as vulnerable in his powerlessness to the whims of adults, as all kids sometimes feel.

I think this book has a wide audience because while its colorful text (along with evocative illustrations by Dawud Anyabwile) and well-plotted structure are easy enough for kids on the earlier end of middle grade to digest, its keen emotional intelligence and relatable themes keep it interesting for kids on the older end of the middle grade age range. I found it pretty enjoyable as an adult, to tell the truth. As a bonus, this road trip novel even winds its way through Jackson, Mississippi (to pay respects to the great Medgar Evers). Whoever chooses to pick up this great middle school tale, they should know that they’re in for a wild ride!

Nic Stone will be at Lemuria on Friday, January 10, at 5:00 p.m. to sign and discuss Clean Getaway, in conversation with Angie Thomas (author of The Hate U Give). Lemuria has selected Clean Getaway as a January 2020 selection for its Oz Books First Editions Club.

Author Q & A with Mildred D. Taylor

By Guest Author

On January 5, 2020

In African-American, Historical Fiction, Oz: Middle Grade

Interview by Jana Hoops. Special to the Clarion-Ledger Sunday print edition (January 5)

Mildred Taylor wraps up her 10-book series that has followed the lives of the Logan family from slavery to the Civil rights movement with her final addition, All the Days Past, All the Days to Come. With familiar character Cassie Logan at the forefront as her own story evolves along the timeframe of civil rights events, she is supported by familiar family members who provide a constant link to generations past.

Born in Mississippi in 1943 and raised in Toledo, Ohio, Taylor developed a strong attachment to Mississippi as a child, thanks to frequent trips “home” to visit extended family members who were always eager to offer stories of their own childhoods.

She earned a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Toledo in 1965; and went on to write Song of the Trees, the first of the Logan family series, a decade later.

It would be Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, published in 1976, that would become her most recognizable work when it was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1977.

The collection has earned many other awards for Taylor throughout her lengthy career, including an NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, Buxtehuder Bulle Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for fiction, Christopher Award, Jane Addams Book Award, American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and others.

What inspired you to become a writer, and to use this tool as a way to bring to life the real-life struggles of racism, for young people?

Mildred Taylor

From the time I was a child, I was fascinated by the stories my father told about the history of my family and the history of others in his Mississippi community. He was a master storyteller, using dialect of the many characters in a story and sometimes becoming an actor using great motions to tell the story. There were many of us in the family who heard the stories; I was simply the one tapped on the shoulder to write them down. My father passed before Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was published, but his words and those of others who told the history live on through all my books.

Your new book “All the Days Past, All the Days to Come” is to be the final chapter of the Logan family saga, begun with “Songs of the Trees” in 1975. Looking back to the beginning, did you ever expect that this collection of stories would become so enduring to readers for so many years?

Because I was so very much enthralled by the stories, by the history, it never surprised me that others would be as well. What surprised me was that I could tell the stories well enough so that people around the world would care about the history of my family, and about the lives of people in my family’s Mississippi community.

This final book (as its predecessors) recounts many true historical events along the time frame of each volume. Having lived through many of these events yourself, is it still difficult to look back on those times, and do you believe enough progress has been made today?

I could not get free of the stories and the obligations I had to myself and to the history of my family and the history of so many African Americans whose stories I wanted to tell. As one friend told me: “It is something you have to do. We’re of the last generations who knows–who remembers how it truly was–racism and degradation and what we had to go through to rid ourselves of all that. Younger generations think they know, but they have no idea of what it was truly like.”

Because of the historical timeline I am trying to follow, this final book is my greatest challenge yet. At a time when racism is again at the forefront, I believe it is important to look back at history, to look at how we have evolved since slavery began in our country, what has been sacrificed through a civil war, lynchings, racism, and segregation. Through a personal story told from the point of view of the Logan family of Mississippi, perhaps readers of all ages can grasp what life was like before the Civil Rights Movement and how that Movement helped change the nation, and to understand why we cannot allow racism to overshadow us again.

From slavery to the presidency, this is what the epilogue in All the Days Past, All the Days to Come symbolizes, and the bus is a symbol of that journey. That Cassie is on that bus–the bus, a negative symbol through much of her life–to President Barack Hussein Obama’s inauguration is one of the greatest triumphs for Cassie, her generation, and all African Americans.

Much has changed and much has not. I believe everyone needs to know the history.

The series has granted you many awards since its beginning more than 40 years ago. Has this taken you surprise?

As I said previously, since I was enthralled by the stories, it did not surprise me that
others would be as well. What surprised me was that I could tell the stories well enough that people around the world would respond as I did.

Of course, it was wonderful to win the Coretta Scott King award for four of my books. When The Road to Memphis won the award, I was actually on the dais (platform) with Mrs. Rosa Parks and was able to talk with her. My greatest regret is when I was unable to attend the ceremony to accept the award for The Land and I missed the chance to receive the award from Mrs. King herself.

What would you like to say to young people of all races today about the hope for cooperation (despite the frequent division) in this country? Are you hopeful for the progress that has been made; or do you believe racial equality will ever become the norm in America?

There have always been racial divisions in the United States; however, through the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, hard-fought-for legislation, integrated education, and one-on-one communication among all people, Americans have a much better understanding of each other today than 50 years ago, 100 years ago, all the years past in the United States.

Through continued education, economic opportunities for all, the important one-on-one relationships, there is hope that in time we as Americans can be accepting of each other. At that point, perhaps racial equality will be the norm.

Signed first editions are available for pre-order at Lemuria’s online store. The book’s publication date is Tuesday, January 7.

Author Q & A with Ali Benjamin

By Former Lemurians

On April 18, 2019

In Oz: Middle Grade

Interview with Ali Benjamin by Oz Books manager Trianne Harabedian.

Ali Benjamin is the author of two middle-grade books, the newly released The Next Great Paulie Fink and 2015’s The Thing About Jellyfish, which was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Benjamin will be at Lemuria on Thursday, April 25, at 5:00 to sign and read from The Next Great Paulie Fink.

Where are you from, and where do you live now?

Ali Benjamin

I grew up about an hour from New York City, in a community along the Hudson River. At the time, my hometown was where NYC suburbs gave way to something more ex-urban. As a result, my schools had kids from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. There were the “commuting” families, who tended to be wealthier and white collar, as well as many less affluent blue-collar workers.

Most houses in my neighborhood were newer ranch houses (often with freshly mowed lawns). My family’s home was…different. It was about 200 years old, with peeling paint and the occasional rotting floorboard. Most of the neighborhood kids thought it was haunted (though I never saw evidence of that). My parents were hippies, which other families in the neighborhood definitely were not! It’s funny; my sister became an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and I became a writer. Sometimes I wonder if growing up a little different from your peers is a natural springboard into storytelling!

We had lots of freedom back then; kids wandered the neighborhood, organizing games of kick-the-can or flashlight tag. I tried to capture some of that sense of freedom and expansiveness in The Next Great Paulie Fink. In fact, there’s a story within the book about a game of team-tag that comes directly from a specific moment in the neighborhood!

Today I live in Western Massachusetts—I’m only a few miles from both the Vermont and New York state borders. There are still many small farms in this area, so I’ve had a little experience with goats, an animal that appears repeatedly in The Next Great Paulie Fink!

Can you tell us, in your own words, what The Next Great Paulie Fink is about?

The Next Great Paulie Fink is about an oddball group of seventh grade students who organize a reality TV-style competition to “replace” their legendary class clown, Paulie Fink, who mysteriously doesn’t return at the start of the school year. The story goes back and forth between a straightforward narrative—told through the eyes of “new girl” Caitlyn, who is reluctantly put in charge of the competition—and interviews with Caitlyn’s classmates as they share memories of Paulie’s most ingenious pranks.

But the book is also about the stories we tell each other and to ourselves: how can we know if the stories we tell are “true?” Where, exactly, is the line between reality and myth? What if the stories we tell ourselves no longer serve us? Who might we get to become if we choose a new story? The book is also about celebrity culture; whom we elevate into legendary status, and why, and whether we ever know these idols —or anyone—as well as we think we do. These bigger questions, though, are woven into a very lighthearted narrative, so kids can access the book at different levels.

Even though the kids in the book talk a lot about Paulie Fink, the story is really about Caitlyn Breen. What made you want to tell her story?

A couple of years ago, I got ahold of my middle school diary. I was so excited to read it and become reacquainted with my 12-year-old self. I thought I remembered, more or less, who I’d been back then. In my memory, I’d been a nice kid—kind of nerdy, very distracted, pretty immature, and definitely in over my head in the chaotic world of middle school. But I was kind…or so I thought.

Except that’s not what the pages showed me. My diary was filled with page after page of nasty comments about my classmates, my friends, my family, my teachers. I was also obsessed with where I stood in the middle school hierarchy, almost as if I were a reality star trying to claw my way toward the top. But as I read through the pages with my adult eyes, I could also see how incredibly insecure I was, how lost. And of course, that’s precisely why I was so mean! Genuinely confident people don’t need to put others down.

Caitlyn’s in a similar place as I’d been. At the story’s start, she’s not particularly nice, and she’s clinging to “rules” that she thinks will help her gain social currency. But as the competition to find the Next Great Paulie Fink unfolds, she begins to realize that those old ways aren’t actually serving her. So, she begins to do what my middle school self wasn’t able to: to set down her obsession with popularity, to really see and value the people around her, and to have a little fun for a change. I think I gave to Caitlyn what I myself needed when I was in middle school!

Can you tell us about myths and legends and why they’re so important in this book?

Stories drive the world forward. They always have. They don’t merely reflect who we are, and what we value, they actually shape us in ways that are active and direct. This is something I tried to show throughout the book. For example, at a critical moment, Caitlyn thinks of a kindergarten student who idolizes her. By asking herself, “what if I were the person this child sees? What would that version of me do now?” she’s able to become a little better than she might have been otherwise.

Every character in The Next Great Paulie Fink gets the opportunity to try on a new story. In doing so, they open themselves to new possibilities. Their worlds get a little richer.

And it’s worth noting that no story—not even a true story, in which every element is 100 percent factually accurate—ever reflects the full reality of this world. Every story involves a series of choices: who is the protagonist? Who’s the villain or the scapegoat? Which details are brought to the forefront? Which are left out altogether? These choices are what makes it a story, instead of merely a collection of facts.

Too often, our stories are so baked into our experiences that we don’t notice them. We’re like fish who don’t notice the water we’re swimming in! The Next Great Paulie Fink is a very lighthearted way to explore some of these issues.

What is the most important lesson that you want us to take away from this story?

First, I hope it gives kids permission to let themselves have some fun. The kids in The Next Great Paulie Fink are goofy. They’re totally un-self-conscious. They love to laugh and to be silly. They do ridiculous dances. They wrestle like zombies. They imitate robots and aliens, chase runaway goats, and they love every minute of it! I’d like to see more kids give themselves permission to be so free.

Second, I hope the book encourages them to think critically about their world. Human beings tell each other, and themselves, a lot of stories. Not all of them are true. Some of them have elements of truth, but are inherently incomplete. I wanted to give kids a way to begin to really examine the stories that drive them, to open themselves up to the possibility that their stories are part of a much bigger tapestry. The more they can see that, the bigger, and more meaningful, their lives can become.

Curl up with a middle grade mystery with Haddix’s ‘Greystone Secrets: The Strangers’

By Former Lemurians

On April 16, 2019

In Oz: Middle Grade

by Trianne Harabedian

Thrillers, mysteries, books with suspenseful intrigue? They have never been my idea of a good time. I often find them frightening and too intense, which can sometimes mean nightmares. Yep, I’m an adult who gets scared of the dark.
So when I heard that Margaret Peterson Haddix was coming out with a new book, Greystone Secrets: The Strangers, I hesitated. She has a reputation for being an amazing mystery writer for kids, keeping her readers in suspense and elevating tension while staying age-appropriate.

“But it’s a middle grade book,” I told myself. “It’s for ages nine to twelve. How scary can it be?” Not scary at all, as it turned out! In fact, I devoured it like pizza on a late night. It was the most engaging middle grade novel I’ve read in a long time.

The book is about the three Greystone children: Chess, Emma, and Finn. Their dad died when they were young, and they live normal lives with their mom. At least, everything is normal until their mom stumbles across a news article about three kids across the country who have been kidnapped. The Greystone children are bewildered when the article lists their own names as the lost children! These others look different from Chess, Emma, and Finn, but they share first names, middle names and birthdays.

But this is only the beginning of the strangeness. Before the children can ask questions, their mom leaves on a mysterious work trip and sends them to stay with a friend they hardly know, whose own daughter wants nothing to do with them. The Greystones begin to worry when their mom doesn’t call to check on them, returns their texts with cryptic messages, and appears to have completely vanished. The suspense only grows as the children investigate, find clues, and decode messages that lead them on adventures beyond their belief.

With a hint of A Wrinkle in Time, lovable characters, and a well-woven story, I’m excited to present Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Strangers as one of our picks for the First Editions Club for Young Readers! It’s engaging, literary, and perfect for the middle grader in your life–whether they are easily frightened or not!

Event for Kids 7-12: Meet Jodi Kendall, author of ‘The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City’ on 8/29/18

By Former Lemurians

On August 22, 2018

In Oz: Middle Grade

Maybe there was a time before, when I loved books and loved stories. But I like to think of my life as before and after. Before Charlotte’s Web, I listened to stories. After Charlotte’s Web, I read them.

For every bibliophile, story-addict, or word-junkie, there is a book, or a story, that turned the tables. So, living my life in a post-reading Charlotte’s Web world, I am always drawn to stories that remind me of the friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte, strong girl-characters like Fern, and comedic entertainment in Templeton the Rat. I found this exact blend of comedy and childlike wonder in a book with big heart called The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City.

If you are looking for a story that will take you back to the wonder of ‘SOME PIG’, then you will want to meet Jodi Kendall, author of The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City next Wednesday, August 29th. The signing will begin at 5:00 p.m., with a reading to follow at 5:30 p.m.

In The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City the book opens on Thanksgiving Day, at the dinner table. Josie Shillings’ college-aged older brother Tom brings home a baby pig he has named Hamlet who was the runt of the litter.

Josie’s father is adamant: “ ‘Not a chance,’ Dad said, pointing at Tom with a silver fork. ‘Pigs don’t belong in the city.’ ”

It is Josie who comes to the rescue, convincing her father to let her keep the pig, on the condition that she finds a home for it by New Year’s. Josie must juggle her upcoming gymnastics competition, surviving close-quarters living in a large family, a grumpy next-door neighbor, and buying pig-food for Hamlet, who is rapidly growing into quite the porker.

You will fall in love with Josie’s determination, Hamlet’s antics, and the Shilling family. As Josie’s favorite book is Charlotte’s Web, there are references to E.B. White’s classic within this novel as well.

Animal lovers and readers who enjoy a good family story in the same vein as The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall or The Moffats by Eleanor Estes won’t want to miss this event next week!

Author Jodi Kendall

This review originally appeared in Charlotte’s Web Turns 65: Here’s What to Read Next

Children’s Panel Preview for the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival

By Former Lemurians

On August 15, 2018

In Mississippi Book Festival, Oz: Children's Books, Oz: Middle Grade, OZ: Young Adult Fiction

On Saturday, August 18, 2018, don’t miss the Mississippi Book Festival downtown at the State Capitol. From fantastic picture books to young adult blockbusters, there are panels with authors who have written books for kids of all ages.

Here’s the roundup:

9:30 AM a.m. – Angie Thomas: Kidnote: Galloway Sanctuary
Presented by the Phil Hardin Foundation, the de Grummond Collection and the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival

Angie Thomas, New York Times Bestselling author of the Black Lives Matter young adult novel The Hate U Give, will be speaking in the Galloway Sanctuary. The Hate U Give has been made into a film directed by George Tillman Jr., and is set to release October 19, 2018. Just three years ago in 2015, Angie Thomas announced at the first Mississippi Book Festival that she had just signed with her literary agent. For Thomas, so much has happened since then, and don’t miss the chance to hear one of the brightest literary stars speak right in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.

10:45 a.m. – Hope (Nation) and Other Four-Letter Words: Galloway Sanctuary
Presented by the James and Madeleine McMullan Family Foundation

Following Kidnote, this is a powerhouse panel filled with some of the biggest names in Young Adult Literature. Dr. Rose Brock, one of the founders of the North Texas Teen Book Festival, and editor of the collection of Young Adult short stories in the book Hope Nation will moderate.

Becky Albertalli: (Leah on the Offbeat) Albertalli is also the author of Simon and the Homosapiens Agenda, which you may know by the recent film, Love, Simon. Leah, Simon’s best friend, gets her own story.
Angie Thomas: (The Hate U Give) *see Kidnote!
Nicola Yoon: (The Sun is Also a Star) A love story that takes place in 24 hours, with two teens in New York City: one is doing everything she can to keep her family from being deported and other is about to have an interview for Yale to fulfill his family’s expectations. Yoon is also the author of Everything, Everything with a film by the same name.
Nic Stone: (Dear Martin) Following the lines between being black and white, Dear Martin is an incredible story of race, education, and the story of one Justyce McAllister, an honors student who gets put in handcuffs because he’s black, and who keeps a journal writing to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Julie Murphy: (Puddin’) The sequel to Murphy’s first novel, Dumplin’, which is so hilarious that I laughed hard enough to cry while reading it. The sequel does not disappoint.

12:00 p.m. – Picture This!: STATE CAPITOL ROOM 201 A
Presented by Sara and Bill Ray

Led by Ellen Ruffin, curator of the de Grummond Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi, this collection of children’s authors and illustrators celebrate the vital, enduring and delightful Picture Book – the gateway to literacy for all ages.

Picture books are NOT just books with pictures. They are interactive stories, histories, and an intricately interwoven book that must combine a visual and auditory form of reading—and keep the attention of small children!

This picture panel features THREE illustrators (Charles Waters, Don Tate, Sarah Jane Wright) and two collaborative projects. The first of the collaborative projects, Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship is by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, who write letters back and forth between their fifth grade selves is a powerful look at race and friendship. In Lola Dutch, newcomers and husband and wife team Kenneth and Sarah Jane Wright, whose lively little girl character Lola Dutch (who is just TOO much) may just be the next Eloise (by Kay Thompson) or Madeline (by Ludwig Bemelmans). Then there are three phenomenal non-fiction picture books including two biographies, beginning with A Child’s Introduction to African American History by Jabari Asim to Alabama Spitfire: The Story of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird, by Bethany Hegedus, and Strong as Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth, by Don Tate (who also illustrated this biography!)

Jabari Asim: (A Child’s Introduction to African American History)
Bethany Hegedus: (Alabama Spitfire: The Story of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird)
Irene Latham and Charles Waters: (Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship)
Don Tate: (Strong as Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth)
Kenneth and Sarah Jane Wright: (Lola Dutch)

1:30 p.m. – Meet Me in the Middle: STATE CAPITOL ROOM 201 A
Presented by the de Grummond Collection and the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival

Moderated by yours truly, I’m excited to present some of the best middle grade books (for kids ages 8-12) published this year.

Lions and Liars is the funniest, laugh-out-loud story I’ve read for kids in a long time—think Holes meets summer camp gone wrong. The Parker Inheritance, is a mystery involving race, family, and the South that takes place over the course of several generations, culminating in present day Lambert, South Carolina. If Candice and the boy across the street can solve this mystery, they may be able to right an injustice done a long time ago. The Night Diary is a remarkable work of literary historical fiction featuring the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan where 12-year-old Nisha is half-Muslim and half-Hindu, and trying to find out where she belongs as her family flees the only home they’ve ever known. Charlotte Jones Voiklis is the granddaughter of Madeleine L’Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time) and Voiklis’ biography of her grandmother, Becoming Madeleine, is truly a labor of love and a fascinating look at the young life of L’Engle, one of the first female science and fantasy writers for young readers, who left a huge legacy in children’s literature. In Ernestine, Catastrophe Queen, young Ernestine Montgomery is obsessed with the apocalypse, but instead of fighting off zombies, she uncovers a murder mystery in a grave-yard—think Harriet the Spy meets Coraline.

Kate Beasley: (Lions and Liars)
Varian Johnson: (The Parker Inheritance)
Veera Hiranandani: (The Night Diary)
Charlotte Jones Voiklis: (Becoming Madeleine: A Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters)
Merrill Wyatt: (Ernestine, Catastrophe Queen)

2:45 p.m. – Mississippi in the Middle: STATE CAPITOL ROOM 201 A
Presented by the de Grummond Collection and the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival and University of Mississippi MFA Program

Augusta Scattergood, author of Glory Be, The Way to Stay in Destiny, and Making Friends with Billy Wong, will moderate this panel with authors who have Mississippi roots!

There’s a plethora of stories for kids set in the South, from Southern Gothic fairy tale (Goldeline) to a South Mississippi Electric Ghost Town and Walter Anderson-esque art mystery (Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe), and in A Long Line of Cakes, Wiles returns to Aurora County—the setting of books by Wiles including Love, Ruby Lavender and Each Little Bird that Sings—where the Cakes are a rambunctious family who travel from town to town setting up bakeries until it is time to move again—until they move to Aurora County, where Emma Lane Cake meets Ruby Lavender who teaches her something about friendship. An in Jackson’s A Sky Full of Stars, readers will return to the same 1950s Mississippi found in Midnight Without a Moon, where Rose wrestles with her decision to stay in Mississippi, even after the murder of Emmett Till.

Jimmy Cajoleas: (Goldeline)
Jo Hackl: (Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe)
Deborah Wiles: (A Long Line of Cakes)
Linda Williams Jackson: (A Sky Full of Stars)

An incredible literary event right here in the heart of Mississippi, don’t miss this year’s Mississippi Book Festival! Find out more information at msbookfestival.com

Author Q & A with Jo Watson Hackl (Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe)

By Former Lemurians

On July 10, 2018

In Oz: Middle Grade

Interview by Clara Martin. Special to the Clarion-Ledger Sunday print edition (July 8)

In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, you’ll find a ghost town in the middle of the woods in South Mississippi, a girl named Cricket, a cricket named Charlene, and a poetry-loving dog. They’ve got eleven days to find a mysterious room painted with birds, and thirteen clues will lead them there. Combine the Mississippi Wild, a Walter Anderson art mystery, and a young girl who is taking a chance on herself, and you have Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, great for kids (and adults!) ages 8 and up. You’ll laugh, maybe cry, and have a lot of fun reading this book. In an interview with author Jo Hackl, she talks about her inspiration for this story, and what it means to be a writer for children, writing about a place like Mississippi.

Where are you from, and where do you live now?

I was born on Keesler Air Force base in Biloxi and moved to the real-life ghost town of Electric Mills when I was eleven. I now live in Greenville, South Carolina, but still have deep ties to Mississippi. Most of my extended family lives in the state and I get back whenever I can.

Do you do anything else besides writing books for young readers?

Jo Watson Hackl

My husband and I have three children who keep us very busy. I also practice corporate law (part-time), operate outdoorosity.org, a free resource about nature, and volunteer in the community. I’m working with a local school to develop a cross-curricular plan of instruction to use Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe to teach art, creative writing, geography, math, literature, science and social studies and to help the school incorporate nature into the school day. Together we’re building a flower fort, just like the one in the book, that will be used as a reading space.

In your own words, what is Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe about?

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe is about learning to take chances on yourself. The story takes readers on an adventure with 12-year-old Cricket and her companion, a field cricket named Charlene, through an overgrown ghost town in Electric City, Mississippi, to solve a thirty-year-old clue trail in search of a secret room that may or may not exist, all to try to win back Cricket’s run-away mother.

Cricket must use her wits and just a smidgen of luck to live off the land in a Mississippi winter, survive sleet storm and snake-bite, and work to solve an increasingly baffling clue trail left by an eccentric artist with a logic all his own. Along the way, Cricket meets the reclusive last resident of the ghost town, enlists the help of a poetry-loving dog, and takes up a touch of grave-robbing. These experiences awaken Cricket to the possibility of finding strength in the most unlikely of places—within herself.

“The woods smelled like a hundred and fifty years of dark. A goose-bumpy ghost-town kind of dark.” This is Electric City, Mississippi. An abandoned electric lumber mill town, where honeysuckle vines grow around pillars that used to prop up houses, and weeds push through a sidewalk, left right in the middle of the woods, and it is where Cricket makes her makeshift home while she searches for her Mama.

You actually lived in Electric Mills, Mississippi, the inspiration for Electric City. Can you talk about what it was like to grow up in a place that was neither here nor there? A ghost town, of sorts?

Growing up in a ghost town made every day interesting. The real town still has a few houses, but I made the fictional town empty to make it better fit the story. Growing up, I loved exploring the woods, walking the old sidewalks, and searching for signs of the people who used to live there. Many of the things that people had planted in their yards–rose bushes and daylilies and privet bushes–still were there, even though the houses were missing, and I tried to imagine the houses that had once stood where toppled-over pillars and thick thorny rose vines now reigned.

Can you tell our readers what a doogaloo is?

A doogaloo is a coin that the mill used to pay its workers. I am happy to say that I have a real doogaloo from the original town and I kept it propped on my desk for inspiration as I was writing the book.

Explain how the presence of art, nature, and the creative process are intertwined in your book. Cricket says, “And if you’re going to last any time out in the woods, you’d better get comfortable with whoever it is you are.” What is your own creative writing process? How did you start writing Cricket’s story?

I absolutely believe that art, nature, and the creative process nourish each other. Writing the book, I surrounded myself with art of all kinds, visited galleries and museums, and talked to visual artists. I also spent a lot of time in nature and my home office overlooks our woods so that I can be close to nature even when I’m inside. I started writing Cricket’s story in my head back when I was a child exploring the woods. As I grew older, I knew I wanted to write and I knew I wanted to set the story in the ghost town. In a lot of ways, Cricket’s advice about the need to get comfortable with whoever it is you are applies to my writing process. I had to learn to take chances, to try things that might not work, and to write the scenes I was more than a little scared to write. I brought my whole self to the process, vulnerabilities, quirks and all, and tried to create an experience that would draw readers into Cricket’s world and make them feel like they were right there with her.

Cricket is in search of her mother by way of a “Bird Room,” and clues that lead Cricket closer to this mysterious room painted with all kinds of birds, trees, and flowers, painted by a man named “Bob.”

Please explain why you decided to use Walter Anderson and his “Little Room,” as inspiration? Do you have a favorite Walter Anderson painting? If so, please share!

I am a life-long fan of Walter Anderson’s work. He drew from direct observation of nature and his quick, efficient line-work captured the essence of whatever he was drawing or painting. As Cricket says about the fictional artist “Bob” in the book, “some pictures weren’t much more than thin pencil strokes. But they showed more than I could ever say in a lifetime about a raccoon or a dragonfly or a duck.” My favorite Walter Anderson piece is the “Little Room,” where he captured the beauty of a day on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Walter Anderson used the light from the windows to illuminate the paintings, beginning with sandhill cranes and a rooster at dawn, as the sun moved throughout the day. This was the inspiration for the “Bird Room” in my book.

Of course, writing about serious subjects doesn’t mean there cannot be humor! I loved the moments of comedy in your book, particularly the opening scene in Thelma’s. What was one of your favorite scenes to write?

Great question! One of my favorite scenes to write was at the end when, without giving anything away, Cricket finds herself in the middle of Aunt Belinda’s trailer with Aunt Belinda and her suffocating hairspray and hidden tattoo. The pastor and the entire and the whole youth group are there as Aunt Belinda tries to hide the fact that she accidentally left Cricket in Thelma’s Cash ‘n’ Carry even though she told the whole town that she suspected foul play. Let’s just say that Charlene, the cricket, plays a leading role in adding some humor to the situation.

As a writer from Mississippi, what does it mean to write about the South, the place you grew up, and incorporate art, nature and family? Why do you think young readers will enjoy Cricket’s story?

I think that Mississippians have a unique sense of connection to place. The land where I grew up is a part of me, and I wanted to share that with readers. I also wanted to combine art, nature and the importance of family, no matter who your family is. Young readers have told me that they’ve enjoyed being part of Cricket’s world, experiencing the woods, exploring the ghost town, and using their wits to solve the clue trail. One of the great things about being a writer is that, if you can figure out a way to work a really cool thing that interests you into the book, you can do it. Without giving away the clue trail, I worked a lot of really cool things that interested me into the book and I hope that readers enjoy solving the trail as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Jo Watson Hackl will be at Lemuria on Thursday, July 12, to sign and read from Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe. Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe is Lemuria’s July 2018 middle grade selection for our First Editions Club for Young Readers.

Bury your nose in ‘Bob’ by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead

By Hannah D

On June 19, 2018

In Oz: Middle Grade

I picked up an advanced copy of Bob during tech week of my school musical, which was not the best idea. I spent every moment I was not onstage reading and nearly missed my cue several times! I should have known that any book by acclaimed authors Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead would be difficult to put down when it was time to go on stage. And with illustrations by Nicholas Gannon, author of The Doldrums? I mean, come on. What was I thinking?

A perfect book for children in the fourth and fifth grades, Bob follows a girl named Livy who visits her grandmother’s house in Australia for the first time in five years, only to find that she has forgotten almost everything. The only thing Livy does seem to remember is a “wrong chicken” that her grandmother denies ever existed. Upon further investigation, however, she not only finds the “wrong chicken,” but also learns that his name is Bob, he has no idea what he is, and he has been waiting for Livy for five years.

Livy spends the rest of her time in Australia helping Bob search for his family and learning as much as she can about him and what he may be. But something strange happens whenever she leaves him for even a short period of time, something that may keep her from remembering Bob ever again. This heartfelt story of friendship and childhood memories is definitely worth finding time to read between summer reading books!

Bob is Lemuria’s May 2018 Middle Grade selection for its First Editions Club for Young Readers.

Make summer reading fun again

By Former Lemurians

On May 22, 2018

In Oz: Children's Books, Oz: Middle Grade, OZ: Young Adult Fiction, Reading

By Clara Martin. Special to the Clarion-Ledger Sunday print edition (May 20)

School’s out! But you’ve got a long summer reading list.

This summer, what’s the best thing you can let your child do? Let them read whatever they want to (within reason, of course–I’m not advocating that you let your child read Crime and Punishment or anything that’s not age-appropriate).

So, let me say it again. Let them read whatever they want to.

I can already hear you.

“Oh, but he won’t read that. It’s too many pages.”

“She only likes horse books.”

“But does it have AR points?”

“I want her to stop reading graphic novels.”

“I tired of Captain Underpants.”

Let me stop you right there.

The other thing you say is, “I just want my child to be a better reader,” or “I just want my child to love reading.”

Make summer reading fun again by letting your child choose what they want to read. When they choose what they read, reading becomes a normal part of your child’s day, so when they have to read a book required for school, it isn’t so much a chore.

A study by Scholastic shows 61 percent of students aged 15-17 do not read a book of their choice during school. Further, the study says the majority of kids ages 6-17 agree “it is very important for their future to be a good reader” (86 percent) and about six in 10 kids love or like reading books for fun (58 percent), a steady percentage since 2010.”

And in the same study, here’s what Scholastic discovered about the percentage of children who have trouble finding books they like to read:

“Parents underestimate the degree to which children have trouble books they like. Only 29 percent of parents agree ‘my child has trouble finding books he/she likes,” whereas 41 percent of kids agree that is a challenge–this percentage of kids increases to 57 percent among infrequent readers vs. 26 percent of frequent readers.”

childrens reading graph

From all of this information, we can see that:

It’s hard for children to find time to read a book of their choice independently during the school year.
Making time to read a book of choice is even more difficult the older the child gets.
About half of children have trouble finding books they like. This can lead to negative attitudes towards reading. Or, the child will just stop reading entirely, except when they are required to read for school.

So, how do we help a child find what they like to read? By giving them choices, and not limiting those choices. After all, there is no such thing as “too much reading.” If there is a graphic novel series with 100 books in the series, let them read the entire series. You can’t buy the entire series? There are libraries made for that specific purpose. Get a library card with your child this summer, and make it an adventure.

If the book is a non-fiction sports’ facts book with a lot of glossy pictures, such as Scholastic Year in Sports 2018, let them read that book. If your child will only sit down with magazines, then get them more magazines to read.

And if the book does not have horses? By talking to your librarian or bookseller, chances are, they can recommend similar books. That’s what they’re trained to do.

This summer, I’m encouraging you: forget about the points, forget about whether is is “on reading level,” and don’t worry if it looks like the only thing your child will read for the rest of his life are comic books. Maybe that’s all they’ll read for the rest of the summer, but guess what? It will set them on the path to being a reader for the rest of their life.

Oh, and as for Captain Underpants? The author of that series, Dav Pilkey, donated more than 3,000 books to children in the Hattiesburg school district in conjunction with the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival. As Pilkey says, “Reading Gives You Superpowers,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Visit www.scholastic.com or www.readbrightly.com for more book suggestions for your child and resources for parents. Visit your local bookstore or library for suggestions and let librarians and booksellers help your child find a book they want to read this summer.

Clara Martin is the manager of the children’s book section (Oz Books) at Lemuria.

‘Royal Rabbits of London’ is a madcap middle grade adventure

By Former Lemurians

On February 7, 2018

In Oz: Middle Grade

The Royal Rabbits of London by Santa Montefiore and Simon Sebag Montefiore is a new chapter book perfect for children ages 5 to 9.

royal rabbits It feels fresh and original, yet follows in the footsteps of The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down with strong animal characters, funny dialogue, and an intriguing plot. Originally published in the United Kingdom, this story begins when a young rabbit named Shylo goes to visit the the grizzled, battle-scarred Horatio, an elderly rabbit with half an ear. Shylo enjoys these visits because Horatio tells him stories of the Great Rabbit Empire. When Horatio asks Shylo is he remembers the oath made by rabbits long ago to protect the Royal Family, Shylo eagerly recounts the tale of how King Arthur wanted to declare rabbit pie as the favorite meal of the kingdom, but his nephew Prince Mordred loved rabbts. And so…

King Arthur was a wise king who loved (his nephew) Mordred dearly, so, after a little thought, he declared that cottage pie should be the favorite dish instead. Thousands of rabbits’ lives were saved and cottage pie did become the preferred meal of the British people. The cleverest and bravest of all the rabbits wanted to thank Prince Mordred and so they took an oath to serve the Royal Family of England. They built a warren beneath the castle in Camelot and called themselves the Rabbits of the Round Table.

At the very moment that King Arthur freed the rabbits from the Curse of the Rabbit Pie, something magical happened, didn’t it, Shylo?” said Horatio. “Children and only children were given the ability to see those very special rabbits. But it is a gift that lasts only through childhood. As soon as they grow up, they lose that magic and see just ordinary rabbits, like everyone else.

Shylo loves hearing stories of the fabled Royal Rabbits of London, and Horatio always listens to him. Shylo is the runt of the litter and wears an eyepatch over his weak eye. His brothers and sisters tease him, but is is Shylo who tumbles into a secret meeting of the Ratzis (rats who are plotting evil deeds against the Queen of England), and as it turns out, The Royal Rabbits of London still exists, after all. Horatio sends young Shylo on a quest all the way to London to Royal Rabbits Headquarters–under Buckingham Palace.

With black and white illustrations throughout, young readers and parent will enjoy following Shylo in a tale filled with a secret society of Royal Rabbits, acts of bravery, and close calls with evil rats.

As Horatio says to Shylo, “Life is an adventure. Anything in the world is possible–by will and by luck, with a moist carrot, a wet nose, and a slice of mad courage!”

Category: Oz: Middle Grade (Page 1 of 2)

History, mystery, and the open road in Nic Stone’s ‘Clean Getaway’

Author Q & A with Mildred D. Taylor

Author Q & A with Ali Benjamin

Curl up with a middle grade mystery with Haddix’s ‘Greystone Secrets: The Strangers’

Event for Kids 7-12: Meet Jodi Kendall, author of ‘The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City’ on 8/29/18

Children’s Panel Preview for the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival

Author Q & A with Jo Watson Hackl (Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe)

Bury your nose in ‘Bob’ by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead

Make summer reading fun again

‘Royal Rabbits of London’ is a madcap middle grade adventure

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