#adventures in middle grade

[libraryleopard]

On a quest to read some middle grade books (especially fantasy, especially queer protagonists) as research for maybe writing one so I am going to keep a list of recent MG reads (I will also take recs if anyone has some they want to shout out)

Middle Grade books I have read

1. Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

2. The Accidental Apprentice by Amanda Foody

3. Deephaven by Ethan M. Aldridge

4. The Devouring Wolf by Natalie C. Parker

5. The Spirit Glass by Roshani Chokshi

6. The Mossheart’s Promise by Rebecca Mix

7. The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln

8. Too Bright To See by Kyle Lukoff

9. Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid

10. The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues by Beth Lincoln

11. A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

12. The House That Whispers by Lin Thompson

13. Osmo Unknown and the Eightpenny Woods by Catherynne M. Valente

14. The House in Poplar Wood by K.E. Ormsbee

15. The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling

[thatsbelievable]

A Message From the That’s Believable Guy

Hey, it’s me! The THAT’S BELIEVABLE guy! The one who writes all this stuff. I’ve been doing it now for about 8 years, give or take. Posting 7 times a day, every day. I’m grateful to everyone who takes a few seconds out of their day to read the nonsense I write. Thank you.

THAT’S BELIEVABLE is, was, and will remain free. So, in order to pay bills and buy clothes and food for my kids, I write other stuff for money. Most of those projects are work-for-hire, meaning, I don’t own the characters. I love working on these projects, because it’s fun to write stories with Spider-Man, Lilo and Stitch, you name it.

Then there are other things I write that aren’t work-for-hire — projects that I own (or share the copyright with an artist). One such project is THE MONSTROUS ADVENTURES OF MUMMY MAN AND WAFFLES. It’s a spooky humor middle-grade book I wrote, and that artist Robb Mommaerts illustrated. This is a story that has been zipping around my brain for nearly a decade, based on my childhood (and well, let’s face it, adult) love of classic horror movies.

MUMMY MAN means the world to me, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that HarperCollins actually published the book! And guess what? There’s a Book 2 coming next year!

But I want to create even more MUMMY MAN adventures. In order to do that, I need people to read Book 1 — The Monstrous Adventures of Mummy Man and Waffles. You can get your own copy at the links below (including autographed copies from Books of Wonder). You can also ask your local library to order a copy for you to read! Believe me, I know it’s not always in our budget to buy books. I’m often in the same boat. That’s why libraries are so important. Publishers count library sales, too! If MUMMY MAN does well in libraries, that can help move the needle! (Plus, librarians are cool.)

If you’ve made it this far, thank you very much for reading this. For reading That’s Believable. And hopefully, for being interested enough to get a copy of MUMMY MAN from a bookseller or your library.

Oh, and guess what? You can read a few chapters of MUMMY MAN for FREE, HERE!!

We now return you to our usual nonsense.

Get MUMMY MAN HERE!

Get an AUTOGRAPHED COPY HERE!

READ THE NAMES OF 33 BATS HERE!

[haveyoureadthispoll]

This winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award features Stanley Yelnats, a kid who is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake: the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime, punishment, and redemption.

[fictionadventurer]

Lily Between Worlds is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to classification. I'd have a YA (or just above) protagonist, but this is not a YA story. That implies something between child and adult, but actually, I'd want to blend those two categories. I'd want it to have the level-headed maturity of a story for adults, but the wonder and whimsy of a middle-grade story. I think of it like a Pixar story--something that's equally suitable for every age level, like The Electrical Menagerie. I don't know, it's just something to keep in mind if I want to develop this further.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Me, faced with a shiny new story idea: Save it for the Inklings Challenge, save it for the Inklings Challenge, please save it for the Inklings Challenge, I'm begging you please save it for the Inklings Challenge

[stormysprite]

it! is! official!

JUST SIGNED WITH MY FIRST PUBLISHER!!!!!!! if you want to check them out, I’ll be with Bushel & Peck Books, they’re a really cool group just coming onto the middle grade scene

my book should be out in the next 2 years or so!

which means I can start ranting about it and my adventures in publishing bit by bit over the next 24 months

link to B&P’s website here (they give a book to a kid in need for every book people buy from them!)

[maxphotoarchive]

June 22, 2016

[emachinescat]

A Year in (Book) Review: My 2024 Reading Journey 📚

#54 - The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan

Fantasy / Percy Jackson and the Olympians #6 / 288 pages / published in 2023 / Finished Jul. 1

One Sentence Review: Though the stakes are lower in this sixth Percy Jackson book, the characters are just as loveable, the humor is just as on point, and the gods are just as concieted as ever - if I had a complaint, it would be that I'd like to see more of traumatized Percy after the whole Gaia debacle, but honestly, the slice of life moments, the sweet Percabeth scenes, the intense cleansing river bit, and the touching message about growing up and growing old far outweigh my desire for a traumatized Percy (anyway, that's what fanfic is for).

Favorite Quotes

"Find someone who loves you the way my girlfriend pushes me off a cliff. Without hesitation. With full confidence in your abilities, with the rock-steady belief that your relationship can handle it, and with complete faith that when you come out of the water, assuming you survive, you will totally forgive them for the push. Almost certainly forgive them. Probably. Bonus points if you find someone with enough chutzpah to say Bon Voyage while they do it."

*

"I am a guy of limited talents. If I can't kill it with water, a sword, or sarcasm, I am basically defenseless."

*

"To his left was my buddy Hera, goddess of making Percy miserable."

*

"I come preloaded with sarcasm."

*

"I'd sworn off spaghetti, but pasta is like a best friend: you can't stay mad at it forever."

*

"...any future that had us in it was a future I wanted to live through."

My rating: 5/5

A Few More Thoughts (Spoilers):

Though lower stakes and more chill than the original 5 Percy Jackson books, this book has the humor, the heart, and the charm that so characterizes this series. Riordan never seems to run out of new myths to explore, and the slice of life after the giant war is a welcome respite.

While most of Riordan's books are so action packed that readers barely have time to come up for air, Chalice of the Gods sets a leisurely pace and takes ample time to set up and develop its theme of aging, youth, and both the joys and trappings of nostalgia, of old age and how we can embrace instead of hate it, and the false splendor of immortality. So well done!

This book paints a great picture of how human nature is inclined to look back and forward in time instead of finding contentment in the present. At this point in the series, Percy is at a huge transitionary period in his life - not only is he about to start college, but for the first time in years, he can actually imagine a future. The book's prevalent themes of time and aging - the dangers and allure of nostalgia and the beauty of embracing old age, especially if you have someone to share it with - are exemplified perfectly through Percy and his unique position as a demigod transitioning into adulthood.

[feralboo-the-weirdo]

I think my favorite trope in middle grade books is how firmly the narrator manages to convince themselves they're going to have a "normal" anything. (vacation, walk, school year, etc)

Like it's definitely not healthy in any way, but I admire their total commitment to it. like, bud. did you see the cover of this book? the MC tries so hard to have the major plot point not happen so hard, and they never succeed.

feel free to add if you know of more books/MC's that do this, I made a list in the tags, but it's kinda short.

[hathousehappenings]

88. Pie Noon.

All I can say is, thank HEAVENS for Gilbert Gottfried. He's a little ray of sunshine and brings a smile to my face every time in this episode. I kiss him, I hug him, I want to put him in my pocket.

This is a tricky episode to look at when you're trying to consider it advice for dealing with bullies. He tries to get support from his friends and they are all too scared to help. They tell Hare to go to an authority figure for help and she straight up tells him that it's his problem and he has to deal with it on his own. It's such a circumstantial problem that there's no way that this episode can work as an educational experience.

Also, I think it's weird that they go the whole episode talking about how Mike McNasty is bad because he throws pies, then in the end Queenie pies Willie! For no reason! Queenie! That's bully behavior!? What is this episode?!

It's a favorite but it also is just so ludicrous.

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[rachel-sylvan-author]

"The River" by Gary Paulsen Book 2 of the Hatchet series

Thank you @kerryvaughan for the rec! ❤️

[echoes-lighthouse]

Three Fun Facts About Interview With The Vampire And My Actual Life

1- When I told my mother that I wanted to buy "goth clothes" at the age of twelve, she sat me down and gave me a talk on goth subcultures, and how I should make sure to choose carefully. She was a gothabilly in the 1980s, and had friends who were really into the Anne Rice scene to the extent of fucking in graveyards and drinking each other's blood, so she warned me against vampire goths lmao

Anyways I was immediately like 'you can drink other people's blood???' and proceeded to start a small group of blood drinking 12 year olds :/ It was a really good attempt at good parenting but unfortunately I am unhinged. Thanks for trying, mom.

2- having the Francis Bacon paintings in the background of the TV show is one of the most unnerving things, because I had that same triptych on my wall for part of University, but in postcard form: I saw them in Liverpool in 2016 and literally fell in love with them, they were one of my favourite art pieces for a while. I can't put words to how obsessed with them I was. It was hard to focus on anything except for them when they were in the background of shots.

3- Last year, I watched two episodes of the first season, and then took a break to read the book: the TV show absolutely did not prepare me for the book content, and I was dumbfounded. So if anyone else watches the show and then intends to read the books, feel free to hit me up for content warnings, because the books are an entirely different level of fucked up.

Also, I read the first book and was like 'where the fuck does it go from here???' and then I picked up the second book and got absolutely hamstringed by the first paragraph. The tone shift from book one to book two is legendary and I was, once again, not prepared at all.

[whimseysthrone]

Star Trek: Prodigy follow-up

I finished the first season. Wow. I know I just wrote about Prodigy last week, but I have to weigh in again. Continue reading Star Trek: Prodigy follow-up

[celepom]

My Aunt is a Monster

By Reimena Yee

Safia thought that being blind meant she would only get to go on adventures through her audiobooks. This all changes when she goes to live with a distant and mysterious aunt, Lord Whimsy, who takes Safia on the journey of a lifetime! While the reclusive Lord Whimsy stops an old rival from uncovering the truth behind her disappearance, Safia experiences parts of the world she had only dreamed about. But when an unlikely group of chaotic agents comes after Whimsy, Safia is forced to confront the adventure head-on. For the first time in her life, Safia is the hero of her own story, and she must do what she can to save the day. And maybe find some friends along the way.

-----

A very fun and whimsical story about adventure, storytelling (very about storytelling, from how it’s written, to character interests, traits, jobs, and hobbies), and overcoming your fears. Love all the ladies in the cast, but I especially love the “twist” with Pineapple Tart lol. We love seeing strong, interesting middle aged ladies guiding their young proteges.

[mediamatinees]

Smackdown Pen vs Sword Chapter One: I Decided a Percy Jackson Post Deserved Better Than "Adaptation Pass or Fail" as a Title

Camp necklace? Check. Ballpoint pen? Check. Cloven camp guide? No? Oh, you're in trouble. Don't miss my review of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" episodes one and two!

“. . . if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they’ll come for you.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”  Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief  Content Warning: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The…