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STEM Tuesday — Oceans — Book List

By on August 6, 2024   /   Oceans, STEM Tuesday  

 

Oceans are a world of wonder for many. From the animals that live in them to the ecosystems they provide, they fuel the imagination and encourage the adventurous. Students who want to know more about marine biology, research, and conservation are invited to take a look at the list below. They won’t be disappointed!

 

 

 

The Fascinating Ocean Book for Kids: 500 Incredible Facts!

by Bethanie Hestermann and Josh Hestermann

This book is packed with facts about the ocean and the life within it. Filled with pages of full-color pictures, it depicts what the underwater world is like for fish, dolphins and loads of other sea creatures. If you know someone interested in an ocean of cool trivia, this is the book for them.

 

 

 

Ocean Animals and Their Ecosystems: A Nature Reference Book for Kids

by Dr. Erica Colón

The oceans of Earth are swimming with fabulous marine animals. This book introduces you to them and their habitats. From coral reefs to polar regions readers will explore each ecosystem and discover who lives there. Filled with stunning photos and interesting information, this is a great way to explore the ocean with kids.

 

 

 

Marine Science for Kids: Exploring and Protecting Our Watery World, Includes Cool Careers and 21 Activities (66) (For Kids series)

 

Marine Science for Kids: Exploring and Protecting Our Watery World

by Bethanie Hestermann and Josh Hestermann

A fun guide to the underwater world – to the living things, and to the geology, chemistry and biology of all things marine. Includes insights from marine scientists and lots of hands-on activities.

 

 

Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench

 

Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench

by Lydia Lukidis and Juan Calle Velez

Lyrical text and stunning illustrations take readers on a journey deep down into the Mariana Trench. Also includes in-depth scientific information on the vibrant life in the deep oceans.

 

 

 

 

 

Superpod

SUPERPOD: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest

by Nora Nickum

An depth, immersive book about the playful Southern Resident orcas. The book also speaks about the people working to save them from extinction, and all the different ways they’re trying to do that, from medicine, to technology and activism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Window into the Ocean Twilight Zone by Michelle Cusolito

 

A Window into the Ocean Twilight: Twenty-Four Days of Science at Sea

by Michelle Cusolito

The author goes on a breathtaking real-life adventure with scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to study the twilight zone of the ocean using new technologies. Learn details of day-to-day living on a research ship, and all about the animals and the sea.

 

 

 

 

The Lost Forest: An Unexpected Discovery beneath the Waves

 

The Lost Forest: An Unexpected Discovery Beneath the Waves

by Jennifer Swanson

An entire cypress forest was found hiding under the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico. This book speaks about the discovery, about how the forest came to be there, and about the scientists trying to uncover the secrets the forest may tell us – from life-saving medicines to climate change.

 

 

Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean See more

 

Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean

by Mary Batten and Thomas Gonzalez

All about the creatures that live at the bottom of the ocean in permanent darkness and have evolved to thrive in scalding water that gushes from hydrothermal vents.

 

 

 

 

Marine Biology: Cool Women Who Dive

by Karen Bush Gibson and Lena Chandhok

Marine biology is the study of animal life in saltwater environments. The study includes the tiniest microscopic plankton to the large blue whale! This book takes a look at three women who have this career for a living:  Natalie Arnoldi, Ashanti Johnson, and Lauren Mullineaux. With engaging information and links to primary sources, this book will get readers excited to explore and study the world’s oceans. Dive in and learn more about the ocean!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eugenie Clark Book for Curious Kids: Diving into the Fascinating Life of the Shark Lady (Great Minds for Curious Kids)

by Eric Lylani

Eugenie Clark is known as the ‘shark lady’; there’s no one better to help readers discover the secrets of the sea! Learn about marine biology, ocean conservation and sharks through the stories of Eugenie’s life and work. Discover her observations and find out how her legacy continues to inspire new marine biologists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seashells & Beachcombing for Kids: An Introduction to Beach Life of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts (Simple Introductions to Science)

by Stephanie Panlasigui and Erika Zambello

Kids young and old are fascinated by the beach and the seashells they find. This book is all they’ll need to learn a bit more about the oceans and their inhabitants. From different beach habitats to beach etiquette, this book is full of great information for aspiring beachcombers as well as fun family activities.

 

 

 

 

 

The Forest in the Sea: Seaweed Solutions to Planetary Problems (Books for a Better Earth)

by Anita Sanchez (Author)

Seaweed a climate change hero? You bet, and this book will explain all about it. From a tour of a seaweed forest to activities and recipes, readers will discover how amazing seaweed is. Seaweed can reduce methane emissions, play a role in biofuels as well as medicine, in addition to its role providing a home for marine life. Be prepared to be amazed at what seaweed can do with this fun and inspiring book.

 

 

 

 

Shruthi Rao is an author. Her home on the web is https://shruthi-rao.com

 

 

 

Susan Summers is a wildlife enthusiast and an author. Contact her at: https://susan-inez-summers.weebly.com/

 

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August? Already?

By on August 5, 2024   /   Articles, For Writers, Writing  

What’s a poor middle-grade writer to do when his head is still living in May but the calendar says it’s August? And what in the world happened to all those lofty creative summer goals he would stack into the “Done” pile once he had all that summer free time to work?

Here we sit, the calendar reads August 5, 2024, and the “Done” pile doesn’t look much different than it did in early June. Plus, the “To Do” pile is not only in a state of chaos but I think it’s grown by an exponential factor, defying the first law of creative physics.

The reality is becoming apparent. The Summer of Creativity 2024 has turned into the Summer of Procrastination 2024. 

The responsible creator brain inside of me tells me I messed up and fritted away precious creative time. I should feel bad, right?

Guess what? I don’t.

I had a great summer. I just didn’t get a lot of the planned creative projects completed. 

There was a garden that’s done pretty well so far. Cucumbers, zucchini, squash, peppers, tomatoes, and did I mention zucchini? I’m experimenting this year with sweet potatoes so we’ll see how that experiment pans out in a few weeks.

There was a return to baseball coaching with my grandson’s t-ball team. Honestly, that was so much more fun than I expected. I got to meet some really cool kids and their people. 

There was preparation for a professional kitchen and bathroom remodel my wife has been waiting 20 years for. Nothing charges up the creative battery more than demolishing things with a sledgehammer.

There was my 60th birthday. My lesson learned with this milestone is 100% I don’t feel at all like I’m 60. In my head, the controlling influence is that 14-year-old smartass I was in 1978. He’s the main driver of my middle-grade writing voice so I have to give him his head space.

There is, of course, the Summer Olympics and a rare chance to see shot put featured on television.

The top distraction of Summer 2024, however, has to be my family. We’ve had a great summer of fun and sun, laughing and playing, and just hanging out. Whatever I didn’t accomplish on the creative front was made up ten-fold on the life front. 

One thing I’ve noticed being in this creative business since 2012 is a full tank of life almost always leads to a full creative tank. Funny how that works. A creative brain needs the inputs in order to create the outputs. 

So August, bring it on!

It’s time to reboot with the summer’s energy as the driving force.

New kitchen.

New bathrooms.

New experiences.

New stories.

Life is life. It’s our job to make the best of it.

Read. Write. Repeat.

FOTO:Fortepan — ID 3455: Adományozó/Donor: Unknown. archive copy at the Wayback Machine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Summer is Hot and so are these New Releases!

By on August 1, 2024   /   Articles, New Releases  

Check out these hot new August releases for our From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors followers! Order your copies today…perfect back-to-school gifts!

The Rule of Three, written by Heather Murphy Capps (former MUF contributor!!) Publisher: Carolrhoda Books Release Date: August 6

When the rules no longer apply, how do you keep your head in the game?

Wyatt has a three-part Plan for Life, and it starts now, at the beginning of seventh grade, with tryouts for his local travel baseball team. A biracial kid in a mostly white town, he’s always felt like a bit of an outsider. The baseball field is the only place where he feels like he truly belongs. If he can just make the team, everything else will fall into place: school, friends, even his relationship with his often-distant dad.

But after upsetting incidents at tryouts, something inexplicable happens: wisps of smoke form around Wyatt.

As Wyatt tries to figure out what’s causing this mysterious smoke and how to control it, he discovers it’s connected to a painful family history. The more he learns, the more Wyatt begins to question the rules he’s always followed to fit in. With tensions rising at school and on the field, can he face the injustices of the past while keeping his cool in the present?

A Bite Above the Rest, written by Christine Virnig Publisher: Aladdin Release Date: August 6

A boy moves to a Halloween-themed town only to realize there may be more to the tourist trap than meets the eye in this fast-paced romp of a middle-grade novel perfect for fans of The Last Kids on Earth and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library!

When Caleb’s mom decides they are moving to her childhood home in Wisconsin, Caleb is not thrilled. Moving schools, states, and time zones would be bad enough, but Mom’s hometown is Samhain, a small and ridiculously kitschy place where every day is Halloween.

Caleb is not a fan of Halloween when it only happens once a year, so Halloween-obsessed Samhain is really not the place for him. How is he supposed to cope with kids wearing costumes to school every single day? And how about the fact that the mayor is so committed to the bit that City Hall is only open from sundown to sunup to accommodate his so-called vampirism? Sure enough, Caleb becomes an outcast at school for refusing to play along with the spooky tradition like the other sixth graders. Luckily, he manages to find a friend in fellow misfit Tai, and just in time, because things are getting weird in Samhain…or make that weirder.

But there’s no way the mayor is an actual vampire, and their teacher absolutely cannot really be a werewolf–right? Caleb discovers Samhain is so much stranger than he ever could have imagined. As one of the only people who realizes what’s happening, can he save a town that doesn’t want saving?

 

 

All About Us: A Look at the Lives of 50 Real Kids from Across the United States, written by Matt Lamothe and Jenny Volvoski  Chronicle Books, Release: August 6

From the rocky coastline of Maine to the lush rainforests of Hawai‘i, read about the many different places American kids call home—and about 50 real kids who live there.

In Iowa, Amelia and her dad soar through the skies in their red-and-white-striped plane.
In Rhode Island, Ramon and his sisters ride scooters in the apartment building courtyard.
In Louisiana, Adrain Jr. races his dirt bike down a gravel road, speeding past cornfields.

Matt Lamothe and Jenny Volvovski document the daily lives of 50 children from America’s 50 states in this compelling companion to the award-winning picture book This Is How We Do It. Fifty unique, authentic portraits of growing up in America include:

  • Families who live in a variety of dwellings, from houseboats and yurts to farms, Native reservations, and Air Force bases
  • Children with adoptive families, stepfamilies, single-parent families, two moms or dads, and those who live with their grandparents
  • Children living with health conditions such as leukemia and muscular dystrophy
  • Families from a range of social, religious, and economic backgrounds

This illustration-packed nonfiction children’s book depicts a diverse collection of families, homes, and dreams, highlighting what makes each child’s world so unique yet also familiar. All About U.S. brings us together by celebrating the similarities and differences between kids’ day-to-day experiences across the United States.

Read at Your Own Risk, written by Remy Lai Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Release Date: August 13

Read at Your Own Risk is the spine-chilling illustrated sketch diary of a kid who is being haunted after a game goes terribly wrong and an evil spirit starts conversing with her on the page.

“The journal format of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets the thrills and chills of R.L. Stine in this middle-grade horror.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Hannah and her friends were just having a bit of fun when they decided to play a game to communicate with spirits of the dead. Little did they know something would answer their call and crawl its way into the pages of Hannah’s journal. What started out as a game has turned into something much more evil. With dire, horrifying consequences.

Is there any way to escape the curse?

 

 

 

The Ghost Rules, written by Adam Rosenbaum Published by: Holiday House Release Date: August 13

Twelve-year-old Elwood McGee never asked to have “ghost-sight,” and it involves a lot more drool-dodging than he expected. Ghosts are the WORST–and they’re all over the place in this sharp-witted middle grade debut novel.Did you know that ghosts love coffee? They’re not trying to be scary. They’re just deprived of an appropriate amount of caffeine! They also bump into things by accident, are occasionally nosy, and get a little nervous when they’re seen by the living.

Elwood McGee knows these ghost facts because he’s one of those rare people with the gift of ghost-sight. And it turns out ghosts are everywhere! Especially in the small Tennessee town where Elwood and his family had to move following the death of his big brother Noah, which Elwood thinks was his fault.

Once Elwood figures out he can see ghosts, he becomes single-mindedly determined to use his powers to see Noah and talk to him once last time. With the help of two girls who live on his street, Elwood embarks on a journey through the surprisingly funny world of ghosts and faces the realities of letting go.

At once hilarious and heart wrenching, Adam Rosenbaum makes his middle grade debut with a supernaturalish novel about grief that’s perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Dan Gutman.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues Written by Beth Lincoln Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Release Date: August 20
Shenanigan Swift is headed to Paris, where new mysteries await in the hilarious, quick-witted sequel to Beth Lincoln’s #1 New York Times bestseller, The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels.“Abundant wordplay and humor will keep the pages turning.″ —Kirkus, starred review

Now that the family reunion is over and the murderer has been caught, Shenanigan Swift can return to important projects, like searching for the long-lost family treasure. But trouble always finds Shenanigan, and when a valuable painting is stolen from Swift House by a group of eccentric art thieves known as Ouvolpo, she is determined to get it back–even if it means chasing them all the way to Paris. A new adventure is about to begin, and Shenanigan’s sleuthing skills will soon be tested like never before.

A Gallery of Rogues is the highly anticipated sequel to Beth Lincoln’s celebrated debut, A Dictionary of Scoundrels. Beloved characters are back, joined by a fresh flock of relatives from the French branch of the Swift family tree–the Martinets, including Cousins Soufflé, Mercredi, Contraire, and Pomme. Get ready to say bonjour to more secrets, more bodies, and even more fun, in this delicious mystery that once again celebrates words, family, and plenty of shenanigans.

 

 

The Grimsbane Family Witch Hunters, written by Joan Reardon, Publisher: Aladdin Release Date: August 20

Netflix’s Wednesday meets Jodi Lynn Anderson’s The Memory Thief in this creepy and high-stakes middle grade adventure about a girl’s quest to save her cursed brother that takes her through perilous, monster-filled woods.The Grimsbane women have been hunting witches and monsters for generations–ever since the Watcher, the most powerful witch in the Midwest, cursed the Grimsbane men to die untimely and unusual deaths. Part-time skater, full-time troublemaker Anna Grimsbane may be only twelve, but she’s been learning about hunting her whole life and is tired of waiting to do the real thing. She and her twin brother Billy are about to turn thirteen, the age the curse takes hold, and Anna wants to be on the front lines fighting to break it.

Only hours before he’ll become an accident-prone walking disaster, Billy runs away to find the Watcher himself. The Grimsbane women are all out on patrol, leaving it up to Anna and her friends Suvi and Rosario to find Billy before his recklessness hastens his demise. But the woods are crawling with cryptids, most of whom hate humans, and all of whom hate the Grimsbanes, and the deeper Anna gets into the forest, the clearer it is that reading about witch hunting is no replacement for practical experience.

Anna feels in over her head, especially as she starts to suspect she knows much less about her family history than she’d thought. As she races against the clock to find Billy before midnight, it becomes all too evident that he isn’t the only Grimsbane at risk for a grisly death tonight.

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