I like big books and I cannot lie. (part two)

Listening To: 20 Years by The Civil Wars
Quotable: "Inspiration exists but it has to find you working." - Pablo Picasso

* Someone asked if I'd ever finished writing the post about Middle Grade novels I'm exited about reading this year. Thank you for reminding me! I meant to post this back when I wrote about upcoming YA books that are making my heart go pitter-pat. This is a long one, so maybe go get some snacks, come back, and make yourself comfy! :) 

As I've mentioned a time or a thousand, February marked the second anniversary of the day I turned twenty-nine years old. In the minds of children, this means that I am mostly pre-historic. In the eyes of my parents, I'm still a spring chicken. No matter how you view this age ... I'm pretty much an actual adult.


Except for when I photoshop Ceelo Green glasses onto my brother's face:

That is not mature. But otherwise!


Despite the fact that I'm a grown-up(ish), I happen to love middle-grade novels.

In fact, if I'm being tee-totally honest, middle-grade novels are my favorite reads. Middle School was the era I loved to read most. (The Baby-Sitters Club! Narnia! Bunnicula! Wayside School! Ma and Pa Ingalls! Goosebumps!) And it was the era I started getting serious about showing my very, very corny stories to other people. And also, and maybe most importantly, it was the era when I wore slap bracelets and airbrushed unicorn sweatshirts for school picture day. Hawt. (This I promise you: I was geek before it was chic.)

I've never stopped loving middle grade books. I love the style, for starters. Because it takes a very particular kind of voice to write it. Regardless of whether that voice has a lyrical flow (like my Writer Hero Kate DiCamillo) or more of a plot-centered punch (like Rick Riordan), all of it has a poetic clip to it. The words in these books are pure poetry - controlled poetry - and they're well paced. And they're fun. Young Adult books get lots of love, and rightfully so. Middle Grade books are a whole different kind of wonderful though, and I think they deserve some hype as well. Today, I am happy to be their hype-girl.

Whether you are a legit adult or just too legit to quit (or way too young to even know the song I just referenced), don't hesitate to pick up a middle grade novel this year (even if middle school is, thankfully, light years behind you). Middle Grade books are some of the most well written, most surprisingly literary books I've discovered. They steal my heart away every time.

These are just a few of a bunch of middle grade books I'm eager to nab in 2012:

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose. I've followed Caroline's blog for a long time now and it has been quite an encouragement to me. Caroline has been very candid about her path to publication; a path that is typically bumpy and crackly and full of potholes. And sink holes. And suck holes.

I find her honesty very encouraging. For me, The Path to Publication (for fiction) (which is the not-so-secret-secret-dream) has mostly felt like a Dystopian version of The Oregon Trail Game. Apparently, you gotta get snake-bit and dysenteried a bunch before you ever get to Freedom Rock. (Put that in your metaphorical pipe.) Thus, I cannot imagine a writer who wouldn't be encouraged by Caroline's tenacity. I'd read her blog long enough to know that it was only a matter of time before her book(s) got snatched up. Sometimes talent shines through even when writers don't mean for it to, and her blog always had a sparkle to it.

Her first novel (which came out in January) tells the story of 12-year old May, a frontier girl living in the late 19th century who, unexpectedly, is abandoned one winter and has to survive alone. The novel is written in verse which is a tricky sell for me - despite the fact that I love poetry so much. I'm down with verse, but I think, for me, it can very easily fracture the pace of a novel. Plus, without the right skillz, writers get lost in the versey-ness of their verse. (That last sentence is a fine example of why I don't write many book reviews.) Incorporating verse the right way takes some savvy but I've read Caroline's blog enough to know she has it, tons of it. When I was a kid, I followed the Ingalls family all over the prairie. As an adult, I am excited to spend some of my Spring with May B. I'm confident May's gonna steal my heart. (The books today are all middle grade, so even if your parents are pretty strict about what you read, I'm guessing they'll be okay with these. But, of course, I can't know that for sure. So if a character stubs her toe and mumbles a cuss word, please don't throw rotten eggs at my car.)

The Seven Tales of Trinket by Shelley Moore Thomas. 


There are certain kinds of stories that pull me in immediately. More often than not, the writing is the first thing that hooks me - there's a certain style of writing I adore. But, regardless of the writing, I'm drawn to stories that have a classical, lyrical, enchanting sort of pulse in the pages. I like quests. I love heroes who don't feel heroic at all (the best heroes are always that way, aren't they?). I like lots of stories that weave together unexpectedly. I don't know if The Seven Tales of Trinket is like that, exactly, but everything about the blurb makes it obvious I'm going to read it. You can read more about the novel at Shelly Thomas's blog. Shelley has also written some lovely children's books. If you need some new reads for your little sibs, or the kids you nanny, do check out her Good Knight series. (Or, if you're like me, you can just check them out for yourself. Children's books are my favorite kind of poetry.) Trinket isn't out until this fall, so stick it your "TBR" list. I get a prickly sense about books that are going to be wonderful (it's my 6th Sense, maybe ...) (Book sense is far better than an I-See-Dead-People Sense, yes?), and this one's giving me the pricklies.

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Lofton.

So, that TV Show, Once Upon a Time?  Do you remember how I fan-girled all over that show when it first came on? Well ... I totally gave up on it. I have commitment issues when it comes to television, anyway. But there was an episode of Once when the wicked queen started pitching hearts into the fire (very Temple of Doom-esc) ... and it came off so corny for me. I get that it's storybook-fun and quirky and all that. My suspension of disbelief is pretty much in the stratosphere. I have a very high tolerance for storybook stuff. But the heart-wielding was just ... eh. A friend tells me I need to get past my roasted-heart prejudice, because the show is so fun. I'll try again someday. Maybe.

Regardless, I am always up for fairytale retellings. I'm nuts about them. And there is no shortage of them in the universe of kid-littery (yay!). Cinderella gets lots of love. I could argue that Beauty and The Beast is pretty much the basis of every love story ever. (Also it is the reason I want my very own library with a wheely ladder attached.) The coolest retelling that I've read about in a very long time, however, is Nikki Lofton's The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy. Oh. My. Word. I've read that it's like "Coraline meets Hansel and Gretel". (!) And I want to read it so much that I can hardly stand the waiting. You can click through to Nikki's blog to read the blurb. How cute is that cover?!

Be right back. I'm going to go grab a Diet Dr. Pepper.*

Ok!

The Mapmaker and the Ghost by Sarvenaz Tash. 

Last time I visited my nephew, he asked me to read Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune. Andy likes for me to read a certain scene over and over again, because I do June's voice like the woman who made Tapioca pudding for Renee Zellwegger in New in Town. Andy thinks that's funny. He does wonders for my ego. In that scene of Neptune, the harpies are swooping in and so I start to get nervous for Percy, and sometimes I have to stand up and jump around while I read. At that point, Andy mostly looks me as though (in the words of the great poet Rob Thomas), I'm just a little unwell.

Point: I like to get swept up in adventure books. Not only do I love adventure books, but I love books with maps. I wish I had a map in every book I own. Even if the book takes place in Podunkville, I want a map! Storybook maps are magical things.

Enter The Mapmaker and the Ghost. I actually saw it blurbed as something (... I don't remember the first part, but it was a comparison to another book or movie) ".... meets Goonies." And I thought, "Hellooooo, I must own." Because you know how much I love me some Goonies.


The Mapmaker and the Ghost sounds sweet and unique and awesome and adventur-y. The author is Sarvenaz Tash (her debut!) and you can read more about her novel on her site. An added perk? I'm almost positive this book will have a map in it. Jumpy claps are imminent.

Fun tangent: Sarvenaz is an Iranian name. As you might remember, one of my most favorite people in all the world also has an Iranian name, as do her sibs. I love the way their names sound. So storybook and chic. You can hear Sarvenaz pronounce her name here. And this is a sweet post about she wrote about her name.

There are, of course, loads more great books that will come out this year. First billing on my "wanna-read-like-whoa-list" always goes to Kate DiCamillo, Jenny B. Jones and Sarah Addison Allen. (And J.K. Rowling, obviously.) I read Jenny's There You'll Find Me earlier this year, and I loved it, but apparently she thinks she only has to put out one book a year or something. And I'm not sure if Sarah Addison Allen or Kate D. are putting out anything new in 2012 either. It's like none of them care that I can't bear the thoughts of going a whole year without their books. *gives favorite authors the stink-eye* But I'm keeping a vigilant watch. And I'm always watching for something I've never even heard of, something that surprises me, a cover that catches my eye in the bookstore, a first page that steals my heart away when I didn't expect it to. That's the best feeling for a lifelong geek, regardless of how chic she becomes.

If you're still reading this, you deserve cookies and pinwheels and plastic whistles and cupcakes. Festive things.

Just so you know, I don't get any kind of kickback from mentioning these books. I don't know these authors (but they seem awesome). I just think their stories sound incredible. I don't even get Book-It credit. Did you guys do Book-It? Or was that prehistoric? (Book-It, back in ye olden days, was Pizza Hut's way of rewarding booknerds. You got a huge button and, for every book you read, you put a star on the button. And when the button was full you got a free personal pan pizza.) I am forever grateful to Pizza Hut for championing my two great loves: reading and cheese. (Why doesn't Book-It exist for adults?!)

I feel like there's only one proper way to end this post: 

Do you remember your favorite book in middle school? I hope you'll let me know what you're reading now (regardless of genre!). I love hearing your book recommendations. I'll meet you in the comments so we can reminisce about good books. And Book-It. And airbrushed sweatshirts :) 


*Total lie. I had to take a break and sing my favorite line from Beauty and the Beast, "... isn't this amazing?! It's my favorite part because ... you'll see, here's where she meets prince charming ...but she won't discover that it's him till chapter three ..."