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Author Spotlight: Eileen Moskowitz-Palma + a GIVEAWAY!

By on April 17, 2020   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Eileen Moskowitz-Palma and I first crossed paths more than a decade ago, at the Backspace Writers Conference, in New York. I can’t remember which panels I attended, but one thing stands out: meeting Eileen. We were sitting in a large, well-lit room, waiting for the keynote to begin, when she turned around and smiled at me. It was the warmest, friendliest smile I had ever seen, and naturally I wanted to bask in her… Eileen-ness.

It didn’t take before she and I became fast friends, chatting about our daughters (we both have onlies); our writing styles (we both err on the side of funny), and our diminutive statures (Eileen is half an inch taller than I am, which she never lets me forget.) 🙂

Her debut middle-grade novel, THE POPULARITY PACT: CAMP CLIQUE, which Kirkus describes as “{a}…solid mix of s’mores and girl empowerment… encouraging but never saccharine,” is out now from Running Press Kids. Here is a brief summary:

“In the blink of a summer, Bea goes from having a best friend and a place she belongs to being dropped and invisible, eating lunch alone and only talking to teachers. The end of sixth grade and the start of Camp Amelia can’t come soon enough. 

But then the worst part of school, ex-best friend Maisy, shows up in Bea’s safe place and ruins it all. Maisy lands in the same bunk as Bea and summer suddenly seems dire. Never having camped a day in her life, Maisy agrees: it’s hopeless. She should be at home, spending time with her little sister and hanging out with her super popular crew of friends–not at this stupid adventure camp failing everything and being hated by everyone. In a desperate bid to belong, Maisy offers Bea a deal: if Bea helps her fit in at the camp, she will get Bea into the M & M’s, their town’s popular clique, when they enter seventh grade in the fall. The Popularity Pact is born.”

 MR: Hi, Eileen! Before we start, can I say how excited I am about this novel? It’s your first middle grade!

EMP: Thank you for that wonderful introduction Melissa. You are one of my first real writing friends and the best take away from that conference! When we met all those years ago, I introduced myself as a rom-com writer, and I really thought that’s what I was. I even published a rom-com back in 2014. But one day the idea for The Popularity Pact series came to me. I was two pages in to the manuscript when I realized I finally felt at home as a writer.

MR: CAMP CLIQUE is told from the alternating perspectives of two ex-BFFs, Bea and Maisy, who strike a mutually beneficial deal in the name of popularity. Is the quest for popularity an issue that affected you as a tween? If so, how did it shape your experience in middle school, and beyond?

EMP: Middle school wasn’t about popularity for me as much as it was about navigating strong and meaningful female friendships. For most kids, late elementary school into middle school is when friendships feel more important than anything else in their world. I loved having a best friend and the certainty that came with knowing I had someone to sit with at lunch or pair up with on a school project, but most importantly I loved having someone I could talk to about anything. I lived for those after-school hangouts, and phone calls and sleepovers. As long as I had my person, I felt a strong sense of belonging. But when my best friend and I had an argument, it felt like the floor had been ripped out from under me. In The Popularity Pact series, I wanted to tap into those complicated dynamics of tween friendships, the intensity of both the good and bad moments.

MR: In addition to popularity, Maisy has other issues on her mind: troubles at home, and acute anxiety. She seeks out the crunchy-granola camp therapist, Dr. Beth, for help. Do most camps have therapists in residence now? If so, what kind of research did you have to do to see how these therapists work with campers? (i.e., short-term vs. long-term therapy; reporting to parents, etc.).  I would imagine it’s very different from therapy done in a more traditional setting.

EMP: From the small bit of research I did, it seems like more and more camps are recognizing the need for mental-health support that extends into the summer months. It makes perfect sense for a child who is undergoing therapy during the school year to seek the same supportive care while at camp. I didn’t extend my research into how therapy is typically done at most camps, because Camp Amelia is unique. Instead, I imagined what type of therapy environment would work for a kid like Maisy who was resistant to therapy, and anxious about talking about her issues at home. Dr. Beth was born because I thought she had the perfect personality and out-of-the-box methods to get Maisy to open up about the secret she had been keeping for over a year. Dr. Beth shares her therapy cabin with a menagerie of rescue cats. The way she holds back and lets the cats come to her is similar to the way she gets through to Maisy.

MR: I actually went to two sleepaway camps as a child: the artsy Camp Hillcroft, where I made enamel jewelry and sang folk songs around the campfire, and sporty Camp Gilford, where I was bullied mercilessly and wished I had a Dr. Beth to talk to. Did you go to sleepaway camp? If so, how did the experience shape the novel? Maisy and Bea’s characters specifically?

EMP: I never went to sleepaway camp because my family spent most of the summer at a cottage in Twin Lakes, Connecticut, an area of the Berkshires which is home to several summer camps. When I was building the world of Camp Amelia, I thought of the white Birch trees that I always associate with the woods that surround Twin Lakes. I pictured the fireflies zapping across the summer sky and heard the sound of the crickets. I remembered how it was always cold there at night, not matter how hot the days were. I thought of the feeling of the wet dirt path under my feet after swimming in the lake. That cottage was my safe place away from any drama I had waiting for me back home. It was the one place where the stressors of my school life couldn’t permeate. I thought about what it would feel like if an ex-best friend showed up there, and it was easy to think about how Bea would feel when Maisy permeated her camp life. For Maisy’s perspective, I thought about some of the uncomfortable parts of country life, like how cold the lake water is, or how scary it can be to see little creatures running across a dirt path. I imagined what it would be like for an anxious kid like Maisy to get sent to camp in the woods against her will.

MR: Camp Amelia is an adventure camp, with the focus on team spirit and athletic ability. There’s even a camp-wide sports competition (“the Cup”), where winning is everything. Were you sporty like Bea, or anxious like Maisy? Perhaps an amalgam of both?

EMP: I was definitely not sporty. I was a tiny, uncoordinated kid with asthma who got picked last in P.E. In fact I was so unathletic, that my P.E. teacher would have to give me multiple tries to pass each section of the mandatory yearly fitness challenge. Like Maisy, I am an anxious person, so I was always scared of getting hit with the ball, whether it was a dodgeball or a basketball. I always try to think of ways to add more natural drama and tension to a story. I came up with the camp idea first, but then I thought…What if it’s an adventure camp? And what if Maisy was anxious and unathletic like me? In every scene where Maisy has to confront a fear at adventure camp, I was able to think about how I would feel in that situation and it made it very easy to write.

 MR: Book Two, THE POPULARITY PACT: SCHOOL SQUAD, comes out on October 6. Can you give us a teaser?

EMP: I would love to! Bea kept up her end of the bargain by getting Maisy “in” with the girls at camp. Now it’s Maisy’s turn to fulfill her promise to ingratiate Bea with the popular girls. When Bea is accepted into this new inner circle, she begins to lose sight of what true friendship is all about. As Bea seems prepared to sacrifice anything to be “cool,” Maisy realizes there’s more to life than hanging out with a bunch of mean girls. Can she convince Bea that the popularity pact was a mistake? Can these former friends find their way back to each other?

MR: And finally, what’s your wildest camp story? I know you have one…

EMP: It took over 40 years for me to finally have my own camp experience. When my book tour was canceled because of COVID-19, I was devastated about the school visits that weren’t going to happen. I had been looking forward to connecting with readers in the classroom because of my experience as a former elementary school teacher. At the same time, my social media feed was filling up with posts by desperate parents who were suddenly juggling multiple homeschooled kids, while also working from home. I realized I could help. My husband and I brainstormed the idea of a free virtual writing camp. I would give kids a multi-session program that was positive, educational, and creative, while also allowing their parents a reprieve that they didn’t have to feel guilty about. In four days, I had a roster filled with 75  kids from all over the country, and a growing wait list for the next session. I have just completed my first camp session, and it has been just as healing for me as it has been for the kids. It gives me a sense of purpose and allows me to serve others in a time when I have been feeling helpless. For more information about my writing camp, or other writing resources for children during this time, please visit my website (see below).

MR: Oh!!! One last thing! A MUF author interview wouldn’t be complete without a lightning round, so…

S’mores or bug juice? S’mores

Friendship bracelets or French braiding? Not to brag, but I am really good at braiding, so French Braiding of course.

Favorite camp song? I actually wrote my own camp song for Camp Clique, which I am very proud of.

Favorite sporty activity? Running

Favorite artsy activity? Painting

The ideal care package? Beauty products and chocolate…lots and lots of chocolate: 🙂

Best camp prank? I have never done a prank in real life. BUT, I had a lot of fun writing a prank scene that the Sunflower bunk girls play on their rival bunk the Dandelion Bunk.

And now… a camp-tastic

GIVEAWAY!!!

Eileen has generously offered to gift THREE lucky readers with an autographed copy of Camp Clique, a bookmark, and two friendship bracelets! Just comment on the blog for a chance to win!

When EILEEN MOSKOWITZ-PALMA double majored in Elementary Education and English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she thought she would have to choose between a career as a writer or a teacher. It wasn’t until she was almost 40 that she realized she could do both. Now, Eileen divides her time between writing middle-grade novels and teaching Beginner Novel Writing and Writing for Children and Young Adults at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Eileen lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband and daughter. Learn more about Eileen on her website and follow her on Instagram.

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Interview with Joy McCullough: Author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost

By on April 15, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

Today, I am pleased to welcome to our site, Joy McCullough, author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost, which just came out this week from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

JR: Hi, Joy and thanks for joining us today!

First off, I really enjoyed A Field Guide to Getting Lost. For those who don’t know about the book, can you tell us a little bit about it and where the idea for this story came from?

JM: Sure! Field Guide is about Sutton and Luis, two kids whose parents start dating each other. They are very different from one another but they have in common that neither one of them likes to spend time outside. But then they go on a hike with their parents and end up getting lost…

The spark of the story actually came when I was wandering a park with my visiting father and we got lost. He made a joke about being lost in the park, and at first it sounded like a picture book to me. Eventually it morphed into the middle grade story it is now!

JR: That’s really funny, and some of the best stories come from personal experiences. Sutton and Luis are endearing characters, and the story switches back and forth between their points of view. There was also a lot of humor, but there were also some sad parts. How difficult was it to veer back and forth between characters and emotions?

JM: Writing dual perspective can be tricky, but honestly it came really naturally with this story. The balance of humor and pathos is also something done sort of by gut feeling. As I recall, the humor and action of the story came first, for the most part. Then later I layered in more of what was going on emotionally for the characters.

JR: This was your MG debut after having previously written, Blood Water Paint, a YA. Do you prefer one genre to another, and what appealed to you to write a Middle Grade this time?

JM: Blood Water Paint was indeed my debut novel, but it was the tenth novel I wrote. Of those nine previous unpublished novels, seven of them were middle grade. So I had written a great deal of middle grade before debuting with YA. I love YA, but middle grade feels like home.  Moving forward, I am working on both middle grade and YA projects. If possible, I really recommend writing in multiple categories. For one thing, the publishing process can be quite slow, so having other things to work on when you’ve got a lull in one category is great. But also emotionally, my MG and YA projects require very different things from me and fuel me in very different ways, and it’s lovely to be able to move between the two.

 

JR: I know the feeling well of breaking through after several unpublished novels. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey getting to this point? 

JM: As mentioned above, my journey was long. I wrote and queried five manuscripts before I got my first agent. I had five books go on submission to editors before a book sold. My debut novel was the tenth book I wrote. People are usually either horrified or super encouraged to hear my story. I understand both reactions. It doesn’t take everyone that long. But I will say that as agonizing as it was, I am so grateful that I debuted when I did, with that specific book and team at that specific stage of my life. Things worked out how they were supposed to.

JR: I read on your website,  https://joymccullough.com/  that you used to study playwriting in college. How has that helped you in your novel writing?

JM: I wrote plays for a long time before I started writing novels. Obviously dialogue comes easily to me. Also, an awareness of the rhythms and musicality of language. This serves me most of all in my novels in verse, but I think is important in all writing. And I brought to novel writing a fundamental understanding of plot and character development, though they unfold in different ways in plays and novels.

JR: I couldn’t agree more. Having that background definitely helps with dialogue. You met your husband atop a Guatemalan volcano? How did that come about?

JM: Ha, well I spent a year after college traveling in Latin America and spent the bulk of the time in Guatemala. At one point I was invited to climb a volcano with a group of other young adults. I am NOT an outdoorsy person (much like Sutton and Luis), but I was making a real effort to say yes to whatever opportunities came my way during that year. So I said yes. I was not equipped for this challenging climb—the summit of the Volcán de Agua is 12,340 feet above sea level and 5,550 feet above the trail head. I…did occasional step aerobics. My husband was in our group and came to my aid when it became clear (very early!) that I was going to need some serious help. He carried my pack and stayed at my side all the way up, through the night we spent in the crater, and all the way down.

JR: Okay, important question. On your site you also say that you love chocolate. What’s your favorite?

JM: I am partial to dark chocolate, and I love a pairing with orange. Theo Chocolates makes a dreamy chocolate orange bar.

JR: What’s your writing process like?

JM: It’s different with every project, but here are the things that are mostly consistent: I do some pre-writing work on character, mostly. I don’t outline a whole book, but I’ll often outline about the first 50 pages to get me going. Once I’ve drafted those, I’ll often outline the next chunk. I’m pretty good at letting first drafts be terrible and just getting them on the page so I have something to work with. Now that I write that out, I guess I do have a process! But I think it’s the revision process that sort of all over the place.

JR: What’s your favorite book from childhood?

JM: Oh I can never pick a single favorite. But these books all had a big impact in various ways: The Babysitters Club, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the Ramona Quimby books.

JR: What’s your favorite movie?

JM: I definitely don’t have a favorite movie. I’m not one to re-watch movies, either, even when I’ve loved one, so I don’t know if movies I have loved in the past even hold up. Instead I’ll tell you a few TV shows of recent years that I have loved: The Good Place, One Day at a Time, Call the Midwife, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

JR: Something people would be surprised to learn about you?

JM: I don’t know, I’m a pretty open book on social media.

 

JR: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received and is there any advice you can give to writers looking to break in?

JM: During intermission of the first performance of my first play, my college playwriting professor asked me what I was working on next. Learning early to write the next thing was a valuable lesson. Through my long journey to publication, I always started writing the next project as soon as one was out in the query trenches or on submission to editors. That way I would have something new to submit sooner than later, but more importantly, I would put my heart into the new thing and care less about whatever was getting rejections. So I would pass that advice on to newer writers, and also to build your writing community. Not for the sake of connections in a ladder-climbing sense, but because building those relationships is how you survive this business. Yes, writing friends may give you valuable critiques, but they’ll also give you emotional support when you need it, celebrate with you, share perspective, etc.

JR: That’s great advice. What are you working on next?

JM: I’m answering these interview questions on a break from copyedits on my next MG novel! It’s called Across the Pond, about an American girl whose family moves into a Scottish castle. It’s coming from Atheneum in spring of 2021. I also have a spring 2021 YA novel coming from Dutton, but the title hasn’t been announced.

JR: I look forward to those! How can people follow you on social media? 

JM: I’m on Twitter and Instagram as @JMCwrites. And my website is joymccullough.com.

 

JR: Thanks again to Joy McCullough and make sure you go out and get A Field Guide to Getting Lost!

JM: Thanks so much for having me!

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Diversity in MG Lit #16 Celebrating Shorts, April 2020

By on April 15, 2020   /   Articles, Book Lists, Diversity, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers  
Friends, one thing I’m hearing these days from everyone is how hard it is to focus in the stress of this pandemic. The last thing I want to do is fire out a list of books so that you can feel bad about not having the energy to read them.
This month I’m going to celebrate short stories and traditional tales highlighting some books which have been out for a while, some which are forth coming. I hope that they will be points of comfort in these weeks of sorrow and places of connection and validations where all children can feel seen and understood.
The beauty of the short story is that it can be read in one sitting, and is ideal for reading aloud. It’s a great way to discover new authors or try out a genre that you don’t usually read.
I’m going to start with The Creativity Project by Colby Sharp (LittleBrown, 2018) which is now available in paperback. It’s a collection of writing prompts or story exercises contributed by more than 40 MG authors. Each of them shared their favorite creative spark and worked a prompt given by another author. These are short and sweet. Meant to fire the imagination. If I was still teaching I’d definitely lean on these exercises as a way to keep even my most reluctant writers motivated.
Perfect for the times is the short story collection Hero Next Door edited by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. (RandomHouse 2019) This book celebrates courage in all its disguises, and features characters trying their best to make the world a better place.
In a similar vein, Kid Activists: True tales of childhood from Champions of Change by Robin Stevenson Illus. by Allison Steinfeld (Quirk Sept 2020) honors a group of activists dedicated to changing the world. There’s a nice mix here of historical figures like Alexander Hamilton, Helen Keller and Frederick Douglass and contemporary heroes like Malala Yousafzai, Autumn Peltier, Iqbal Masih, and even Emma Watson. There are illustrations throughout and the text is geared toward the younger end of MG readers. While you are waiting for this title to arrive in September, take a look at others in the series Kid Scientists, Kid Artists, Kid Authors and Kid Athletes.
This one comes out in October and is written with a YA audience in mind, but there’s plenty for a mature MG reader to enjoy. Come On In: 15 stories about immigration and finding a home  ed. by Adi Alsaid. It would pair well with Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros or the graphic novel When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed which comes out this week and chronicles the childhood of Omar Mohamed in a refugee camp in east Africa.
Funny Girl: Funnest stories. Ever. by Betsy Bird (Puffin 2018) is my go-to recommendation for reluctant girl readers— a collection of funny stories with girls at heart. It’s not the usual “burp and fart” fare that is squarely targeted at boys. This is a collection of short stories and graphic shorts by women for girls. It’s a great way to keep things light and introduce a new favorite author. Clear back in 2010 Waldon Pond Press started a Guys Read series edited by Jon Scieszka. The first is Guys Read: Funny Business. Its a solid  collection too.
And finally, here are two collections of folk tales to sweep your mind away to far off times and places. A Whisper of the East: tales from Araibia by Franziska Meiners (North/Suoth 2018) has a retro feel with two color printing and an art style reminiscent of woodblock prints. In the back endpaper there is an ABC with words written in Arabic. Spellbound: tales of enchantment from ancient Ireland by Siobhán Parkinson illus, by Olwyn Whelan was first published in the UK. It’s a vividly illustrated collection of fierce and funny stories from an era when fairies and dragons were as common as fish and any child might on a whim turn himself into a bird.
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