What a ridiculous and tedious process this is. Been active on the bird app since 2009. Never verified, but have a highly curated and intentional follows list of #journalists, #academics, #scientists, assorted specialists, advocacy orgs, and publishers / authors / librarians / blogs in the #MGlit space. I despise IG for its clunky interface and unreliable feed. So am manually adding ppl here, at Post, and via website where possible.

A great debut story if you like historical fiction:

LIGHT AND AIR, a quiet story with lots of heart by Mindy Nichols Wendell about a time when tuberculosis was mostly a death sentence, has a cover!

This beautiful, light-filled cover is the work of Loika, an Australian artist with a radiant, luminous style.

LIGHT AND AIR will be out in January of 2024.

#MGlit #mgbooks #kidlit #2024debuts @bookstodon

https://www.patreon.com/StevenCapobiancoWorlds

Check out my patreon to help support the Silver Claw Inn. Readers will get the first book of Moonlight Blade at no extra cost before public episodes release.

Also perks, such as cameo appearances, WIP previews, free ebooks upon release, and much more #BoostsWelcome @bookstodon #amwriting #mglit #kidlit #writing #Patreon

Amazon calls this book "Children's Spine-Chilling Horror". That's interesting, given the news right now about #mglit not selling well—except scary/spooky/horror.

If you were a fan of this book and know someone who'd like a spooky, warm, fast-paced read, please help me talk it up. Word-of-mouth is a big way to help a book reach audiences. And if this one can reach more right now, a paperback will ensure it will reach many more in years to come.

#KidLit #MGLit #Publishing #BookSales #Books

And with low sales, there will be no sequel, no other adventures. I've had kids pretty much beg me for another novel in that world, kids who say this is their favorite book of all time, and it's heartbreaking because it just isn't going to happen. And with no paperback, sales are going to sink even more.

It breaks my heart that this spooky adventure with its brave, diverse, well-rounded kids isn't going to be more accessible to readers.

#KidLit #MGLit #Publishing #BookSales #Books

When SECRET OF THE SHADOW BEASTS was published a year ago, I was so eager for the paperback edition. Hardcovers are expensive, and paperbacks make books much more accessible.

But there won't be a paperback, at least not now. Because of sales. It hasn't sold well enough.

#KidLit #MGLit #Publishing #BookSales #Books

Didn't do much over vacation except read but what I did read was delightful! Can't recommend enough The House That Whispers by Lin Thompson, perfect for fans of Kyle Lukoff and anyone looking to read haunting and heartfelt queer middle grade fiction.

#kidlit #bookrecs #bookstodon #mglit #booksandcats #caturday #caturdayeveryday

As #DraculaDaily returns, please consider: Hanging with Vampires, a nonfiction field guide to the supernatural!

This one's for the scholastic book fair kids, the mythology kids, and the spooky kids 🦇✨ and you can get it wherever books are sold -- or here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/hanging-with-vampires-a-totally-factual-field-guide-to-the-supernatural-insha-fitzpatrick/18595969?ean=9781683693413

I had a lot of fun editing this one, and ofc the author and I had to take the ARC on a field trip to the Dracula exhibit at the Mutter Museum 🧛

#KidLit #MGlit #vampires #dracula #bookstodon #bookrecs #BookToot

#CFP

Material Girls & Boys: Narrated Fashion in Children’s Media
(March 7th – 9th, 2024 Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany) https://materialgirlsandboys.com/call-for-abstracts/ #kidlit #mglit #writing #fashion

Roald Dahl, rewrites and the truth about ‘sensitivity readers’ #kidlit #mglit #writing https://www.ft.com/content/5148322c-144d-4347-8790-696c604aedad

Classic children’s books occupy a special cultural place and evoke sentiments of tradition and nostalgia. They are venerated as works of art.... As such, any suggestion of changing them can feel like an attack on culture itself. Of course, whose heritage and whose culture these “classic” books represent is up for debate, especially when original versions included portrayals of certain groups in hurtful or stereotypical ways. #kidlit #mglit #fiction

https://theconversation.com/from-roald-dahl-to-goosebumps-revisions-to-childrens-classics-are-really-about-copyright-a-legal-expert-explains-201246

@eliotedits @kidlit Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee is a fun, fast-paced, culturally-rich sf/f story; Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca is a charming light fantasy mixing Shakespearian characters and sports (her Midsummer's Mayhem mixes fantasy, Shakespeare, and cooking); Thomas Taylor's Eerie-by-the-Sea books are delightful, light-hearted, with some action but a lot of mystery and humor; A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus is sweet historical #MGLit (WWII orphans looking for a home).

Kid’s about two thirds of the way through Loki, and I can’t remember when I last saw this much bubbling-over enthusiasm about a new book — stopping to read passages out loud, or to describe details of the story to anyone who will listen; racing through bedtime prep to get back to the book; even making a point of thanking me “for bringing home such a great book.” I’m LOVING this.

#KidLit #MGLit

@Louiestowell @arpcomics

I wonder what the #Copyright implications are for this: "And deleting Rowling’s name from the books doesn’t remove her from what she created, Flom said. That’s impossible. Her way of thinking is ingrained in what she wrote..." #mglit #HarryPotter https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/20/transgender-bookbinder-harry-potter-rowling/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&s=09

Listening to the kid chortle to himself as he reads @Louiestowell’s Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good. Thanks, @arpcomics, for the recommendation!

#KidLit #NorseMythology #GraphicNovels #MGLit

One of my favorite writers when I was growing up was Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I read pretty much anything of hers I could get my hands on, but a handful of titles got by me. I just finished reading Black and Blue Magic for the first time — out loud, to my kid. Definitely up there with the best of her work, and the kid gives it the thumbs up too. Such a cool thing to be able to share the experience!

#KidLit #MGLit #ReadWithYourKids

@ferrous I never heard of #WeirdPrideDay, and I love that it’s a thing! Possibly of interest, #MGLit fantasy genre, Kaela Rivera’s Cece Rios books — the main character has a “water soul” in a world that prizes fire, and struggles with her family’s/community’s perception of her differences as a “curse.” Also great in #ChapterBooks (on the cusp of #EarlyReaders/MG), Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine is a fabulously “weird” heroine. And in #GraphicNovels, definitely Cece Bell’s El Deafo.

Starting a new writing project for the first time in over 3 years. I have bits and pieces jotted down from brainstorming sessions almost a year ago, but this book already feels bigger and more ambitious (and maybe less linear?) than what I've written in the past, and I have really no idea how to untangle the threads and weave them together into a story-shaped thing. This work is exciting/ridiculous! #amwriting #kidlit #mglit

...I wonder sometimes, though, how many kids are getting enough prompting to try new things. I look at the huge franchises supplying seemingly endless streams of familiar (video game spinoffs, woo!), maximally accessible content, and I wonder how any kid ever ends up taking a deeper look at a bookstore or library shelf. You can look at the mass-produced content and say “It’s got them reading, hooray for that”...but I hope variety and substance make their way in somewhere. (3/3)

#KidLit #MGLit

...This weekend, I guess feeling low on options, he finally picked it up. And...boom. Hooked. Now he’s asking me when we can get the next installment. (Inconveniently, I see no indication that a date has been announced). It’s a reminder that books that grab you at first glance, that feel “easiest” to dive into, aren’t the only ones that can be super-rewarding... (2/3)

#KidLit #MGLit #GraphicNovels