Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Ogre of Oglefort

For those of you that are working today and not cleaning their garage (like me), here is my pick for MMGM:



The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
Release date: August 2011 ( I won the ARC from Shannon Whitney Messenger--love that girl.)


Other books by this author:
Secret of Platform 13
Island of the Aunts
Which Witch?
Journey to the River Sea
The Dragonfly Pool
The Great Ghost Rescue
Dial-a-Ghost


The Hook: When a princess has gone missing and an ogre is to blame, it's up to a hag, a troll, a wizard and an orphan to save her.


Why I really enjoyed this book: Flipping stereotypes and a bit with a dog. The story almost immediately flips when there's a princess who would rather collect bugs and be turned into a bird instead of marrying a prince. There's also a hospitable hag, a helpful ogre, a poor prince, and a wizard chef. I kept asking myself what's going to happen next because everything I predicted was completely off and I was pleasantly surprised with each chapter. This book is definitely for younger middle graders (I dropped it on my 9-yr-old's TBR pile but even my 7-yr-old could read this). Kids who love Roald Dahl will love this story. Great for both boys and girls.


Want More: Eva Ibbotson died last October at the age of 85. Read her son's interview about her legacy or read her interview at Indiebound.

Other MMGMers:

• Shannon Whitney Messenger


• Kid Lit Frenzy


• My Brain on Books


• My Comfy Chair


• Night Writer


• Book Dreaming


• Write About Now


• Just Deb


• Novel & Nouveau


• Anita Laydon Miller's MG Blog


• Literary Rambles

I'm in a scary book phase, although this wasn't even sorta scary. Do you read in genre clumps? If so, what genre are you addicted to right now?

Best of the Middle Grade Blogs: May 27

I wish I could say I was at BEA this week, but I wasn't. I've been MIA because my laptop went in for a checkup (something came loose inside, never good). So I'm rounding up from my kids' PC computer. After being on a Mac for so long, this is an act of love that I'm even spending time on this computer. If I hit the ALT button one more time, I just might lose it.

Are you a MAC or a PC?

Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend.

My Fave Middle Grade Blog Posts this Week

Industry & Inspiration

• Karen Mahoney on Saying Yes to Every Opportunity @ Adventures in Children's Publishing. (I needed this today. I'm still waiting to hear back from agents.)


• Agent Spotlight: Terrie Wolf @ Literary Rambles.


• Joe Monti: Agent, Barry Goldblatt Literary @ The Write Path. (I met him last year, super nice, super helpful.)


• 7 Questions for Literary Agent Holly Root @ MG Ninja.

Crafting

• Good Boymanship Awards @ Project Mayhem.


• T is for Transitions: Avoid Confusing MG Readers @ That's Another Story.


• Tip Tuesday #89 (fast drafting) @ Literary Rambles.


• The YA View: No Perfect Characters Please! @ Write4Kids.


• Complicated Characters @ Novel and Nouveau.


• Writing Your ABCs @ PK Hrezo.


• My Shelf of Forgotten Books (A Tale of Woe) @ Smack Dab in the Middle.


• Playing with Perspective @ Project Mayhem.


• Examining Rewriting Step 2 @ Writer's Ally.


• Trust What You Know @ Write About Now.

Interviews

• Ruth McNally Barshaw + Giveaway @ From the Mixed Up Files...


• Matthew J. Kirby @ From the Mixed Up Files...


• 10 Questions with Andy Mulligan @ The Book Nut.


• Uma Krishnaswami on The Grand Plan to Fix Everything @ Through the Toll Booth.


• Julie Crabtree @ The OWL.


• Yolanda Ridge + Giveaway @ Just Deb.

Reviews

• MMGM: The 13 Reality Series @ Shannon Whitney Messenger.


• MMGM: The Friendship Doll @ My Brain on Books.


• MMGM: Diary of a Wimp Kid: Do It Yourself Book @ Book Dreaming.


• MMGM: Nowhere to Call Home @ Novel and Nouveau.


• MMGM: The Girl Who Could Fly @ Anita Laydon Miller's MG Blog.


• MMGM: Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow @ Night Writer.


• MMGM: Anything But Typical @ Middle Grade Mafioso.


• MMGM: Loch & Reef of Death @ Just Deb.


• The Crepe Maker's Bond @ The OWL.


• Artemis Fowl @ Write About Now.


• Max Quick: The Pocket and The Pendant @ The Write Path.


• The Visconti House @ Charlotte's Library.


• Day of the Assassins @ Charlotte's Library.

Other Round Ups:

• F & SF for kids @ Charlotte's Library.

Best of the Middle Grade Blogs: May 20

I hate waiting. I'm not good at hurry up and wait. Thankfully, I have your blogs to distract me. What I wish I was listening to kick start Friday:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

What I'm actually listening to. Don't judge me. You know it's a sweet Friday song. Don't fight it.

What song gets you in the mood for Friday?

My Fave Middle Grade Blog Posts for This Week

Industry, Inspiration, and Market

• The Epic Post on Trends (YA & MG) @ Author/Agent Mandy Hubbard.
• New Releases of F & SF for Teens and Kids (May) @ Charlotte's Library.
• Ask the Expert Series: Interview with an 8th Grader @ Literary Rambles.
• How Can We Reach Them? @ MG Mafioso.
• It's All About the Audience @ Write4Kids!
• YA Exhaustion @ Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
• Sherrie Petersen on the Magic Rejection Number @ Adventures in Children's Publishing.
• Blogger Friends: Please Be Sharers! @ Ink Spells.
• Nathan Bransford's Blog Directory (woo hoo) @ Nathan Bransford.

Crafting

• Wordcount Dracula @ Jennifer Represents.
• Putting on Airs @ Kidlit.
• How Well Do You Know Your Character? @ Project Mayhem.
• S is for Sterotypes: Are Your Characters Really Unique? @ That's Another Story.
• Interiority vs Telling @ Kidlit.
• Revision--Shannon Style @ Shannon Whitney Messenger.
• Examining Rewriting: step 1 @ Writer's Ally.
• Editing, Rewriting, and Gutting Fish--Not Much Difference @ Whimsy, Writing, & Reading.

Interviews

• Classroom Connections: Carole Estby Dagg @ Caroline by line.
• Erin E. Moulton @ From the Mixed Up Files...
• 7 Questions for Barbara Dee @ Middle Grade Ninja.

Reviews

• MMGM: The Goose Girl @ Shannon Whitney Messenger.
• MMGM: Riff Remember @ Book Dreaming.
• MMGM: The Invisible Order @ Just Deb.
• MMGM: Grey Griffins Giveaway @ My Brain on Books.
• MMGM: Belle Prater's Boy @ Novel and Nouveau.
• MMGM: The Secret of Platform 13 @ Night Writer.
• MMGM: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You @ Anita Laydon Miller's MG Blog.
• MMGM: Words in the Dust @ MG Mafioso.
• MMGM: Juniper Berry @ Kid Lit Frenzy.
• MMGM: ARC Giveaway @ Write About Now ( I want Ashes, Ashes)
• It's Raining Cupcakes...Yum @ Christine Fonseca.
• Gossip from the Girls' Room @ Picture This.
• The Midnight Gate by Helen Stringer @ Charlotte's Library.
• Troubletwisters by Garth Nix and Sean Williams @ The Write Path.

Other Round Ups

• Sunday's MG S & SF Round Up @ Charlotte's Library.

Still want more writing links? Go read my other white meat round up at The Writing Bug.

She's Crafty: Creating Tension

Yeah, I'm a little tense. My query is out there, waiting in an inbox. Has it been noticed? It is a brutal question I cannot answer. So to distract my mind and let my manuscript grow cold, I thought of a new idea for a book. I confess I don't have a plot. For a plot girl, that's saying a lot.

I just have an idea and a scene full of tension, now I need to find the before and after.

So what are the 5 T's of Tension: The Stakes, The Pace, The Dialogue, The Setting, The Stakes.

My Top 10 Fave Blog Posts on Creating Tension

1. Supertaunt Tension and Sizzling Stakes @ Kidlit.
2. Setting Up the Tension @ The Other Side of the Story.
3. The Scene Conflict Worksheet: Developing Tension in Your Novel @ Adventures in Children's Publishing.
4. Whoa, That's Tense. Raising the Tension in Your Scenes @ The Other Side of the Story.
5. On Conflict @ Nathan Bransford.
6. GMCT: Goal, Motivation, Conflict, Tension @ Adventures in Children's Publishing.
7. It's Not the Cougar @ Writer Unboxed.
8. Tips for Writing Effective Dialogue @ The Blood Red Pencil.
9. Telegraphing (and Other Pace Killers) @ Writer Unboxed.
10. Setting the Pace @ Nathan Bransford.
11. Bonus: Writing for Effect @ Flogging the Quill.
12. Bonus: 7 Things I've Learned So Far, by Stephen Jones @ Guide to Literary Agents.
13. Bonus: Writing a Hot Plot @ Kidlit.

Do you have any tips for creating tension in a story?

How do you tame your TBR pile?

I have a sickness, book bulimia, and the only cure is more cowbell or more books. I love the smell, the feel, and just getting lost in a story. Luckily my husband has his own sickness: music. So we have a general understanding when we can't control our book/music buying. To control my sickness, I have one rule: I can't buy more books until my TBR pile is down to three but then I binge--buying 6 to 8 books at a time. Then I purge through them so I can binge again.

MMGM has been bad for my sickness, every Monday I crave more books (so you need to stop picking good ones). And last weekend, I broke my rule and binged.

My TBR pile currently towers at 17 books and only because I knocked two off the list this weekend. Divergent by Roth and Beastly by Finn. Seriously, go read Joanne's review of Divergent (there is no way you'll be able to resist her review) and then go buy the book, read it tonight, and then we need to chat. Tomorrow. If you have time.

What's on my pile:

Middle Grade

1. The Ogre of Oglefort by Ibbotson (currently reading)
2. The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Hahn
3. The Graveyard Book by Gaiman
4. Wimpy Kid #4 by Kinney (my daughter is reading this one)
5. The Black Book of Buried Secrets (39 Clues) by Riordan
6. Princess for Hire by Leavitt
7. The Emerald Atlas by Stephens

Young Adult

1. Wither by Destefano
2. Real Live Boyfriends by Lockhart
3. Invincible Summer by Moskowitz

Fiction

1. The Devil in the White City by Larson
2. Heresy by Parris
3. Little Bee by Cleave
4. The Glass Castle by Walls
5. Cutting for Stone by Verghese
6. Devil's Brood by Penman (I uber loved Here be Dragons)
7. Game of Thrones by... (yeah, my husband has this book right now, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Sorry.)

How do you tame your TBR pile and what's at the top of your pile?

I need help people.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze

And we're back.

I picked this book because it won the 2011 SID Fleischman Humor Award Winner. After reading it, I packaged it up and I'm sending to my friend's children. A few months ago, my friend's husband, who has been battling cancer for 11 years, died suddenly of a blood infection. Their children are 9 and 8. The oldest, one of my daughter's best friends, has been struggling with the death of her father. I feel this book will bring her and her brother comfort.

Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg

Published in Sept 2010

Other books in the series:

Milo and the Restart Button (releasing sometime in 2011)

The Hook: A couple years after the death of his mother, Milo and his family still struggle to deal with their loss. When Milo's dad gets rid of all the memories of her, Milo must find a way to revive his memory of her.

Why I love this book: Voice and humorous way of dealing with a tough issue. The voice and style are very Wimpy Kid, and Milo is a lovable awkward character. For being about how to cope with death of a parent, the book is very light hearted and clever. Milo is just trying to fit in and get the cute girl to notice him. When Milo's neighbor wakes him up to holding on to the memories of his mother, Milo decides to search garage sales for things that would remind him of her. This is when I started bawling in the book and I could see my friend's children in their struggle with their dad's death. My friend said the one thing they wish they had more of was video of her husband. My heart aches for these children and any child that must cope with the loss of a parent. I would recommend this book to anyone who has lost a parent or someone close to them. This is definitely a boy book but I think girls in a similar situation will appreciate it.

Want More? Read the author interview on Alice Pope's blog.

Other MMGMers (go, they always have great picks):

• Shannon Whitney Messenger
• Kid Lit Frenzy
• My Brain on Books
• My Comfy Chair
• Night Writer
• Book Dreaming
• Write About Now
• Just Deb
• Novel & Nouveau
• Anita Laydon Miller's MG Blog
• Literary Rambles

Do you know of any other MG books that help kids deal with loss?

I am a passenger on the spaceship Earth

So today was supposed to be She's Crafty but I got caught up reading Demon Glass (Hex Hall 2) and Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze (look for it as my next MMGM). That means no more time for writing or blogging. Must sleep. So I thought I would leave you with my favorite line from the middle grade book: A View From Saturday by E L Konigsburg:

I am a passenger on the spaceship Earth.

I love it because it illustrates a character changing a bullied remark into something whimsical. If only more kids could share this perspective. And you've got to admit, Earth is one heck of a ride.

Do you have a favorite line from a MG novel and why?