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September New Releases

By on September 1, 2025   /   Articles, New Releases  

It’s back to school time. Lucky for us, we have a back pack full of middle grade new releases to carry us into the fall.

Take a look at what’s going to fill story and library shelves this September – including an old favorite with a new look, some interesting new heroes, and a bunch of mysteries.

 

Ravenguard: A Ravenfall Novel by Kalyn Josephson 

A girl with psychic abilities and a boy with mysterious powers must unravel secrets and battle dark forces in order to save their world in the final Ravenfall adventure.

As whispers of winter beckon, Anna Ballinkay and Colin Pierce brace for change. The Ravenfall Inn, a magical nexus between worlds, is bustling with preparations for the Winter Solstice ball, which will bring together a mix of otherworldly guests and festive enchantments.

Amid the festivities, a young boy named Declan arrives and claims his new identity as a Raven, sparking a mission to rebuild the legendary Ravenguard.

While the inn buzzes with excitement, a sinister mystery unfolds: Supernatural beings are found lifeless, drained of their magic. As suspicion mounts, Anna, Colin, and their allies must uncover the cause before Ravenfall is destroyed.

Can the Ravenguard rise in time, or will the magic of Ravenfall be lost forever? Ancient legends stir and loyalties are tested in Kalyn Josephson’s thrilling series conclusion.

 

 

 

The Better to Eat You With by Tehlor Kay Mejia

From award-winning author Tehlor Kay Mejia comes a spine-tingling tale of transformation, mystery, and the monsters we face—inside and out.

What big teeth…

For twelve-year-old Evan, summertime has always meant carefree days with her family and unlimited time with her best friend, Billie. This year, with her parents on the brink of divorce, she’s staying at Billie’s summer cabin. But Billie only seems to care about crushes these days, and to make matters worse, Evan’s mom’s health obsession has climbed to new heights. The more Evan tries to appease her mom and control her hunger, the sharper it seems to get, until it threatens to drag her under.

As Evan tries to cling to the good things in her life, a sinister presence in the woods begins to stir. Kids are scared, and adults think everyone should go home. Determined to stay, Evan starts hunting for the creature and begins to wonder—is it just her imagination, or is the monster inside her?

 

 

 

 

Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave by Ally Russell

Abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home, a girl who can see and smell the supernatural must solve the mystery of a priceless heirloom stolen from her family’s business. Perfect for fans of Netflix’s Wednesday and Beetlejuice!

13-year-old Mystery—who was abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home—is plagued by sleep paralysis and the smell of ghosts, but she’s used to that. Even though her life might seem “strange” on the outside, she loves it.

That is until a priceless heirloom goes missing and her family’s funeral home is in danger of being shut down. To clear her Tia’s good name, Mystery embarks on an adventure to figure out what really happened to the misplaced necklace.

But to do so, she must contend with the angry patriarch of the town’s wealthiest family, a sleep paralysis demon, a graverobber, and the ghastly half-vampire, half-ghost that’s lurking in the Olde Ellis Town Cemetery.

 

 

 

Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel by Natalie Babbitt and K. Woodman-Maynard 

Celebrate Tuck Everlasting’s 50th anniversary with the stunning graphic novel adaptation of this beloved and spellbinding children’s classic that has sold more than 10 million copies.

What if you could live forever?

In this timeless story about immortality, friendship, and growing up, young Winnie Foster learns of a hidden spring in a nearby wood and meets the Tuck family, whose members reveal their astonishing discovery of the spring’s life-changing power. Now Winnie must decide what to do with her newfound knowledge—and the Tucks must decide what to do with her. But it’s not just the curious girl who is interested in their remarkable tale. A suspicious stranger is also searching for the Tucks, and he will stop at nothing until he finds them and uncovers their secret.

From Newbery Honoree and E. B. White Award winner Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting is a modern-day masterpiece that has been a staple on home bookshelves and in classrooms and libraries for half a century. Drawing closely from the original text, it is now brought to visual life in K. Woodman-Maynard’s gorgeous watercolor artwork. The perfect book for new readers and long-devoted fans alike, Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel is sure to be an all-time favorite for every generation.

 

 

 

Bridget Vanderpuff and the Great Airship Robbery #3 by Martin Stewart and David Habben 

Follow the brilliant Bridget Vanderpuff on another action-packed adventure as she sets off for Paris in this middle grade novel perfect for fans of The Great British Baking Show and Beth Lincoln!

Someone has stolen Mr. Vanderpuff’s golden whisk! If Bridget and her new friend Stacy don’t find it by midnight, the world’s best baker will never mix again.

And as the girls chase a chain of impossible puzzles through the secrets and shadows of Paris, Tom and Pascal find trouble in Belle-on-Sea…

Can Bridget and her friends crack the case and save the bakeshop in time?

 

 

 

 

 

The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell and Ashley Mackenzie 

Christopher Forrester woke to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leapt for joy! He’d been dreaming of going back to the Archipelago, the secret cluster of islands where all the creatures of myth still live, and here was his summons.

But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago. Rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, a stealthy entrance to a dragon’s lair, and a death-defying plan to save a prisoner held in the heart of a castle. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket, and a ravenous hunger for justice.

Katherine Rundell’s second thrilling installment in the Impossible Creatures series involves castles, dragons, and revenge—the things of which great stories are made. The splendors within are brought to life with fifty illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.

 

 

 

 

 

North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta

From Pixar star animator Bobby Podesta comes a middle-grade classic holiday story about Virginia, a girl who must help one of Santa’s reindeer back to the North Pole before Christmas.

What would you think if you saw a reindeer fly? When this happens to Virginia, she isn’t sure what to do – she’s just lost her mom, she’s in a new city, and everything seems so hard. But when she reluctantly confesses what she saw to her neighbor, Benny, he’s convinced that flying reindeer can only mean one thing: this is Santa business.

In this stunning graphic novel debut from Pixar director Bobby Podesta, two kids and a lost reindeer go up against obsessive hunters, suspiciously convincing department store elves, and radar operators for the Continental Air Defense Command Center. No matter the odds, Virginia’s going to get Christmas back on track!

 

 

 

 

Big Nate: No Harm Done!:  Volume 33 by Lincoln Peirce 

Sixth grade renaissance man Nate Wright is bombastic, enthusiastic, and larger than life–it’s why his friends call him “Big Nate.” But behind the bravado, Nate is a faithful friend whose antics crack up his classmates, impart life lessons to readers, and bring a smile to comics fans everywhere.

It’s back-to-school time for sixth-grader Nate Wright, and this just might be the best year ever! Rumors are flying that the villainous Mrs. Godfrey is now teaching EIGHTH grade. Chad is on the verge of destroying Gina in the race for class president. And could Nate finally realize his dream of changing the school mascot to . . . a sea cucumber? Hey, why not? He’s a can-do kind of guy. So when the Weekly Bugle needs a story, Nate’s happy to make headlines–by (allegedly) starting an epic food fight in the cafetorium! In this latest collection of gut-busting Big Nate comics, Nate’s always stirring things up, but at the end of every day, P.S. 38 is still standing. In other words: NO HARM DONE!

 

 

 

 

 

Roswell Johnson Saves the Galaxy! by Chris Colfer

Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Land of Stories in this sequel to Roswell Johnson Saves the World! Packed with humor, heart, and action, the second book in this adventure series will take middle grade readers on another epic journey, this time, to save the galaxy!

Something very strange is happening in our galaxy. People, spaceships, and whole stars are disappearing without a trace. The Milky Way Galactic Alliance can’t explain the bizarre phenomena, prompting Roswell and his alien friends to solve the mystery themselves. Along the way, Roswell discovers new technology that puts our entire solar system in grave danger, and he learns he’s closer to the problem than he ever thought possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See anything you like? Let us know in the comments.

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Author Interview with Aaron Reynolds

By on August 28, 2025   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Author Interview with Aaron Reynolds

KATE: Our Mixed-Up-Files readers would love the inside scoop on your latest book, Troubling Tonsils! Can you tell us a bit about where the idea for this story came from?

AARON: I’ve had some newer, weirder, creepier stories brewing for quite a while, slowly taking shape in the recesses of my imagination. A story about tonsils was percolating, but I didn’t really know what it would consist of until I sat down to begin the writing process. The story slowly revealed itself to me in all its strange glory.

KATE: Troubling Tonsils! is book 4 in your Jasper Rabbit’s Creepy Tales! series. And I have soooo many questions about this! I am a HUGE fan of Creepy Carrots. Creepy Crayon on the other hand, lol, might hit too close to home for me since I like to write. And Creepy Underwear is purely fun to read. All three of these are, 1) picture books, and 2) feature Jasper Rabbit. So obviously I’m curious about:

  1. How the decision came about to move mid-series from picture book to chapter book?
  2. How Charlie Marmot landed the starring role?

AARON:

  • Kids (and librarians!) are consistently asking for more CREEPY stories. While I may do more Jasper picture books, part of me wondered how much more can I continue to put that poor bunny through? I thought, What if Jasper, as the expert in all things creepy, brought readers some new older stand-alone stories? This opens the lid on endless possibilities of creepy tales, while at the same time letting Jasper in on the storytelling. That idea excited me a ton.
  • Whatever the new stories, I knew they had to be set in Jasper’s world and mirror some elements from the picture books. They needed to be stories about animals, they needed to be creepy but also funny, and they needed to have the possibility of great twists. Charlie Marmot’s story began to take shape. Each new book will have a brand new fuzzy protagonist and a brand new set of creepiness. But Jasper will be the touchstone and narrate us through all the weirdness.

KATE: In Troubling Tonsils! We meet Charlie Marmot for the first time. He’s highly imaginative and one might even say has his hand in creating the creepy story he gets involved in. What was your inspiration for choosing Charlie to be a marmot?

AARON: A big part of writing for me is the playfulness of language and sound. Jasper’s name and species sound really good together. JAAAAsper RAAAAbbit. I wanted to stay away from alliterative names like Bucky Beaver and the like, but the assonance of vowel sounds can be just as fantastic, if not more so. As I thought about the series, I spent a good bit of time brainstorming good character names but also species possibilities that would mirror the great soundplay of Jasper Rabbit. I also loved a slightly unexpected species of fuzzy creature. Charlie Marmot ticked a lot of boxes for me.

KATE: Kids are sure to relate to poor Charlie needing to get his tonsils removed. I feel I need to ask if this was a terrifying experience from your own childhood which you’ve brought to page.

AARON: No, I never had my own tonsils removed, but I do vividly recall having my wisdom teeth taken out. I was konked out for the experience itself, but I clearly remember waking up and being covered in blood! Actually it was just the bib that was bloody, but it was very dramatic in my seven-year-old mind. It never occurred to me that there would be blood. And so much of it! I was horrified by the thought of whatever had taken place while I had been asleep and thankful I had been unconscious for it.

KATE: The voice of your stories is always so playful. Characters have over-the-top ideas and the consequences of said ideas have great twists. Talk to us about how you tap into the innocence of youth which makes your books page-turners even when they are creepy.

AARON: I appreciate that! Beyond anything else, I want my books to be FUN to read. I want kids to return to them time and again because they view it as a fantastic way to spend time. I think we’ve lost sight of that as adults…the power of JOYFUL reading for its own sake. The benefits are wide-reaching, but beyond any tangible educational benefit, reading is and should be an amazing way to spend time. I NEVER regret time spent reading. I want kids to feel that when they pick up my books. 

It also helps that I’m still 100% a fifth-grade kid. I remember those years deeply and feel like they are core to my mindset and outlook, both in life and in writing.

KATE: Let’s talk creepy. One doesn’t typically think of a classroom’s Show and Tell project as being creepy. And yet, that’s the fun of your books – there’s always something unexpected. Were there other ideas and mashups you thought up which didn’t land? Or was bringing tonsils to school always the story?

AARON: I’m sure there were other ideas that got noodled around as I logged hours in front of the keyboard. I don’t remember what they were. For me, writing is a very organic LIVING thing. I don’t outline anything. I usually have a nugget of an idea, but I don’t always know where it’s going to go. The act of creation happens best for me when I’m sitting at the keyboard, spinning what-ifs as I throw words and ideas messily around on the page. Stuff gets sifted and sorted in those hours until (hopefully) the best stuff rises up.

KATE: When writing creepy stories for children, what’s your best tip for not getting too dark or gruesome for young audiences?

AARON: I think it depends on the type of story you are writing. There are some authors (R.L. Stine, Mary Downing Hahn, for example) who do go full tilt scary. I think dark and gruesome can work with kidlit, depending on the story. But, for me, the best of it happens in the context of weird and wonderful strangeness and silliness. I think the best example of this is Roald Dahl. His stories are WEIRD. And dark. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, you never 100% know if Willy Wonka is just going to let those five kids DIE. Ms. Trunchbull in Matilda actually flings kids across the yard by their hair. WHAT??? But there is no doubt that these stories are absolutely written for kids. The kind of story and voice of the story has a lot to do with how far you can push it.

KATE: Thank you for taking the time to share the inside scoop on Troubling Tonsils! You have two more stories in the Creepy Tales series coming out soon. Can you tell readers briefly about these new stories?

AARON:  Two more SO FAR. As I said, the possibilities for this series are endless and I am very excited about those  possibilities. I’m also thrilled that Simon & Schuster chose to release the first three all in this school year, rather than spacing them out one story per year. The momentum and excitement possible in that is very exhilarating to me.

 This year, in addition to TROUBLING TONSILS, there will also be UNSETTLING SALAD in which Thaddeus Badger has a monstrous encounter of the vegetative kind. That will be followed in the spring by YARN IS EVERYTHING, a story about Winona Mole and her obsession with all things crochet.

It’s going to be the creepiest year ever!

 

 

KATE: Where can readers best find you if they want to reach out?

AARON: They can find me on my website at www.aaron-reynolds.com!

 

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The World Book

By on August 21, 2025   /   Articles, Book Lists, books, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers  

“What’s your favorite book?“

That’s one question that often gets asked to authors during author visits or events.

That is a tough question for me.

To some, though, it’s an easy question, and many of the authors list their favorite book titles without hesitation. I’ve always been envious of the people who express such resolution and love for a book or books, especially when it comes to naming the books from one’s childhood.

I had a tough time learning to read. It was a struggle. I’d look at the page of text and see an overwhelming mishmash of words and letters. I’m sure that now I would have been diagnosed early and prescribed a program for my reading disorder, but those things were rare in early 1970s education. Especially in a lower-middle-class Catholic school, and even more so for an early elementary school kid who seemed to keep his head above water in class.

I was lucky, though. I had parents and a few teachers who noticed my problem and put me on the road to reading. My most vivid, non-recess, non-field trip, non-playday memories of first and second grade are when my teacher or a volunteer aide would pull me aside to another room and work with me on the Controlled Reader projector.

 

In a dark, quiet, and empty classroom, I learned to focus on the left word of a sentence and move slowly to the right. I practiced and practiced from one filmstrip to the next on moving my eyes from left to right. I worked on image strips to practice moving my eyes right to left. I practiced all this without moving my head. And guess what?

Things got better!

Reading was possible.

(There’s a really cool 2018 Wired story by writer Lisa Wood Shapiro on how she works to overcome her dyslexia and how technology is helping people become readers.) 

We didn’t have a boatload of books around the house when I was growing up. I learned to be a better reader through the assistance of my teachers and parents, but still struggled through the middle grades to be a bonafide reader. I loved The Jungle Book. The Disney movie captivated me from a very early age. We had a series of illustrated classics with about twenty pages of text per illustration. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Treasure Island, a few other titles I can’t remember, and The Jungle Book.

I loved that book.

But I never read that book.

I picked the book off the shelf a thousand times. I looked at the pictures a thousand times. Each time I tried to read that book but I reverted to seeing each page as an intimidating blob of letters and words. Frustration would set in, and I’d snap the book shut and return it to the shelf.

I know I should have said something to my parents or teachers. I should have sought help. But I was a big, shy kid and didn’t want to trouble anyone with this embarrassing problem.

Then something wonderful happened. A salesman came around the house and convinced my parents to buy a set of the World Book encyclopedia. My parents made a difficult decision to spend money we didn’t have on this set of books. They even splurged on the annual yearbook!

I found my reading life in those encyclopedias. Schoolwork forced me to open them, but the magic of information given in short bursts of text and pictures contained within was pure magic. Something clicked in my reader-brain. I figured it out.

I slowly became a better reader and a smarter kid. The set of World Book encyclopedias led to the Guinness Book of World Records, which led to comics, which led to the Hardy Boys, which led to eventually reading The Jungle Book. And you know what? It was as fantastic as the story I held in my head all those years.  

So next time I’m asked at an author event what my favorite book was, I have an answer.

The World Book.

Hands down.

After my Dad died and my Mom was preparing to move out of their house, she called and asked me what I wanted of their stuff. I know her idea of “stuff” meant furniture, dishes, etc., but without hesitation, I said I would like to have the World Book encyclopedias and yearbooks they’d used for the previous twenty years as a decoration on top of their kitchen cabinets.

My Mom laughed and thought I was joking, and she thought that until her eventual death. She’ll never know how important those books were to me and how huge a role they played in making me who I am today. I probably never really knew how much of a sacrifice it was for my parents to invest in buying this set of encyclopedias and the annual yearbook every year. These books are history. Part of our history.

I’m a firm believer in letting kids read what works for them. I’ve cut my reading teeth on baseball box scores, cereal boxes, baseball cards, etc. 

Reading is reading is reading is reading.

Reading is indeed a superpower.

 

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