Julie Bowe is the author of the Friends for Keeps series — My Last Best Friend, My New Best Friend, My Best Frenemy, My Forever Friends, and My Extra Best Friend. My Last Best Friend  won the 2008 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and was a finalist for the 2008-09 Great Stone Face Book Award. School Library Journal describes it as perfect “for readers who have graduated from Sara Pennypacker’s ‘Clementine’ stories, Barbara Park’s ‘Junie B. Jones’ series, and Megan McDonald’s ‘Judy Moody’ books.”

The fifth and final book of the Friends for Keeps series, My Extra Best Friend is hot off the presses this week. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says about it:  “…Peer pressure, hurt feelings, mild ethical quandaries and middle-school group dynamics blend with arts-and-crafts, swimming and bonfires, as Ida May deals with Elizabeth’s betrayal and decides if they can ever be friends again. . . . Preteens will gobble up this girl-friendly depiction of the world of early middle school and its ensuing changes. A good choice for girls not quite ready to leave behind the innocence of childhood for the spills and thrills of adolescence.“

Julie has worked as a youth director, a camp program director, and as a curriculum writer and editor. She is a mom and a volunteer youth leader in her community. She lives in Wisconsin and can be visited online at www.juliebowe.com.

Why do you write middle-grade fiction? What’s your favorite thing about writing for this age group?

A friend once told me I have the brain of a fourth grader, so I guess that’s the main reason I enjoy writing for this age! I’m interested in the transitional years between childhood and adolescence. I like trying to get at the eye level of fourth graders—to explore what interests them, what concerns them, what makes them laugh. It’s a joy to find ways to honor kids’ feelings through story.

The cover illustrations of Ida and her friends are adorable. Did they fit the picture in your head?

It was a little freaky when I first saw the cover art for My Last Best Friend because Ida looked so much like I did when I was a kid. She’s even sitting in almost the same way I sat for my author photo. Jana Christy’s art has played a huge role in the success of the series. Her kid-friendly style and attention to facial expressions and small details draws readers in before they even open the book. I’m so happy to have worked with Jana and feel blessed to call her my friend. My Extra Best Friend is dedicated to her.

How long has this journey taken you, from first spark of book 1 to publication of book 5?

Book 1 (My Last Best Friend) began as a picture book manuscript about a girl named Ida May who did not like her short, plain name and wanted to change it to something with more pizzazz. I sent the story to a number of editors and received an equal number of standard rejections. But in 1997, one editor replied with a personal rejection. I was so excited! I called my sister straight away and told her, “I just got rejected personally!” The editor liked my character, Ida, but felt she would appeal more to young readers, rather than the picture book crowd. She suggested I rewrite the story as a chapter book. Over the next few years, she read several revisions of the book that would become My Last Best Friend. Although she never accepted the story for publication, she gave me lots of positive feedback (and hope!) along the way. I began working with my agent, Steven Chudney, in 2002 and the book was taken under contract by my editor, Kathy Dawson, in 2004. I revised the story several times with Kathy before it was finally published in 2007. My New Best Friend followed in 2008, My Best Frenemy in 2010, My Forever Friends in 2011, and My Extra Best Friend in 2012. So, altogether, it’s been a 15 year journey for me.

How has Ida changed over the course of the series? How have you changed?

Ida’s self-confidence grows from book to book. She learns to stand up for herself and for her true friends. She’s vulnerable, but she’s no push-over. I think we see that side of her personality more and more as the series progresses. The other characters—particularly Jenna—also change and grow as the series evolves. I have grown, too. I’ve learned to be more at ease with my writing process. I’ve learned not to let criticism shatter my self-confidence. And I’ve learned not to get lost on the other side of the moon when good news about the books comes my way. At least, not for too long!

How did it feel to end the series? What’s next?

We weren’t sure that the series would end with My Extra Best Friend until after I’d written it. Then it was like, “Yeah, this is it. This completes Ida’s circle.” We were sad, but also happy for Ida. My editor said it best: “It’s bittersweet to see the series come to an end, but mostly sweet.”

I’m working on a new series for young readers. Like Ida, the main character, Wren, is a fourth grade girl. The hardest part about writing Wren’s story is convincing Ida to stay quiet and give the new girl a chance to speak!

What other books do you recommend to readers who enjoyed the Friends for Keeps series?

Here are a few of my favorite series, especially for girls:

Just Grace by Charise Mericle Harper

Clarice Bean by Lauren Child

Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot

What advice do you have for those who want to write middle-grade fiction?

I find that hanging out with upper-elementary kids is really helpful. They are everywhere! Beaches. Pools. Sporting events. Food courts. Community centers. Libraries. Churches. Schools. If you don’t know any kids personally, volunteer to serve as a mentor, a Sunday School teacher, a classroom helper, etc.  Talk with kids and/or listen to their conversations and take note of what concerns them, irritates them, and makes them laugh. Watch how they move. Get a feel for the way they interact with the world and with each other. Then write!

Julie is giving away a signed copy of My Extra Best Friend to one lucky reader. To enter, just leave a comment below by Midnight EDT on June 18. The winner will be announced on June 19.You’ll get extra entries for sharing a link on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter.

***Please mention each link in a new comment so we can add your extra entries.  Winners must live in the US or Canada.  Good luck!

Jacqueline Houtman is a reformed scientist who writes sciency fiction for kids. Her debut middle-grade novel, The Reinvention of Edison Thomas (Boyds Mills Press 2010) will be released in paperback in September.

Karen Rivera!

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Thanks again to everyone for two amazing years!  We are glad we could share them with all of you.

A few weeks ago I caught myself staring at the JC Penney Father’s Day advertisement. It shows a happy family: Two playful kids and their proud, smiling dads. I thought, wow, wouldn’t this family make a great story? Having two dads can create interesting complications, especially if the story takes place long ago or in a contemporary setting where people aren’t so open minded. And even though the story wouldn’t be about the dads, their presence would add a unique element to our main characters’ lives.

Authors of middle-grade novels often struggle with how to get the parents out of the picture so that the main characters, the kids, can go have their adventure without being bothered by finger-wagging, bossy adults. Roald Dahl said, “Kill the parents!” But, we don’t always want our parents to be eaten by rhinos in broad daylight, do we? So, in light of Father’s Day coming up, I thought I’d write about how parents, especially dads, play an important role in some of my own favorite books in children’s literature. These stories would be completely different without the dads.

1. One of my all-time favorite middle-grade novels is Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect. I adore Zoe’s sweet and loving
dad in spite of his quirky fears and inhibitions about leaving the house. Zoe, who dreams of someday performing in Carnegie Hall, asks for a piano. But to her horror, her dad buys her an organ instead. I felt Zoe’s pain, but I also appreciated and admired the way she protected her father’s feelings and never let on that learning to play the organ was making her miserable. She understood her father’s fragility and left her dream and ambition by the wayside to keep from hurting him. Seeing this side of our protagonist made my heart go out to her from the very beginning of the story.

2. Opal Buloni in Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie also has one of the kindest and gentlest dads in children’s literature. But he’s no
Atticus Finch; in fact, Opal refers to him as a turtle retreating into his shell. He’s deeply saddened and scarred by the loss of Opal’s mother and he doesn’t seem to want to deal with his emotions. We see the strength in Opal as she moves forward with her life and the ending scene with her father is absolutely heart wrenching. The novel works so beautifully because of Winn-Dixie, yes, but also because of Opal’s father.

3. Then there are the scary dads.
I read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett many times as a child and then I read it to my own kids several years ago. Every time I read it I was creeped out by Archibald Craven, the father of “sick” and bed-ridden Colin. I could understand Craven’s pain and I could sympathize with his hollowness after the death of his wife, but still, I was like, “Dude! You’ve got a kid! And for years he’s been lying in a dark room day and night, screaming in pain, and the only time you ever go near him is when he’s asleep!” Thank goodness Mary Lennox comes along and saves poor little Colin or I would have had to call social services.

4. The abusive fathers in children’s literature make us love our main character more than ever. We want to protect the kids from harm and see
them get the happy ending they deserve. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that the father and child walk off into the sunset hand in hand. Pap Finn never does a good thing for poor ol’ Huckleberry. And there’s Doug Swieteck’s dad in Gary Schmidt’s beautifully written Okay For Now. I just have to hang all my hopes on the title and believe that Doug will indeed be okay.

5. I don’t want to end this post on a sad note, it is almost Father’s Day, after all. So let’s make a list of the dads we love. I’ll start, and you can add to the list by way of the comments section. Here are just a few:

Pa – Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Mr. Quimby – Ramona and Her Dad by Beverly Cleary

Moses’ dad – Crow by Barbara Wright

Mr. Krupnik – Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry

William – Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Mr. Watson – The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

Jennifer Duddy Gill is the author of The Secret of Ferrell Savage and Mary Vittles, Atheneum (Simon & Schuster), 2014.