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© 2024 MG Book Party
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Join middle grade authors Cheryl Caldwell and Heather Clark as we explore writing craft, demystify publication, highlight author journeys, promote child literacy, and celebrate good books.
21 Episodes
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Ever wondered what it's like to win both a Newbery AND a Caldecott award?Author/illustrator and delightful human, Grace Lin, is with us today and she shares all the behind-the-scenes award info you've been looking for, plus:Why it's important that books serve as both windows and mirrors.Why books get banned.How a better solution beyond cultivating lists of diverse books might be to integrate diversity and inclusion into the curriculum at large: math, science, English, health, etc. and what th...
What's it like to write, publish, and promote a book a year? Here to tell us today is middle-grade author Mae Respicio, author of the award-winning The House That Lou Built, Any Day with You, How to Win a Slime War, and more!Mae shares her thoughts on:How our twelve-year-old selves greatly influence who we become as adults.Using a science project board in your outlining process.Research in the writing process.Setting realistic writing goals.Her incredible writing journey.Seeing yourself in bo...
If you haven’t read The Verdigris Pawn, by Alysa Wishingrad, you’ll want to after listening to this interview! "Time distorts all truths." The Verdigris PawnIn both her book and this podcast, Alysa Wishingrad addresses this central theme—balancing our knowledge by searching for and understanding various perspectives on history. She graciously shares her knowledge about the writing and publishing process, and offers inside info on the creation of her debut middle grade novel, The Verdigris Paw...
"When you meet people, you don't hate them anymore." This quote from Hilary during this interview expresses so much about her humanity, her love, and her wisdom. Her historical WWI and WWII novels, The Skylarks' War, and Swallow's Flight are exquisite novels that delve into the life of people who lived these wars. Specifically, Swallow's Flight does a gorgeous job of presenting compelling characters who lived on both sides of World War II, and following the family from Skylark's War into the ...
Newbery Honor winning middle grade author Rajani LaRocca and her Super Agent Brent Taylor have collaborated to share Rajani's prolific collection of picture books and middle grade novels with the world, and in this interview, they share what that collaboration has looked like, what they looked for in an agent / client relationship, and inspire us with their joy over children's fiction. This was recorded BEFORE Rajani won the Newbery for Red, White, and Whole, so listen for talk of pre-award b...
We had way too much fun interviewing Samantha Gentry editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. We got so much insight into the editorial process, acquisitions, publication, editor phone calls, and so much more!Samantha Gentry is an editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Her primary focus is commercial nonfiction across all categories, and fiction picture books, and middle grade. She has a particular interest in pop culture tie-ins, and platform driven stories in nonfiction. S...
We had SO much fun interviewing Paige Terlip, literary agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency! Paige shares her joy at working with this fantastic agency. She gives tips for querying, shares her Manuscript Wish List, talks about dream clients, and her role as a career agent. Paige has worked at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency since 2017, an agency consistently ranked #1 in juvenile sales by Publishers Marketplace. First as an Assistant for Executive Agent Laura Rennert, then as an Assistant...
We are so pleased to join two wonderful school librarians, and members of the @FReadomFighters—Nancy Jo Lambert and Becky Calzada for an interview about censorship, #FReadom, and access to books for children. Along with Carolyn Foote and other librarian colleagues, these women launched the #FReadom hashtag which has trended nationally to the tune of 13,000 tweets! Their goal: Shine a light on the positive impact that books make as we ensure they are accessible from many diverse viewpoints. Th...
Author Cindy Baldwin shares her journey writing The Stars of Whistling Ridge! She offers amazing insight into disability representation, and chronic illness in fiction, sharing her own experience so generously! Cindy is so careful to represent her characters well, and her words are as magical as her premise in this book about the wandering family of a fallen star. You can connect with Cindy and follow her books at the following links:Cindy's WebsiteTwitter: @beingcindy Instagram: ...
The opportunity to do this interview with Newbery Honoree and New York Times Bestselling author Gary D. Schmidt was one of the great honors of our professional lives! Were you hoping to get a mini-MFA from this master of middle grade storytelling? You've come to the right episode. You'll notice this one is longer than usual, and we're grateful for every gracious minute Gary shared with us. Learn about Gary's thoughtful, unique writing process. Gain more insights into his characters, and feel ...
We had SO much fun interviewing Super Agent Jennifer March Soloway! Jennifer has had a fascinating career journey, helping her wind up as a highly successful literary agent with a robust client list, with a premier children's literary agency—Andrea Brown Literary Agency. If you are a querying author, and you have wondered about how agent/author relationships work best, what to expect on the call, communication, or the submission process? Jennifer was incredibly generous with her time, sharing...
Our biggest takeaway from our interview with Middle Grade author Kaela Rivera was her final advice to writers —Practice Patience. Kaela's debut novel, CECE RIOS AND THE DESERT OF SOULS was her tenth completed manuscript. In this delightful interview, Kaela talks about how she pushed through the long wait, getting better and better with time, the inspirations from her multicultural family for CECE RIOS, and gives amazing tips on giving three dimensions to side characters. Join us! You won't re...
In Part 2 of our Agent / Author / Editor series with Jennifer A. Nielsen, we dig in to interview prolific author / editor duo: Jennifer A. Nielsen and Lisa Sandell of Scholastic Press. The two have worked together for years, bringing many books into publication together. They've collaborated on such amazing reads as THE FALSE PRINCE, THE MARK OF THE THIEF, WORDS ON FIRE, A NIGHT DIVIDED, RESCUE, and many more. We had way too much fun with this interview, and learned so much. Get t...
This dynamic agent/author duo is a delight to interview, and we learned so much. Jennifer A. Nielsen and Joan Paquette were a fundamental part of building each other's careers, and their combined wisdom and collaboration blew us away. We had way too much fun with Jennifer A. Nielsen's series of interviews with costars, agent Ammi-Joan Paquette, and editor Lisa Sandell. (Stay tuned for part 2.) Get the inside scoop on a healthy agent / author relationship, and learn so much about a...
Our biggest takeaway from our interview with Middle Grade author Lisa Moore Ramée was this: The people who don't make it as authors are the people who gave up. Lisa Moore Ramée took the long way around to get here with her career, and her beautiful books, and she is the most real, down-to-earth, delightful person. You will come away from this interview inspired to carry on, and ready with some fresh tools in your tool belt. Hopefully you'll also come away ready to devour her lovely books. (Li...
This may be the most important episode of Middle Grade Book Party we'll ever release. If you are an advocate of children's literacy, or care passionately about getting great books into the hands of children everywhere, this is the episode for you! After hearing us talk with authors Jennifer A. Nielsen, and Jennifer Jenkins about their new children's literacy initiative, the importance of reading, and hanging on a fence by a wedgie, you'll come away inspired, excited, and hopefully, ready to g...
Our biggest takeaway from our interview with Middle Grade author Rajani LaRocca is this new mantra she shared with us—Follow the Dopamine! She says if if doesn't bring you joy, don't do it! And that goes for marketing, career advice, and how to write your books. Our chat with this dynamic, gracious, and hilariously down-to-earth author left us feeling 100% happier! Come find out what it means to lead a Rajani LaRocca kind of life, and get excited about her passions, and discovering your own.&...
Oddly, my favorite takeaway from our interview with middle grade author Gillian McDunn was her fresh take on her favorite writing snack. Apparently since you don't think about what you eat while you write, your best bet is a large plate of raw veggies, which will fill your snacking need, and fill you with nutrients while you create great fiction! Worth a try. Especially, since everything Gillian has to say about her author journey, this newest book, THESE UNLUCKY STARS, and the joy of writing...
Episode Trigger Warnings: School shootings, child violence. Jasmine Warga is a wonderful MG writer who tackles difficult subjects with grace, dignity, and care. Come meet her and her books, find out why they make us cry and inspire us so much. Get excited for her upcoming novel, RESILIENCE about a Mars rover with feelings, learn how to balance the two jobs of writer/creative and author. Also enjoy this exclusive feature interview about Jasmine's newest MG novel, THE SHAPE OF THUNDER. It...
We're so excited to have middle grade author Nancy Tandon guest hosting this podcast featuring authors Lindsay Currie and Jessica Vitalis as they talk about effective marketing through street teams. This episode is POWER-PACKED with pro-tips and invaluable information for how to set up your own street team to maximize your efforts to market your book—everything from what a street team is, to what it does, to why you need one, to how to begin. Special thanks to these authors for giving s...
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