MMGM: Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman

Published: September 24, 2013
ISBN: 0307981274 
Genre: Middle grade, fantasy, adventure, dystopian
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Themes: Post apocalyptic, bravery, adventure, hope, finding strengths
Add it on: Goodreads, / Amazon / Barnes And Noble/ *Indie Bound*
About The Book:  What happens when you can’t do the one thing that matters most?
12-year-old Hope lives in White Rock, a town struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. The bombs destroyed almost everything that came before, so the skill that matters most in White Rock—sometimes it feels like the only thing that matters—is the ability to invent so that the world can regain some of what it’s lost.

But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb’s Breath—the deadly band of air that covers the crater the town lives in—than fail at yet another invention.

When bandits discover that White Rock has invented priceless antibiotics, they invade. The town must choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from disease in the coming months or to die fighting the bandits now. Hope and her friends, Aaren and Brock, might be the only ones who can escape through the Bomb’s Breath and make the dangerous trek over the snow-covered mountain to get help.

For once, inventing isn’t the answer, but the daring and risk-taking that usually gets Hope into trouble might just save them all.

First Line: You would think I'd never jumped off a cliff before, based on how long I stood there. Not jumping.

What Others Are Saying:  "A general sense of adventure and wonder permeates this tale, making it a fun, quick read. Eddleman brings a strong sense of atmosphere to this post-apocalyptic coming-of-age piece, and the underlying message—that it’s possible to contribute in unexpected ways—is a positive one." —Publishers Weekly

"Sky Jumpers is an absolutely thrilling, seat-of-your-pants adventure for middle school readers. Fans of The Emerald Atlas and Percy Jackson will rush to this tale about a village that, after WWIII, is one of only a few remaining on what is left of Earth, as ‘green bombs’ have devastated the planet." —American Bookseller’s Association 

Bloggers Weigh In: 

Charlottes Library

Queenedsheena

Lizzy's Dark Vision

Commutinggirl

What I Thought: Edleman's debut, set in a post-apocalyptic world after WWIII, is an original adventure and once it winds up really gets moving. I found that the characterization was more telling than discovering through action, which might explain the slow start. I also found myself jolted from the first person perspective when Hope seems to know what's going on in the minds of the other characters. The world she builds is unique. I liked the way she organized her world as small townships separated by harsh terrain that bandits roam created by "green bombs" used in the war. 

About The Author: 

Peggy Eddleman

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Who: Peggy lives at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains with her three hilarious and fun kids (two sons and a daughter), and her incredibly supportive husband. Besides writing, Peggy enjoys playing laser tag with her family, doing cartwheels in long hallways, trying new restaurants, and occasionally painting murals on walls.

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpoole This Weeks MMGM

Published: January 8, 2013
ISBN: 0385742096
Genre: Middle Grade fiction, historical fiction 

Publisher: Delacorte Books
Themes: adventure, friendship, loyalty, bravery,
Add it on: Goodreads, / Amazon / Barnes And Noble/ *Indie Bound*

About The Book: At the end of World War II, Jack Baker, a landlocked Kansas boy, is suddenly uprooted after his mother’s death and placed in a boy’s boarding school in Maine. There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains.
      Newcomer Jack feels lost yet can’t help being drawn to Early, who won’t believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the Great Appalachian Bear, Timber Rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as The Fish, who never returned from the war. When the boys find themselves unexpectedly alone at school, they embark on a quest on the Appalachian Trail in search of the great black bear.       But what they are searching for is sometimes different from what they find. They will meet truly strange characters, each of whom figures into the pi story Early weaves as they travel, while discovering things they never realized about themselves and others in their lives.

First Line: If I'd known what there was to know about Early Auden that strangest of boys, I might have been scared off, or at least kept my distance.

What Other's Are Saying: “This multilayered, intricately plotted story has a kaleidoscopic effect, blurring the lines between reality and imagination, coincidence and fate.” —Publishers Weekly

"This story of a poignant friendship of two heartbroken boys shifts quickly among genres...moving into territory more often claimed by high fantasy quests, heroic epics, wilderness adventures, and even mysteries. The incorporation of these familiar tropes give the book broad and fascinating appeal, and those that trust Early—and Vanderpool—to lead them through the treacherous woods will be pondering and debating the surreal experience for some time to come." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books


Bloggers Weigh In:

Peaceful Reader

Kid Lit Geek

Hope Is The Word

What I Thought: Once again Vanderpool has blown me away with her ability to weave an intricate plot anchored in place and oozing with voice. Jack says, "I wouldn't know. What with the waving wheat and the brilliant sunsets..." implying he never a needed to see "beyond" his horizon. The reality is Jack didn't have a choice whether to "venture beyond his own horizon" and Vanderpool shows Jack's loss of place and the fragile hold he has on his emotions. 

      The author uses carefully crafted sentences to create an ethereal voice when talking about pi. "Before the stars had names, before men knew how to use them to plot their courses, before anyone had ventured beyond his own horizon, there was a boy who wondered what lay beyond." Notice the word choices: before, beyond, ventured, wondered. They all create a sense of mystery, and through repetition the empty space is emphasized. We soon learn both boys are lost, and it's the quest that reveals their own sense of place, where they belong in the world.   

About The Author: 

Clare Vanderpool

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Hornbook Article

Who: Clare Vanderpool, recipient of the 2011 Newbery Award, is a resident of Wichita, Kansas. She has a degree in English and Elementary Education and enjoys reading, going to the pool with her children, the television show Monk, and visiting the bookstores in her town. —Goodreads

MMGM: The Tale of Mally Biddle by M.L. LeGette

Published: November 21st 2012
ISBN: 1481003208
Genre: YA fiction, fairy tales and fantasy, historical fiction Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Themes: adventure, friendship, loyalty, bravery, class
Add it on: Goodreads, / Amazon / Barnes And Noble/ *Indie Bound*

About The Book: When Mally Biddle agreed to spy upon the King of Lenzar and his overbearing knights she knew she was heading into danger. She didn’t know she’d find a family unlike any other.

Posing as a servant in Bosc Castle, Mally serves tea and restocks the fires for the most dangerous men in the kingdom. Her goal is to learn the truth of what happened sixteen years ago, when the infant princess met her death … a death that has more questions than answers.

Along her search for the truth, Mally meets the energized Lita Stump, the strict and matriarchal Meriyal Boyd, and the opinionated Archibald Diggleby. Then of course there are the knights: Sir Leon Gibbs who is slicker than a greased hog, Adrian Bayard, hot tempered and violent, and the worst of the lot: Sir Illius Molick, Captain of the Knights. And then there is Maud, a mysterious woman who just might know everything…

First Line: He sat at a small table in a dark corner.

One Great Line: “You know what I know, Mally. Now you must decide what to believe.”

What Others Are Saying: "This was a delightful book filled with excitement and more than a little espionage. Mally is a bright, strong character that is far from happy playing the delicate victim. She speaks up for herself and stands up for what is right, she doesn't hide her talents, but uses them to help those around her and she is loyal and protective of her friends and family. While I admit it was a bit predictable, it was still a fun read. This would be a fantastic book for a young girl and I think boys would enjoy the adventure in it as well. I especially appreciate that it is a book I could recommend to a ten- or twelve-year-old and not worry about inappropriate content. It is a very sweet book and very well written." — Smart Girls Read

More Bloggers Weigh In:

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

WitchMag's Boekenplank

Fly High

What I Thought: Mally is a stong heroine and I enjoyed following her adventure. LaGette did an excellent job of flushing out her character, often showing the precarious balance of fear and bravery one must have to survive. The "Gooseberry wine, blackberry mead, five-year-old cheddars the size of wagon wheels..." descriptions of food or the "large, black rat (that) sat on the counter, his bald tail wrapped...," all served to created a sense of being there. This is a great adventure, even though Mally is seventeen, this is appropriate for the younger teens and advanced young readers. I recommend this highly as an historical fiction that portrays a time of knights and kings and the contrasting realities of the servants. 

About The Author: M.L. LaGette

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Who: Melissa LeGette lives in Georgia where she helps run a family farm, so her nails are a fright.Her imaginary world is always fantastical.

When: Oddly enough it was my mom who suggested the profession. I was busily penning my first novel and telling her all about it when she asked, “Melissa what do you want to do when you grow up?” (I was probably 15 at the time.) I said, “I don’t know.” (And I really didn’t.) She then said, “Why don’t you be a writer?” The question rather blew me away. It had never dawned on me that I could be a writer. But it was so obvious. I haven’t looked back since.Oddly enough it was my mom who suggested the profession. I was busily penning my first novel and telling her all about it when she asked, “Melissa what do you want to do when you grow up?” (I was probably 15 at the time.) I said, “I don’t know.” (And I really didn’t.) She then said, “Why don’t you be a writer?” The question rather blew me away. It had never dawned on me that I could be a writer. But it was so obvious. I haven’t looked back since.

MMGM: Guardians Inc. The Cypher by Julian Rosado-Machain

Date Published: February 26th 2011ISBN: 1450748589
Genre: Middle grade fiction, fantasy
Publisher: Julian Rosado-Machain
Themes: Honor, family, loyalty, world building
Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon

Guardians Inc.: The Cypher is FREE on Kindle, Nook and iBooks

Praise
USA Book News 2012 Finalist -Young Adult Fiction

About The Book: Guardians Inc.; The Cypher is two stories in one. A glimpse into a multinational company that is in reality the oldest of secret societies, one that spans close to seven thousand years of existence, weaving in and out of history, guiding and protecting humanity from creatures and forces that most of us believe are only mythology and fairy tales.
The other is the story of Thomas Byrne, a young man thrust into secrets he shouldn’t be aware of and dangers he shouldn’t face but, that he ultimately will, for he is a Cypher. The only one who can steer humanity’s future.
  
The ultimate conspiracy theory is that Magic is real. Kept in check by technology but, every five hundred years the balance can shift and, if it does, technology will fail and those creatures we’ve driven into myth will come back with a vengeance.
  
To protect the present, Guardians Incorporated needs to know the future.

  

First Line: Thomas fiddled with his thumbs waiting for his grandfather to emerge from from his meeting with Vice-Principle "Killjoy" Khanna.

  

What Others Are Saying:  "Rosado-Machain is particularly skilled at depicting not only the confusion and uncertainty of a teenage boy facing unexpected challenges and a crush on a much older elf, but also delineating his shifting relationships with the adults around him, particularly his grandfather." —Kirkus Reviews

"Julian Rosado-Machain definitely has a talent for writing characters, and even alone, Thomas was very likable. For a fifteen-year-old, he was surprisingly flexible, and eager to do what needed to be done in order to save the world." —Oktopus Ink

Other Bloggers Weigh In:

Lady With Books

Library Girl: Reads and Reviews

Now Is Gone

What I Thought: This is an amazing debut of middle grade fiction. There adventure is non-stop with characters that are inventive and full of interesting quirks. The fact the he imagined these complicated actors for his adventure and illustrates them too, only adds to its fun. There is humor and mystery throughout. No wonder it's been climbing the Amazon ranks.  

About The Author: 

Julian Rosado-Machain

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Who: He was born in Washington but raised in Mexico City. He's been drawing strange creatures for most of his life. See a great guest post here: —Girl Who Reads

When: Julian continued to draw and when he reached junior high he learned he could write stories for these characters and has done so ever since.  

Next Week: Wish by Beth Bracken and Kay Frasier
(Faerieground Trilogy #1)

MMGM: Post Apocalyptic Moby Dick? Railsea by China Meilville

About The Book: On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible—leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea. -Goodreads

First Line: This is the story of a bloodstained boy.

One Great Passage: This particular passage is representative of the wonderful aliteration, the unique format and action packed sentences that Railesea offers:  "& if," he said,  his voice was suddenly chill & bony & metal like the scuttling of a very bad insect, "you'd like not to be cut open & dangled over the side of the train & dragged along with your legs on the ground spilling blood everything under the flatearth can smell while we go slow enough for long, long miles that they can rise eat you from the toes up from the inside out, you know what you could do for me Sham?" -Elrish, the pirate captain. (236) (Seriously, what 11-13 year-old wouldn't love that!)

What Others Are Saying: "While the beasts may be a bit too intense for those under 12, Railsea is a novel fantasy-loving teens will want to put on the bookshelf alongside the likes of Ender's Game, yet it will also easily satiate Miéville's adult fan base.
      He gives all readers a lot to dig into here, be it emotional drama, Godzilla-esque monster carnage, or the high adventure that comes only with riding the rails." -USA Today

"If Steampunk was The City of Lost Children, then SalvagePunk is supposed to be moreMad Max. It's the process of recycling, repurposing, "upcycling" old technologies. In place of Steampunk's romanticization of the past, SalvagePunk is an "act of radical forgetting," according to Miéville. It would be as though, in the movie Hugo, the eponymous character, instead of meticulously repairing the clockwork automaton, had decided to remodel it into an answering machine." -L.A. Review

What I Thought: As some of you know I am on kind of a Steampunk kick so when I saw this I couldn't pass up the chance to review it on Netgalley. The format threw me at first, which it will for any middle grade reader that isn't capably fluent. When I happened upon an Audio.com version, I jumped and was so glad I did. This is a book you want to hear the alliteration, the tempo and the beat. I then added the hardback book and was able to rewind and review passages, study conventions—what can I say—I'm a writer. Trains, giant moles monsters, strange creatures, pirates and mystery, this has it all. Sham is a great character and any teen will relate, possibly even an advanced Tween, to his quest for adventure, his struggle with difficult choices and his quick wit. If you love, as I do, watching a writer build a new world. It also helps that my degree was in communication and Mieville is always twisting and stretching language, what people say and what they mean is often two very different things. 

About The Author: 

China Mieville

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Who: China Miéville is one of the most important writers working in Britain today. The author of ten novels of "weird fiction"—as well as short stories, comics, non-fiction, a roleplaying game, and academic writing on law and ideology—his 2011 science fiction novel Embassytown was acclaimed by Ursula K le Guin, among others, as "a fully achieved work of art" busy "bringing the craft of science fiction out of the backwaters". -Interview on Boing Boing

How: In terms of the genesis of the book, I can't remember precisely. I think it had an epiphanic moment. But what I'm aware of is a couple of things. One is the very, very silly joke that I've always liked burrowing monsters—Tremors, Burrowers—and I've always loved Moby Dick, and at some point I was amused by the idea of the ridiculous semiotic pun of thinking of Moby Dick but with giant moles instead of whales.  -Interview on Boing Boing

His other book for teens:

What is Un Lun Dun?  It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. See more here.

Question Of The Day: Have you written anything that turns an existing story on it's head or stretches the envelope? 

Commenters are automatically entered into the August 31st giveaway.

Please stop by and check out some of the other MMGM bloggers in my sidebar!

August Giveaway Prizes: Since the drawing occurs on my birthday I am giving lots of gifts and having lots of winners...

Grand Prize: Choice of any two books I have reviewed so far this year, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee,  Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback and Project Madison swag.

First Prize: Two Debbie Macomber books, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

Second Prize: No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

There will be many more winners, more books, more coffee and more Project Madison Swag so stay tuned. [If you tweet this and paste the tweet url in your comment you will get two entries!]

Later This Week: Interview with Julie Bourbeau author of The Wednesdays. 

Next week MMGM Back to Classics: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Striking A Balance Between Planning and Surprise: An Interview with Daniel McInerny

Why do you write for children?

I love writing middle grade fiction because it’s addressed to kids ready for a more nuanced narrative and emotional palette, but who haven’t yet been inveigled out of their natural sense of innocent enchantment about the world. That sense of enchantment includes a robust spirit of adventure and mystery, as well as a love of comedy. All of those ingredients make middle grade the perfect mix for me.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a writer.

I’m a not-quite-48-year-old husband and father of three who lives in Northern Virginia not terribly far from Washington, D.C. I am a native of South Bend, Indiana (just downriver from Patria), a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BA in English), and a holder of a PhD in philosophy. I spent nearly 18 years teaching and working at various universities in the United States, and just over a year ago left academia and launched Trojan Tub Entertainment.


I have been writing fiction all of my adult life, but only recently have begun to publish. I don’t only write children’s fiction. Last month I published my first novel for adults, a dark comic thriller called High Concepts: A Hollywood Nightmare. I also write short stories and screenplays and am currently at work on a radio play for a competition sponsored by the BBC.

See My Review Here!

What was the inspiration for your Kingdom of Patria series?I am a great fan of the comic stories of P.G. Wodehouse. In praising Wodehouse’s tales of feckless bachelors and wise butlers, Evelyn Waugh spoke of Wodehouse as creating a “fairy tale” world. It occurred to me that it would be fun to turn Waugh’s comment on its head and set out to create a fairy tale world that aspired to be as comical as the books of Wodehouse. My Patria stories are first and foremost meant to be laugh-out-load funny. Their plots revolve around adventure and mystery, but the tone is always light and fluffy. Their humor owes a lot to Wodehouse, but also to that of Roald Dahl, as well as J.K. Rowling in the more whimsical portions of the Harry Potter books. One of my reviewers on Amazon compared Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits to the film version of Ian Fleming’ children’s novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I like that comparison. Rob Reiner’s film, The Princess Bride, from a script by William Goldman, also masterfully hits the tone I am striving for.

Tell us about your process.

I will usually get an almost hopelessly vague but nonetheless exciting germ of an idea and then follow it up with a lot of note-taking and outlining before actually getting going on composing the story. My Patria books involve a lot of characters mixed up in complicated, farcical plots, so that it’s simply not practical to plunge in like Hemingway and start writing to see where the story leads. If I proceeded in that way, I would eventually have to stop and start note-taking and outlining, because again, my stories have too many moving parts to keep straight without some kind of roadmap (to mix my metaphor).

The trap for me is that I can linger too long over the note-taking and outlining, becoming too left-brained about the process. I thus have to strike a balance between the desire to plan and know every aspect of the plot beforehand and the need to just start writing and let my imagination surprise me. I’m better than I used to be at striking this balance, but I still, with every project, reach a point where I become too analytical and where I need to simply put aside the notes and outlines and start writing.

  

What does a typical writing day look like?


I’m a morning writer. Afternoons when a deadline presses. Practically never in the evenings. These days I start pretty early and write until about mid-day.

Where is your favorite place to write?

The ideal for me is to be able to write anywhere, to be prepared to put words on paper even if my regular routine is upended. That being said, I enjoy writing in my home office the most. That’s where I am most comfortable and disciplined. I like being surrounded by all my books, having Internet access if I have to look something up or I want to read the paper during a break, and being able to go downstairs at will for a cup of coffee or tea.

Public spaces, like a Barnes & Noble, can work well for background work and a change of scene, but it takes a great deal of concentration for me to actually compose fiction in such a setting. Sometimes I do, but rarely.
What did or do you find most challenging in creating the story and getting it published? What do you wish you would have known?

These days, there’s really no reason to experience any significant trouble in self-publishing one’s books (as I do). Advances in digital technology and the new distribution platforms provided by Amazon and others make publishing a breeze. The real challenges come with the marketing.

I wish I had learned a little earlier than I did that the best kind of marketing is “content marketing,” i.e. providing rich fictional and other entertainment and informational content, some of it for a price, but a lot of it for free, in order to draw my audience in. The free content on the Kingdom of Patria site--the short stories, the activities that the two clubs are involved with, the character blogs, the Kingdom of Patria Storytime Radio--all helps kids and parents become familiar and comfortable with my brand. 

I've heard it said that from the Internet people are looking for either information or entertainment. A lot of self-pubbers do a great job at content marketing through information, "How To" articles and the like. All that is great and I consume a fair amount of it and produce some too, but my favored approach is to entertain by providing free fictional content. That's what interests me most and what I feel I'm best at.
What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

“A writer is someone who writes.” That’s an unromantic, lunch pail, craftsman’s take on what it means to be a writer, and I think it’s the best advice that any writer can begin with and return to.

When it comes to entire books on writing, I like Dorothea Brande’s Becoming A Writer, Stephen King’s On Writing, Robert McKee’s Story, and Flannery O’Connor’s Mystery and Manners.

Are you working on a new project? Can you tell us about it?


I could tell you about it, but then I would have to send the Knights of the Blue Sock out to hunt you down! :)

Among other things I do have a new children’s book brewing. I’m just getting started with it. All I’m able to say is that it’s a kind of prequel to the two Patria novels I’ve released. Why should George Lucas and Peter Jackson have all the fun!

What advice would you give others that write for children?

First and foremost I would urge them to enjoy the process, to play with the story, to let one’s own childlikeness (not childishness) come through in the writing. Second, to keep in mind that children’s literature is not only for children, but should be of such a quality that it can be enjoyed by anyone. Third, not to introduce children, in the hopes of being “relevant” or “edgy,” to aspects of the adult world that are beyond their maturity level.

Everyone is always welcome to the Kingdom of Patria! You can also keep up with the news from Patria by “liking” the Trojan Tub Entertainment Facebook page. Daniel McInerny can be found on his blog at the Kingdom of Patria, at his author site,danielmcinerny.com, and on Twitter: @kingdomofpatria.

What i know...

Today I'm attending the unexpected funeral of my dear father-in-law. He was a very special man and will be very missed. It is at times like these you are forced to think about what is really important. Sharing this post again, felt appropriate. Enjoy! I'll be back on Monday...

     There was a time when everything was simple. I was either right or I was right. Remember that? We believed that what we knew was the way it was. Concrete, black and white, wrong and right. People either fit into my world because they agreed with me or I didn't care to hear their point of view, because it would be a waste of my time. Right?

    I'm sure you have heard the saying, "the older I get the less I know". Well, I am here to tell you that not everyone gets to that point. There are some that never arrive at a point where they are willing to either listen or admit there could be another way. Those are the people I feel sorry for. Those are the ones that fail to see the purpose of creation. 

     The artist knows that a true creation is a living breathing piece of life. Even the master artist continues to adjust his point of view. A writer soon realizes that the beginning of his work is really somewhere in the middle and the end is only a temporary stopping place. 

      So when I look at my life, I see a series of moving pieces always adjusting to new information. Some would say that living your life this way is "wishy-washy" or without commitment. However, I would argue that spending time maintaining stasis when life is all about change is just plain ignorant. Just as the scientist has his hypothesis that is proved or disproved, I am constantly learning new perspectives that naturally change my point of view. I like it that way. I am comfortable with the fact that there is so much that I don't know. I am happy in my quest to learn that never ends and my adventure that is always continued. 

     Do I need to know what happens next? Not really. 

Why? I've learned that you can never know, so instead of forcing the issue, I have learned to adapt and change. 

When I get to a point that I am satisfied, no longer interested in a new point of view... only then will I be old. As long as I'm learning I will be forever young. *starts singing Rod Stewart* 

What new discovery did you make today?