From The Mixed Up Files

Today it’s my great pleasure to introduce MUF readers to a brand new collection titled Virginia Hamilton: Five Novels, which will be published by Library of America on September 28. The volume, edited by Mixed-Up Files contributor, Julie K. Rubini, includes five of Hamilton’s best known and most beloved works as well as twenty beautifully restored illustrations, (ten in full color for the first time); a newly researched chronology of Hamilton’s life and career; and a selection of other related writings, such as her Newbery Award Acceptance Speech and an essay titled, “Nonwhite Literature as American Literature:...

The 2021 National Book Awards longlist is out– and the young reader’s list features a blend of truly impressive work, both fiction and nonfiction: Safia Elhillo, “Home Is Not a Country”  Make Me a World / Penguin Random House Shing Yin Khor, “The Legend of Auntie Po” Kokila / Penguin Random House ((Click here to read Shing Yin Khor’s interview with MUF’s We Need Diverse Books.)) Darcie Little Badger, “A Snake Falls to Earth” Levine Querido Malinda Lo, “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” Dutton Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House Kyle Lukoff, “Too Bright to See” Dial...

September and October are big months for new releases and there are quite a few diverse debuts to celebrate. Here are seven new books with diverse characters all out in the month of September. Yusef Azeem is not a Hero by Saadia Faruqi, is the story of sixth grader Yusef...

GREAT REPTILES IN HISTORY Opening movie scene. Fade in. Cue the David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman narrator voice: GREAT REPTILES IN HISTORY…  For some reason, the title was the first thing that popped into my head when I sat down to draft this post. I have no reason why. But,...

Today it’s my great pleasure to introduce MUF readers to a brand new collection titled Virginia Hamilton: Five Novels, which will be published by Library of America on September 28. The volume, edited by Mixed-Up Files contributor, Julie K. Rubini, includes five of Hamilton’s best known and most beloved works as...

By Robyn Gioia, M.Ed Constitution Day, September 17, 1787: The day the U.S. Constitution was signed by founding fathers such as George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Jay at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. What began as newspaper comic strips in the...

I’m so happy to present an interview with Author Kate Hannigan, who is known for her abilities to deep dive into history and write adventure packed stories for middle grade readers featuring girls with lots of agency. Today, we celebrate the recent release of Boots, the third book in the...

When I was a kid I used to sneak into people’s coat closets when visiting with my parents, hoping to find a Narnia world on the other side. I would huddle in the dark, beneath winter coats, imagining an older world long gone as I hid among musty wool. If...