Articles

June 2026 New Releases!

The Cat Prophecies: Claw Quest

A thirteen-year-old boy holds the fate of his family, his neighborhood, and the world in his hands when he discovers that his cat is from a secret realm of warrior cats facing a dangerous enemy.

The walls between worlds are wearing thin. On one side is the bustling neighborhood of San Antonio—home to thirteen-year-old Tito Rodríguez.On the other is a mythical realm where forces of darkness are looking for a way out. Standing between worlds are the guardians of humankind—a race of fierce warrior cats, who appear in our world as cute and furry companions.

When Tito follows a stray cat through a hidden portal, he finds himself at the center of this cosmic battle between the warrior cats and evil spirits that feed on negative emotions. And according to an ancient prophecy, Tito is the Chosen One who will lead the fight against the forces of darkness . . . probably.

It turns out that there are three possible Chosen Ones—Tito and his new friends and fellow outsiders Luisito and Isa, who have their own furry sidekicks (or wise mentors, if you ask the cats). And with the darkness slipping through the cracks to the human world, all three will have to train for the ultimate fight and prove who is the true hero.

 

Roxie in Color

By Diane Debrovner and Stacy Cervenka

Roxie wants to blend in at a new school, which is hard to do when your parents are blind, in this remarkable novel about friendship, misperceptions, and family—plus a dog’s view of the world.

Roxie loves her parents, but other people can’t seem to see past the fact that they’re blind—and they don’t really see Roxie, either. To them, she’s just “the girl with the blind parents.” So when her family moves to a new town and Roxie starts seventh grade at a new school, she’s determined to be known for the other parts of who she is: an artist, an animal lover, and the kind of person who bakes cookies for people she cares about for no special reason. But that means keeping her parents’ blindness a secret from the kids at school and definitely not telling anyone that she might inherit the eye condition that caused her mother’s vision loss—at least until they get to know her.

For a while, Roxie is happier than she’s ever been. But when her lies and omissions lead to a visit from Child Protective Services, will Roxie find the courage to be fully honest with her friends, her parents, and herself? This heartfelt depiction of a girl establishing her own identity, with some chapters told from the perspective of her mother’s loyal guide dog, is an authentic portrayal of the joys, challenges, and everyday ordinariness of being raised by parents who have a disability.

Note: The novel is typeset in Atkinson Hyperlegible, a font developed by Braille Institute specifically for low-vision readers.

 

Glow

By Nancy Stone

Cordelia believes in facts. Frano believes in destiny. They’re as different as storm clouds and sunshine—until they discover three baby white storks that glow with mysterious light.

No one else can see the glow, just Cordelia and Frano—and she wants nothing to do with the new boy. Yet with a massive hurricane barreling toward Florida, the birds’ very survival depends on this unlikely pair.

Glow pulses with light and unforgettable characters. A magical realism story that aims for and captures the heart.

For anyone who loved Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet or Willodeen.

 

 

 

 

 

Sol Goes for Goal!

It’s back to school for the Hillside Valley kids! Sol’s trying out for the middle school soccer team but will a crush on the team captain distract her from her goals? Find out in this new Hillside Valley graphic novel—filled with friendship, first crushes, and some impressive soccer skills!

Welcome back to Hillside Valley-this time it’s Game On for Sol!

Twelve-year-old Sol is a great friend, a model student, a beloved daughter and a star soccer player. At least that’s what everyone always expects of her. But when the soccer team captain Lily walks by, Sol starts to lose focus. What’s with this heart fluttering feeling she has around Lily?! And how can she stay the star player–the star everything–that people see her as if she can barely remember her name (much less how to play soccer) around Lily? Is Sol destined to let everyone down, including herself? Or can she figure out how to be the Sol she wants to be…on and off the field. Settle back into the cozy community of Hillside Valley in this second irresistible graphic novel! And don’t miss the first Hillside Valley Graphic Novel, Speak Up, Santiago!

 

Midsummer Sisters

Kenzie and Quinn aren’t just stepsisters – they’re best friends. They’re spending the summer with their grandmother, kayaking in the marshy coastal islands she calls home. The Outer Banks are also home to a herd of wild ponies, and the girls fall in love with a fragile newborn foal that they name Starling.

But even blue skies and sandy beaches can’t distract from what’s going on back home. Things between their parents aren’t the way they used to be, and the constant fights have left Kenzie and Quinn anxious and confused. They can’t remember a time when they weren’t a family. If their parents divorce and Quinn and her mom move away, will they even still be sisters . . . or will they be nothing?

As their world shifts around them, the girls swear to do the one thing they can: keep Starling safe.

Award-winning cartoonist Niki Smith delivers a stunning story set during a summer of change. Filled with gorgeous and expressive illustrations, Midsummer Sisters is a celebration of the beauty of wild horses, as powerful as the unbreakable bond between sisters.

 

 

Lightmare

Book #2 of The Incorruptibles

Fiora’s world has been turned upside down in this second book in the exciting upper middle grade fantasy series The Incorruptibles, for fans of Keeper of the Lost Cities and The Marvellers.

Still reeling from recent tragedies, Fiora and her Thistle teammates are on the run and living in seclusion. Times are difficult, and the Thistles are more vulnerable to the sorcerer threat than ever. But all is not lost. The Thistles are forming a plan to fight back.

But when terrible truths are revealed, deep fractures form within the team. When one of their own makes a choice Fiora never saw coming—and cannot possibly understand—Fiora and her friends are forced to reexamine what is good and what is evil…as well as the gray space between.

 

Just Ask Elsie

 

Elsie Parker is having a totally normal fifth grade year.

Fractions and conjunctions—check.
Stressing about middle school—check.
Body-positive puberty class at church that also covers feelings and identities—check.

Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so normal. It’s a little weird (and awkward) to spend her Sundays talking periods, B.O., and pimples. But Elsie’s also learning a lot more than she’s heard in her public-school health class — like the difference between sex and gender, and what consent is, and what it might mean that she can’t stop blushing around a certain cute girl at her school.

When her puberty lessons become the school’s latest gossip, Elsie’s totally humiliated… until she finds an anonymous note in her locker from a classmate who wants to know more, and realizes that other kids might have embarrassing questions of their own.

Starting an underground advice board wasn’t exactly in her plans, but Elsie won’t pass up a chance to turn her reputation around — or to share words and labels that have not-so-accidentally been left off their curriculum. But when the principal tries to shut down the unauthorized puberty talk, Elsie has to decide what she’s willing to risk to tell the truth to kids who really need to hear it.

 

Stream

It’s finally summer—heck, yeah!

With eigth grade done, Elio Solis plans to lock in on his gaming and show the fellas what he’s got.

Celi Rivera and her bestie are headed to Hawaii to sun, skate, and search content for her channel.

But those dreams end when a catfishing incident rocks their Oakland community. Suddenly, parents are nosing in posts, taking phones, and laying down lectures about screen-time safety and well-being. Suddenly, Celi and Elio find themselves sent to rural Mexico, without internet, electricity, or even running water save for a dying stream that could wipe out the whole pueblo in the coming summer rains.

Helping curanderas in a healing clinic…
carting sticks to rehabilitate the arroyo…
turn summer dreams to misery!

But day by day, in nature, beauty, and community, with crushes blooming, can they find their way to each other—and slowly back to themselves?

 

 

The Replay Trap

A girl stuck in a time loop repeatedly relives an awkward sleepover at a wildlife center with a wolf-like monster in the woods in this fun and creepy middle grade adventure.

When Sydney heads to a sleepover birthday party at a wildlife center, she’s sure it’s a terrible idea. Not only because she’ll be staying in a creepy cabin surrounded by wolf enclosures, but because she wasn’t actually invited to the party. Instead, her mom asked Ari’s mom if Sydney could join, and now she’s crashing the event with a group of kids she barely knows. Ugh.It turns out she isn’t the only party crasher when a strange, wolf-like creature bounds out of the woods and throws the night into chaos. In the rush to escape, Sydney hits her head, is knocked out cold…and wakes up back in the car, headed to the party.

Sydney realizes she’s living the same night again and again and again. Why is the evening stuck in a loop, and what is the creature prowling around the center? And—most importantly—how can she break the loop and finally see the morning?

Fifth Grade Top Dogs

By Jerry Spinelli

George, aka “Suds,” is about to start the fifth grade, where he, his best friend Joey, and the rest of his classmates will be the top dogs of the whole school. They are ready to collect on the respect they now deserve and leave their lasting legacy at Gotwals Elementary . . . but that’s easier said than done.

Between bullies on the playground and a prankster sister, Suds is being undermined, ignored, and even challenged everywhere he turns.

Suds knows this could finally be his year, if only he works on his walk, perfects his image, and his annoying little sister stays out of his way. He has been preparing to be a top dog his whole elementary school career. Does he now have what it takes?

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoy these exciting new releases. Have a great Summer!

WNDMG Author Interview with Meg Eden Kuyatt

WNDMG Author Interview with Meg Eden Kuyatt

We’ve got an author here today! And I had the esteemed pleasure of sitting down with MG Novel-in-Verse author Meg Eden Kuyatt. So, without further ado…

KATE: Our Mixed-Up-Files readers would love the inside scoop on your latest novel-in-verse, Perfect Enough. With the school year behind her, Selah is looking forward to a drama-free summer. (Spoiler alert – it won’t be as carefree as she’d like). Can you share with readers a bit about what Selah gets up to in summer?

MEG: Selah wants to prove to her mom–and herself–that she’ll be fine at summer camp, that she can do the same as any neurotypical kid if she has her tools. She wants to connect with her new dragon-loving friends. She wants to write, publish in the summer camp journal, and become a “real writer” (spoiler: she’s already a writer). Even though she has fun, that doesn’t mean she won’t have challenges–you’ll have to read more to find out!

KATE: I fell in love with Selah in Good Different and was naturally excited to see you were returning to her world in Perfect Enough. Did you always have plans to extend her story? And if so, in what ways did it shape how you’d end the first story?

MEG: No, actually! It’s funny. I was trying to write this summer camp story about learning to accept your limitations and ableism, but I kept getting stuck. I realized part of that might be that the main character was basically Selah with a different name. So I asked: what if it was Selah’s story? And the pieces began to click together!

KATE: Perfect Enough takes place the summer after book one. Here, we follow Selah at camp. How did you decide upon that timeline vs, say the start of a new school year?

MEG: Part of that is because I want to follow up on a well-meaning but troubling response I’ll get to Good Different that only focuses on Selah’s “superpowers” as an autistic person. I wanted to say, yes, there is great strength and joy in autism, but there are also challenges–let’s not forget both. Argument-wise, that really follows from Good Different. Plus, if I get to tell future stories with Selah, I think we’d need a whole separate book for that transition to public school. I know for me, the transition from private to public school was very hard. 

KATE: I love how you find ways to advocate for readers by giving them diverse characters to fall in love with and see themselves in. Followers of Selah know she is autistic, and we’ve witnessed how she navigates the world. In Perfect Enough we get to see her understanding of how others navigate the world – in particular through the lens of a character with ADHD. What inspired you to bring this storyline into your novel?

MEG: My husband is ADHD (or possibly AuDHD, we’re not sure) and that camp story I mentioned earlier, I knew a big part to me was about this autistic girl and ADHD boy learning to work together on a group project. My husband and I, we make a great team. In many ways we sync well. But in others, we are total opposites, and know how to get on each others’ nerves! We’ve only gotten to see Selah’s perspective so far, so I wanted to show that she’s only one neurodivergent person. In the story, we meet lots of neurodivergent folks, and see how we can have competing access needs–sometimes two people will need the complete opposite things! How do we navigate that? I don’t think there’s a simple answer, but I want all of us to think more about that question, and how we can all bend a little to make room so that everyone feels safe.

KATE: At Writer’s Camp, attendees are invited to team up for group projects. I’m not going to lie – I was reliving every anxiety and stress Selah was, thanks to past projects of my own childhood, lol. What a great universal idea for your school-aged characters to be put through. So, I’m super curious how easy it was for you to write the tension in these scenes? Were you tapping into your own experiences, or was this pure fiction for you?

MEG: Ha! Me too. Group projects can be quite unpleasant. I think that was part of why I wanted to write about it, because I’m so bad at plot, and that would create a great tension-generator! Writing Selah’s stories has been so easy. I know I mined lots of experiences with my husband, as well as roommates with college. 

KATE: Please tell us more about this writer’s camp. Is this something you had once attended, taught at, or always dreamed of being part of?

MEG: In high school, my friend attended Duke’s Young Writers Camp. I was so jealous! That was the starting inspiration. But I also sometimes teach at the Jimenez-Porter Writers House at the University of Maryland College Park, which offers a sort of summer program. Since I know the campus and the dormitories well, I sort of mixed the two in my imagination to make a writer’s camp where I could really feel the space like I was right there as Selah. 

KATE: Your dialogue exercise is one of my favorites. It starts off fun and silly, then Selah reveals how the other character makes her feel. The scene feels so effortless. I’m curious if this is something that got edited and edited, or if it simply wrote itself.

MEG: Nope, this was one of those things that wrote itself! I think that’s why it’s such a good exercise.

KATE: One of the camp teachers, Mr. Yi, discusses with Selah how poems are her voice. Selah responds by answering that poems give her courage to say things off the page too. I have witnessed you teach poetry to students, and love how you make it so easy to understand. What advice do you have for kids inspired by Selah who either currently write poetry or who wish to start writing it?

MEG: Thank you so much for your kind words, Kate! The biggest advice I give is to persist. Write, give yourself permission to take you and your writing seriously (you ARE a writer!), and if you want to, send out your work–but there’ll be rejection, so don’t lose heart! Just keep sending, writing, learning and growing!

KATE: Without revealing spoilers, can you describe your writing process and, can you give us an example of something you cut, changed, or reworked from draft to publication?

MEG: I’ll say generally, this idea was it’s own summer camp story at first, in dual POV, and more about combating ableism. But I kept getting stuck, until I realized–one of the main characters was basically Selah! So when I put Selah as the MC, everything came together perfectly. I know we did some changes between drafts, but I’m having trouble remembering anything too huge or radical. 

KATE: Thank you for taking the time to share the inside scoop on Perfect Enough. Is there something beyond Selah’s world you can hint at? Perhaps a new project in the works?

MEG: I have a YA with two autistic protagonists coming out from Scholastic in 2027–more soon! I’ve sent in some middle grade proposals to Scholastic, including an idea for a third Selah book. Fingers crossed to see what happens!

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

MEG: I tend to not be on social media much anymore, to be honest. These companies have all proven to be exploitative and gross, and I’m wrestling with: is this edifying? Is it good for me or others? Do I want to be complicit in this system? I still haven’t fully let go, so you might see me occasionally on Instagram or updating my Facebook page, but the best ways to keep in touch with me are through my website and newsletter:

http://eepurl.com/buwBXX

www.megedenbooks.com

Mixed-Up Member Spotlight: Mike Hays

All About Mike Hays

From the Mixed-Up Files is a place to celebrate middle grade books—new books, collections of books on a particular theme, STEM books—as well as a place to interview authors. Now I get to celebrate a fellow MUF blogger: Mike Hays, who has been a part of the team for more than eleven years.

Hi Mike! It’s nice to finally meet you and get you “in front of the camera” for a change. First, tell us about your non-writing life.
My life firmly orbits around my family. Faith, family, food, and an insatiable curiosity for the world is probably the dime store philosophical motto for my life. The writing and creating parts are deeply rooted in all those things.

What do you do for fun?
Much to the chagrin of people I live with, I try to do everything for fun. Of course, there are times when one has to buckle down, pinch your nose, and get the dog poo of life cleaned up. But, even then, I try to infuse those times with an element of a fun challenge. The things I do for fun are all over the board; playing with my grandkids, gardening, biking, drawing, games of any sort, and, most of all, reading.

I see you are a molecular microbiologist by day. Fill us in on what that entails.
Unfortunately, being a molecular microbiologist is not as exciting or as sexy as it sounds. It’s work and it’s failure. The general aim of our research laboratory within a veterinary medical college is to use molecular biology and gene editing to make viral and bacterial pathogens less dangerous. We also focus on using isolated aspects of those pathogens and/or their genes as treatments for other diseases and conditions, i.e. knocking down the body’s inflammation response in autoimmune disease. It’s a bugs to drugs approach.


How does your day job impact your writing?
I get to approach every day with a discovery mindset. We are using what scientists have previously done to forge new ground in our field. Constantly interested. Constantly investigative. I like doing what I do because it’s a hands-on job that requires thought and analysis every dang day. It’s the Fail Cycle in daily action ⇒ Try. Fail. Analyze. Problem solve, Try again. Repeat. (Sound familiar, creators in the crowd? The Fail Cycle is how we create.)

Were you always interested in being a writer? Did you like to write as a child?
No! And No! I had trouble reading and writing as a child. It was a struggle. I’m sure I have some learning issue that was beyond the capacity of a mid-1970’s lower middle class Catholic grade school. The key was that my lower middle class Catholic grade school had people who cared and refused to allow me to slip through the cracks. I made a breakthrough in sixth grade reading Jack London’s To Build a Fire on mimeographed sheets of paper while tucked deep in a storeroom where a volunteer provided kids extra help. It changed everything! It opened the doors for my creative brain that were previously locked. The fire was lit. One of the things I preach to all who will listen is: Reading is a Superpower!

If you could interview any middle grade author (past or present), who would it be and why?
This is an impossible question to fully answer, so here is my shortened version of a list that could encompass this entire interview post. I spared you my long-winded why and just include their almost perfect book(s) I’d talk to the author about and beg to know how they did performed their perfect alchemy.
Terry Prachett (The Tiffany Aching series)
Louis Sachar (Holes)
Kelly Barnhill (The Girl Who Drank the Moon)
Neil Gaiman (Coraline/The Graveyard Book)
Jennifer L. Holm (The Fourteenth Goldfish)
Erin Entrada Kelly (We Dream of Space)
Okay for Now (Gary D. Schmidt)
Ray Bradbury (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine)
Michael Chabon (Summerland)
Jonathan Stroud (The Lockwood & Co. series)

About His Books

Tell us about the types of books/short stories you write. Would you say there’s a common thread in them?
The common thread at the core in everything I write or create is probably similar to a great number of creators. I write for me. In particular, I write stuff the young me would have appreciated. I wrote a MUF post called Creative Braining that kind of touches on how this process works on a neuroprocessing level.

What is your favorite book/short story you wrote?
Ha! Isn’t this like asking me to pick a favorite child? I think the honest answer is the favorite piece is the one I’m working on. That love and passion helps drive through that mucky slog every piece must trudge through.

I know you are a coach—what sports do you coach? How has your love of sports and/or coaching impacted your books?
I was a Rule 10 (non-certified staff) high school football, baseball, and strength & conditioning coach. Now, I volunteer with youth sports and love to work with kids on the fundamentals of hitting a baseball.
A love of sports, and participation as a player and coach, has had a huge impact on my creative work. First, it instilled in me the value of practice in developing technical ability and skill. Second, it taught me the value of work ethic and discipline. Show up and do the work because hard work is the magic. Finally, I learned to compete. In creativity, this competition is 100% a competition against my own self to finish a project to the very best of my ability at that particular time and place.

What are you working on now?
Although not recommended to working fast or keeping one’s mental faculties completely in order, I work on multiple projects at a time. I have this memory of Ray Bradbury from an old TV interview talking about how he works three or four projects simultaneously. If he got stuck on one, he rolled his office chair to the next typewriter and got to work on that one. My current problem is limiting my work to three or four projects and not seven. 😀
I’m revising and querying several MG manuscripts, working on an informative fiction graphic novel about the Sputnik I launch, drafting and outlining a new MG fiction project, and making a picture book dummy. Even though it seems to be tough times in the MG universe, we must keep on keeping on. Plus, baby steps are still steps moving forward, right?

Mike’s Roles for MUF

How long have you been writing for From the Mixed-Up Files…of Middle Grade Authors?
In a move the MUF leadership probably wishes they could reconsider, I was accepted to be a part of the team in November of 2014. (Wait! There’s no way is can be that long ago. It seems like just yesterday.)

What hats do you wear for MUF?
I do several regular MUF posts per year and those almost exclusively lean toward creativity and how we do what we do. I’m also the most unreliable member of the MUF Author Interview team and am working to rectify my lack of participation on that important front. As one of the original STEM Tuesday team members, I am part of the STEM Tuesday Week Three Writing Tips & Resources team and helped lay the groundwork for the post’s format, including the O.O.L.F. Files component.
I am the class clown of the STEM Tuesday family and, for some reason, Jennifer Swanson and the others let me get away with it. I am forever grateful they allow me to be my stupid-funny self in the oft-serious arena of STEM.

What are your favorite types of posts to do and why?
At a basic level, I like the posts that allow me to explore the creative process. My most challenging post assignment is having the honor and the responsibility to write the annual STEM Tuesday New Year’s Post.

You write posts for STEM Tuesday. What topics do you like to cover?
I love the challenge of being “forced” into learning something new in order to properly address the monthly STEM Tuesday theme. When one learns more creating the piece than one was able to share in the post, it’s a win for a nerdy boy like me.

What was your favorite post you wrote and why?
Another hard question! On this question, though, there is one that stands out above the rest. The STEM Tuesday New Year’s Post at the end of December 2020. Yes, that 2020! You know, global pandemic, science being attacked from multiple fronts, etc. Truth bomb here, I was so nervous and almost backed out of posting this one for a generic “Happy New Year from the STEM Tuesday Team!” post. I was pulling out the stupid-funny ridiculousness stops and going so far off the standard STEM Tuesday rails that I was worried about embarrassing the whole STEM Tuesday team. In the 11th hour, Jennifer Swanson was consulted and she said to run with it. Honestly, I think she was just desperate to get something posted on New Year’s Eve. It even had to run in two parts. Here are the links:

Part One: A Great Conjunction
Part Two: Partie Deux (Translation…Part Doo.)

For Teachers

Are you doing school visits related to your books?
I am available for free virtual school visits, tailored to all ages, to talk writing, creating, science, and a grab bag of other things that are on the mind of young people. Interested teachers can send a message via my socials or on my website and we can get something scheduled.

How can we learn more about you?
My author website is: https://mikehaysbooks.com/
My blog site (over 500 posts since 2009!) on life, coaching, sports, etc. is: https://coachhays.com/
Instagram: @MikeHays64
Bluesky: @mikehays64.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachhays

Thanks for your time, Mike.

Thank you! I love what the MUF family does on a daily basis and the spotlight it shines on MG space. I’m forever proud and thankful to be a part of this spectacular group.