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Meet Fred Bowen, author of the FRED BOWEN SPORTS STORY SERIES

By on August 25, 2021   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Today at MUF we’re so excited to welcome Fred Bowen, author of Peachtree’s popular Fred Bowen Sports Story Series for middle grade readers. A lifelong sports fanatic, he has coached youth league baseball, basketball, and soccer. His kids’ sports column “The Score” appears each week in the KidsPost section of the Washington Post.  His latest book in the Fred Bowen Sports Story Series is Soccer Trophy Mystery. 

Here Fred shares his rules for writing for middle graders, his favorite teams, and the most important thing we can learn from sports.

Soccer Trophy Mystery

MUF: Thank you so much for answering a few questions for us. Starting with the hardest question first: What’s your favorite sport? 

Fred: I enjoy most sports if they are well played and the teams or players are well matched.  But my favorite sport to watch is baseball.  My son, Liam, is the head baseball coach at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and so my favorite team to watch is the UMBC Retrievers.

Growing up, I played lots of sports: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis and even street hockey.  I wasn’t great at any of them but I loved playing and being active.  Now that I am older my favorite sport to play is golf.  I am still trying to score my first hole-in-one.

MUF: As a kid, did you love reading, love playing and watching sports, or love both? What led to your career as a sportswriter? 

Fred: Both. As I said above, I played lots of sports growing up.  I also spent many hours watching sports on television.  Living in New England, I was a big Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics fan.  Because my father was in advertising, he would get tickets to see the Celtics and the Bruins, Boston’s pro hockey team.  So I was lucky enough to see such great basketball players as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and many others up close in the Boston Garden.  I also saw the incomparable Bobby Orr of the Bruins play hockey several times.

As for reading, I grew up on the Chip Hilton sports books.  The books, written in the 1940s and 50s by Hall of Fame basketball coach Clair Bee, followed Chip and his friends’ sports adventures at Valley Falls High School and State (his college).  I suspect the books would seem very old fashioned now, but I loved them.  They helped me understand the joy of being lost in a book.  I also read sports magazines such as Sports Illustrated as well as the sports section of several newspapers.

Finally, I did not start out as a writer.  I studied history at the University of Pennsylvania (PENN) and then went on to law school at George Washington University.  I was a lawyer for more than thirty years.

The most important reason I became a writer is because I married my wife, Peggy Jackson, who was, at the time, a journalist.  She encouraged my writing.

Fred Bowen

Kidlit author Fred Bowen

First, I wrote movie reviews for local papers.  That was fun.  I got paid to go to the movies!  A few years later, after my son was born, I started reading sports books to him.  I didn’t think they were very good so I tried writing one.  Those efforts produced T.J.’s Secret Pitch, the first in my Fred Bowen Sports Story series.  I now have 24 books in the series with Soccer Trophy Mystery being the latest.  I plan on writing kids’ sports books as long as I am having fun doing it and kids want to read them.

MUF: For your young readers, what would you tell them are the most important things they can learn about the world and themselves by participating in sports? What if they’re not sporty at all? 

Fred: There are lots of things kids can learn from sports such as sportsmanship and how to be a good teammate.  But I think the two most important lessons kids can learn from sports are:

  • Always try your hardest. That way you can be satisfied even if things do not turn out the way you had hoped.  It is easy to say, “I could have gotten an “A” if I had studied.”  It is harder to study your hardest and get a “B.”  But at least you will know you gave it your best effort

 

  • I have hinted at this lesson in the first answer. Sometimes, you can try your hardest and things still do not turn out the way you wanted.  Your team loses or you don’t make the team.  Life is filled with disappointments.  Sports is often a good (and safe) place for kids to learn how to deal with disappointments but to bounce back and try again.

Sports are not the only place to learn these lessons.  Some kids are not “sporty.”  They can still learn these lessons about effort and learning how to bounce back from disappointment if they are interested in music or theater or some other activity.  The important thing is you have to care about your interest.  Don’t be a kid who is always complaining things are “boring.”  Find something you like to do and give it your best efforts.

MUF: For writers, any advice on how you created such a successful and wonderful book series? What’s your secret?  

Fred: First, thanks for the kind words about the series.  One of my “secrets” is I am lucky enough to write about a subject that is interesting to me and my readers.  I have been a sports fan for my entire life and so it is a joy to write about the games and personalities in sports.  I think my readers sense my enthusiasm for the subject and that is one of the reasons they love my books.

As for the more technical aspects of writing, I was asked to speak at a conference of people who wanted to write for middle readers (ages 8-12).  So I came up with my Rules for Writing for Middle Graders.  Here they are (although I am sure I broken all of them at some time).

  • Write in short, clear sentences;
  • Avoid long descriptions;
  • Avoid adverbs and the passive voice;
  • Subject/Verb/Object is a good sentence structure 90% of the time;
  • Show, don’t tell;
  • All action should either reveal character and/or move the plot along;
  • If you can tell your story (or part of your story) clearly through dialogue, do it;
  • Try to break up the words on the page – no young reader likes to see page after page filled with words;
  • Think about your reader.

MUF: Finally, how can fans find you? Do you have a website and/or any social media that you use? 

Fred: The best way to reach me is to go to my website: www.fredbowen.com

Click on the “Contact” heading at the top of the home page.  That will direct kids or any interested people to a way they can send me an email.  I always enjoy hearing from my readers and will answer any emails sent to me.

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Back to School in the Olden Days

By on August 23, 2021   /   For Teachers, Op-Ed  

Last year, my younger daughter was assigned to interview an older relative about what school was like back when they were in first grade. In an ordinary year, this assignment must have been an interesting way for the kids to discover and appreciate all the differences in school culture and technology that have built up over the past few decades.

My daughter chose to interview her older sister.

“I remember back when I was in first grade, six years ago, we went to school in a building that wasn’t our own house. Some kids got dropped off by their parents, and others got there in a big yellow bus.”

“That’s crazy!”

“And we didn’t use iPads, like, at all.”

“How could you see the teacher?”

“The teacher wasn’t on a screen. The teacher was in the room.”

“No way!”

“In gym, we got to play games and run around, and sometimes we went outside.”

“With the iPad?”

“There was no iPad.”

“Now you’re just making stuff up.”

“I’m not! And when we ate our lunch in the cafeteria, we sat at huge tables with all the other kids in our class.”

“That’s impossible! Also, what’s a cafeteria?”

“It’s like a restaurant, but just for the school.”

“With curbside service? Or was it a drive-through?”

“Neither. It was like one of those old-timey restaurants where you could eat indoors. Like you see sometimes on TV.”

“But you had to stay six feet apart from everyone and wear a mask, right?”

“There. Were. No. Masks.”

“What-what? School in the olden days sounds dangerous! You’re lucky you survived.”

* * *

Some kids went to school in person for at least part of last year, but many students this fall haven’t been inside a school building since mid-March of 2020. Some can barely remember what in-person learning was like.

These are challenging times for sure.

Stay strong, teachers.

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Author Kate Hannigan discusses Boots, the third book in her League of Secret Heroes series

By on August 20, 2021   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Cross-Curricular, Curriculum Tie-in, For Librarians, For Teachers, New Releases  

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 League of Secret Heroes which has been described as Hidden Figures meets Wonder Woman.

Congratulations, Kate, on your launching of Boots! You’ve been on quite a journey with your three main characters Josie, Akiko and Mae who have been fighting super villains, World War II enemies as well as racism and sexism. Welcome to the Mixed Up Files Blog. In this book, the girls find themselves in Chicago, Sweetwater, Texas as well as Paris–all significant places during World War II, during the time period that your series is set. Tell us a little bit about the research you did to conjure up each of these places.

I love diving into research—sometimes even more than the writing itself! So I had incredible fun pulling together this series. Spotlighting the real-life women from history drove the setting, so for CAPE(Book 1) it made sense to set it in Philadelphia since the ENIAC Six mathematicians were my focus. These women were programming the top-secret computer that was being built at University of Pennsylvania during the war. MASK(Book 2) is set in San Francisco because much of the story focuses on things happening on the West Coast during the war. And now with BOOTS(Book 3), I wanted to focus on the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) and other women pilots during this time in history, so it made sense to feature Sweetwater, Texas—where the WASPs did their training—and Chicago, where I live, and the remarkable women pilots here.

I’ve long been fascinated with the WASPs and their role in WWII history, so when I read about their homecoming celebrations in Sweetwater, where former WASPs take part, I jumped on a plane to see for myself. There was incredible warmth to the weekend, as history buffs, aviation lovers, members of the Ninety-Nines(an international organization of women pilots), and families and friends of the WASPs gathered to celebrate their accomplishments. I was lucky to meet WASP Jane Doyle, who was 96 years old at the time, and interview her for the book. My superhero girls fly with Jane.

Each girl in addition to superpowers, has real life powers such as the ability to do math (Josie), crack ciphers (Akiko) or lockpicking (Mae). Are these any of your superpowers?

My sister’s superpower is math, and I could imagine her jumping into an exciting role during WWII if she were there at the time! For me, I love puzzles and grew up solving ones in the newspaper during breakfast. But I have to admit that my current superpower is a bit less glamorous: parallel parking. After living in San Francisco and now Chicago, there’s no space too small for me to tackle!

I loved reading about Aunt Janet and Aunt Willa, and the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots). I must confess to not knowing very much about this history before. What do you hope readers take away about these fearless flyers?

First I hope young readers find these figures interesting and want to learn more. That’s the whole reason I write historical fiction: to show kids where we’ve been and how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. And second, to show girls especially that they can succeed in male-dominated fields and that while it may seem that women haven’t been there historically, they have. Their stories just haven’t been told.

I love how you consistently don’t shy away from some difficult truths, especially racism and sexism. These are painful but you don’t talk down to kids. How do you handle discussing these difficult realities with your own family?

These are painful topics. And can make us feel small sometimes. But the only way to address difficult things is head-on. So I feel like finding something we can all relate to—wanting to sit down for pie at a restaurant—and looking at it from different perspectives can help us understand why things were the way they were and what we can do to fight unfairness when we see it.

The Infinity Trinity is such a wonderful concept–I appreciate how the girls operate as a superhero trio. How did you decide on three girls?

This was a deliberate decision. I don’t mean to shut out the boys, of course, but I do feel like males have been represented pretty well in literature, film, and everything else for . . . millennia! Haha! So I wanted to write a book where girls are the focus and girls have agency. Where they can feel like a part of something big, where they’re crucial to its success, where they have to use their own smarts and skills, and where they can kick evil in the throat. So as I began sketching out the story, I had to make some big choices: to see these kids battle evil and really wallop some baddies, I was heading into the fantasy genre; and to emphasize the role of women in this period of history, I was going to focus just on females. So I made the decision that the superhero trio, their comic book mentors, and the real-life figures from history they work with would all be female.

What are you working on next? Anything you can share?

I’m obsessed with the year 1920! A whole lot was happening then. So I’m working on a middle-grade mystery set at this time, with some fascinating historical figures walking around with my young detective. It’s been so much fun to research, and now I’m writing every single day to get a solid draft done. We’ll see what happens!

We can’t wait to hear an update. Thanks so much for being on the blog today, Kate!

Hillary Homzie is the author of the Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, 2018), Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2018), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. She’s also a contributor to the Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University and in the summer she teaches in the graduate program in childrens’ literature, writing and illustration at Hollins University. She also is an instructor for the Children’s Book Academy. She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page as well as on Twitter.

 

 

 

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