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Science Writing is not JUST for Nonfiction Books

By on August 23, 2023   /   Articles, STEM  
Humorous ones:
Butt or Face?: A Hilarious Animal Guessing Game Book for Kids
by Kari Lavelle (Sourcebooks)
Butt or Face bookInformative ones:
Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America by Gail Jarrow (Calkins Creek)
Bubonic Plague
Science books with poetry:
Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle by Miranda Paul (Roaring Brook Press)
Water is Water
Fun, activity-filled books:
The Secret Science of Sports  by Jennifer Swanson
The Secret Science of Sports Book

But how many of you actually think of fiction books when I say “science”? You should! Science is finding its way into many different fiction books these days. It’s a great thing, especially for us science lovers out there. And why not? Science is exciting, interesting, and innovative. It can add depth, intrigue, mystery, and even action-adventure to your fiction manuscript. Those all sound like good traits to put in a book, don’t they? Science in fiction invites readers to ask questions and perhaps to even go out on their own and do research to learn more about a topic. It can help explain a difficult topic or even introduce the reader to a brand-new technology. The best part is that there is a well-rounded storyline to go with it.

Fiction books with science in them are earning top awards, too. Check out a few of these favorites:

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm (Yearling)
The Fourteenth GoldfishSpace Case (Moon Base Alpha) by Stuart Gibbs (Simon and Schuster BFYR)
Space Case

These are just a couple examples of fiction books that are out there with science in them.

And let me also say that you don’t need a degree in science to write a book about science. Just be sure that you do your research, and do it well. But sometimes not knowing having a science background can make it easier for you to relate to your author. You might even think about science in a different way.

So, go ahead and try it!

SCIENCE ROCKS!

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STEM Tuesday– Food Science — Interview with Author Carla Mooney

By on August 22, 2023   /   Food Science, STEM Tuesday  
The Chemistry of Food book

 

 

Today we have a special interview for you. It’s with one of our own STEM Tuesday crew!!

I get to interview author Carla Mooney about her awesome book, The Chemistry of Food

Carla Mooney           The Chemistry of Food book

 

Meet Carla: 

Carla Mooney loves to explore the world around us and discover the details about how it works. She is an award-winning author of numerous nonfiction and fiction books and magazine articles for children and teens. Carla has her BS in Economics and is a former certified public accountant. Now she loves writing about science and technology, nature and the environment, history, biography, business, current issues, health and medicine, and sports. She is also a regular STEM Tuesday contributor on the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors blog. When not writing, Carla is the Pittsburgh chapter director for Flashes of Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides professional portraits of kids with cancer and other life-threatening conditions and raises money for childhood cancer research.

 

Thanks so much for answering a few questions about your book, Carla!
The chemistry of food — How do you think these two topics go together? 
Chemistry and food. It’s not a pair that you would think go together. But food is matter, like any other matter you study in chemistry class. And what’s really interesting to me is how the chemistry you learned in school can be applied to food to explain what happens when you mix, cook, bake, and more. I had never really thought about food in that way before I researched and wrote this book and it was fascinating to make those connections.

 

What are some fun facts that you learned while writing this book? 
1. When you add baking soda (a base) to cupcake batter, it causes a chemical reaction that produces gas bubbles that make the cupcakes light and airy. (I always thought stirring put the airy bubbles into the batter!)
2. Different flours have different amounts of protein in them. (I always thought all flour was basically the same!)
3. Your nose and mouth work together to perceive flavor and aroma – its not just your nose smells or your tongue tastes.

 

Can you give us three things that you hope kids will learn from your book? 
In general, I hope they learn the “why” of what happens to food in cooking and baking and it will help them become better chefs. (I also hope that it is helping me cook a little better too!)
I also hope this book helps kids realize that chemistry and science and general can be fun and accessible. 
And I want kids to be excited to investigate the world around them and use science to better understand it – from the food they eat, the games they play, and much more!

 

You’ve written a lot of series for different publishers. Do you get to pick the topics in those series or are they assigned?
Most of my books are with educational publishers who come up with a series idea and a list of titles. They send me the list and I usually get to pick which series and titles sound interesting to me. A few times, I’ve suggested a title to a publisher.

 

Can you give any tips to writers who want to break into nonfiction children’s books? Should they start with educational publishers or go straight to trade? 
I think everyone’s path is different, so it depends on what you like to do! For myself, I actually started writing for magazines, newspapers, and an online website. Then, I decided to send in an introductory packet to a few educational publishers and landed my first assignments. I’ve done most of my work with educational publishers. I really like researching and learning about new topics all the time, which is something that I get with educational publishers. I have a few ideas for potential trade books, but they are in the early stages.

 

What are you working on now? 
I have a few projects going on – one that I’m really excited about is also about food in a way – it is looking at how the history of humans and certain staple foods are connected and have influenced each other. So stay tuned!

 

If you could spend the day with any scientist or engineer, who would it be and why? 
There are a lot of choices out there, but I think I’d  like to spend the day with paleontologist Mary Anning. Going on a dinosaur dig with her would be a lot of fun!

 

Thanks for all of your great responses, Carla. I learned something new about food today!
Please check out Carla’s other awesome books at her website https://www.carlamooney.com/

 

The Human Genome Book         Physics Fun book      Climate in Crisis book

 

******************
Jennifer Swanson is the author of over 45 books for kids, mostly about STEM. She is also the creator and cohost of the award-winning podcast, Solve It! for Kids. You can find Jennifer walking along the beach looking for sea turtles or looking up into the sky watching rockets launch. www.jenniferswansonbooks.com 
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Great reads to celebrate National Poet’s Day!

By on August 21, 2023   /   Articles, Book Lists  

Yay for National Poet’s Day!

To celebrate this day dedicated to creating and appreciating poetry, the following are some great titles featuring works for middle-grade readers.

Let’s start with the classic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, written by Shel Silverstein. This special edition includes 12 bonus poems!

Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound. Come in…for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein’s world begins. 

You’ll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein’s masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages.

Next up is a title that begins with a quote from Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore “The Butterfly  Counts Not Months But Moments, and Has Time Enough.”

 Hope in the Valley is written by National Book Award Nominee, Mitali Perkins. Published by Farrar Strauss Giroux Books for Young Readers, July 2023.

Hope in the Valley,  is a middle-grade novel exploring grief, friendship, family, and growing up in a community facing a housing crisis.

Twelve-year-old Indian-American Pandita Paul doesn’t like change. She’s not ready to start middle school and leave the comforts of childhood behind. Most of all, Pandita doesn’t want to feel like she’s leaving her mother, who died a few years ago, behind. After a falling out with her best friend, Pandita is planning to spend most of her summer break reading and writing in her favorite secret space: the abandoned but majestic mansion across the street.

But then the unthinkable happens. The town announces that the old home will be bulldozed in favor of new—maybe affordable—housing. With her family on opposing sides of the issue, Pandita must find her voice—and the strength to move on—in order to give her community hope.

An award-winning, big-hearted time capsule of one class’s poems during a transformative school year. A great pick for fans of Margarita Engle and Eileen Spinelli.

Eighteen kids,

one year of poems,
one school set to close.
Two yellow bulldozers
crouched outside,
ready to eat the building
in one greedy gulp.

But look out, bulldozers.

Ms. Hill’s fifth-grade class
has plans for you.
They’re going to speak up
and work together
to save their school.

Families change and new friendships form as these terrific kids grow up and move on in this whimsical novel-in-verse about finding your voice and making sure others hear it.

Leigh Lewis, daughter of poet J. Patrick Lewis, is the creator of Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas, National Geographic Kids, January 2022.

This wow-worthy book proves that women have been making their mark in all aspects of history—even the high seas!

Meet Ching Shih, a Chinese pirate who presided over a fleet of 80,000 men (by contrast, Blackbeard had some 300). Get the scoop on Anne Bonny who famously ran away from an arranged marriage to don trousers and brandish a pistol in the Bahamas. And there are more!

Each pirate profile includes a dramatic original poem presented against a backdrop of gorgeous full-color art by award-winning illustrator Sara Gómez Woolley. Each profile is followed by fascinating information about the real life and times of these daring (and dangerous!) women.

Vetted by the world’s leading pirate experts and historians, this book is a cool and edgy gift. It’s also perfect for any curious kid who dreams of adventure and for parents who are eager to show their tweens and teens that history is more diverse, daring, and surprising than what is typically found in textbooks.

Leigh also provides examples of the various forms of poetry used throughout this fun and exciting book!
Award-winning author and poet Nikki Grimes has produced many works of poetry, but this is one of our favorites. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, August 2020.
Nikki Grimes does not consider herself a bona fide storyteller, but, as she told an audience at the Library of Congress, she is happy to own the title Poet. Born and raised in New York City, Nikki began composing verse at the age of six and has been writing ever since that time. (nikkigrimes.com)
Inspired by the writers of the Harlem Renaissance, bestselling author Nikki Grimes uses “The Golden Shovel” poetic method to create wholly original poems based on the works of master poets like Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, and others who enriched history during this era.Each poem is paired with one-of-a-kind art from today’s most exciting African American illustrators–including Pat Cummings, Brian Pinkney, Sean Qualls, James Ransome, Javaka Steptoe, and many more–to create an emotional and thought-provoking book with timely themes for today’s readers.

A foreword, an introduction to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, author’s note, poet biographies, and index makes this not only a book to cherish, but a wonderful resource and reference as well.

A 2017 New York Public Library Best Kids Book of the Year

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2017, Middle Grade

A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017, Nonfiction

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