For Kids

The Most Perfect Interview with Author Tricia Springstubb

By on April 19, 2021   /   Author Interviews, For Kids, For Librarians  

Author Tricia Springstubb

I’m very excited today to welcome author Tricia Springstubb to The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors! We’re here to talk about her newest middle-grade novel The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe.

Before we get started, let’s take a look at the book.

Eleven-year-old Loah Londonderry is definitely a homebody. While her mother, a noted ornithologist, works to save the endangered birds of the shrinking Arctic tundra, Loah anxiously counts the days till her return home. But then, to Loah’s surprise and dismay, Dr. Londonderry decides to set off on a perilous solo quest to find the Loah bird, long believed extinct. Does her mother care more deeply about Loah the bird than Loah her daughter?

Things get worse yet when Loah’s elderly caretakers fall ill and she finds herself all alone except for her friend Ellis. Ellis has big problems of her own, but she believes in Loah. She’s certain Loah has strengths that are hidden yet wonderful, like the golden feather tucked away on her namesake bird’s wing. When Dr. Londonderry’s expedition goes terribly wrong, Loah needs to discover for herself whether she has the courage and heart to find help for her mother, lost at the top of the world. 

 

The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe is available for preorder now and releases June 1, 2021.

MH:  When and where did you get the idea for The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe?

TS:  A writer’s mind is a wild, unpredictable place. Ideas lurk about. You glimpse one from the corner of your eye but before you can catch it, it has slipped back into the shadows. Maybe you get another chance–this time it lingers long enough to walk beside you for a while before it disappears again, leaving you to puzzle out what to make of it…

…which is my devious way of saying, I don’t exactly know where I got the idea for Loah!  If I look at my files, I can see I first tried to write about her back in 2017. The files have names like Loah After Retreat and Loah After Mary Jane’s House(two of many places I worked on the book) and Loah Yet Again. I set out to write a historical novel, something I’d never done. I did research, which I loved, and began a story about a timid, turn of the century girl who lived in an ambiguous European country in a spooky house with her ancient caretakers. Her beloved older sister vanishes; an orphan seeks refuge. But my world-building was shaky–I kept making things up rather than sticking to established historical facts. After many tries and lots of frustration, I had to admit I lacked the discipline to stay within set bounds of time and place.

But by then I was too in love with Loah to let her go. She became a timid contemporary girl who lives in a spooky house with ancient caretakers. It’s her beloved mother who vanishes, her new friend Ellis who hides out with her. The birds came winging in on their own. Birds have flitted through so many of my books–a sparrow even gets its own little arc in Every Single Second–and here they settled in and became central to the story.

MH: Was there a time you thought you might give up on this book? What did you do to get through that?

TS: More than one time! I especially remember one gray January afternoon. I’d been working all morning, and had just introduced a brand new character, a snarky woman wearing a hat made of faux-giraffe-skin. What in the world was she doing there? I went for a long, desolate walk. Getting away from the desk helped me realize that I was writing loony scenes in an effort to distract readers (and myself!)  from the fact that I’d lost my story’s thread. I needed to think more deeply about who Loah was, what she needed and wanted. What was my story about, and what was it reallyabout? The woman in the giraffe hat got the axe (though who knows–she may yet turn up in a different story, where she actually belongs).

I do endless revisions for all my books, but usually one thing remains constant the–the setting, the situation, the conflict. For The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe, it was Loah. She may be my favorite of all the young heroes I’ve written.

MH: What do you like about writing for MG readers?

TS: Pretty much everything! Kids this age brim with curiosity. They love to laugh. They are vulnerable and brave and they will commit to a story like nobody’s business. Middle grade readers demand strong plots, but they’re also sophisticated enough to appreciate nuance. Their sense of justice and their hopes for the world make me want to be a better person as well as a better writer. Their eyes are so wide and their hearts so big!

MH: Was this your original title?

TS: Yes, except for all those working titles I mentioned when Loah’s story was a different book. The title was a gift that came to me during my research. It’s drawn from a quote from the nineteenth-century naturalist Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who wrote, “I think that, if required on pain of death to instantly name the most perfect thing in the universe, I should risk my fate on….”

Well, I am not going to give the rest away!

Wouldn’t filling in that blank be a fun classroom writing prompt?

MH: Tell us something fascinating you discovered while researching this book.

TS: Each year Arctic terns make a round trip migration of up to 25,000 miles, the longest recorded migration of any animal on the planet. Much of their route is over water–how do they do it without the GPS lady? Sadly, due to climate change, Arctic terns, like far too many species of animals and plants, face increasing challenges to their habitat and survival. Research made me even more aware than I’d been of Earth’s precious, fragile inter-connections. We can all help protect and preserve. The Audubon Society has wonderful suggestions for how we can become nature’s advocates, starting in our own neighborhoods.

MH: Now time for a Quick-Answer Finish-This-Sentence Round. Ready?

          TS: Sure!

MH: Recently, I’ve been very interested in learning about…

          TS:   … dogs, for my new novel.

MH: The best thing that happened to me yesterday was …

           TS:  … helping my neighbor get a vaccine appointment.

MH: I can’t help but laugh out loud when …. 

            TS: … my tiny granddaughter imitates Elsa.

MH: I’m looking forward to ….

           TS: … visiting schools and young readers for real.

MH: I really like the smell of …. 

           TS: … licorice.

MH: If I weren’t a writer, I might like to be a …

           TS: … person who delivers flowers.

Well, if Tricia Springstubb showed up on my doorstep with flowers, I would welcome her smiling face! But I am very, very happy she’s writing thoughtful, engaging, entertaining middle-grade fiction for all of us.  Thank you, Tricia!

Tell us about your favorite Tricia Springstubb book! Leave a comment below.

 

 

 

 

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Diversity in MG Lit #26 Moving and Migration April 2021

By on April 14, 2021   /   Book Lists, Diversity, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, WNDMG  
Moving is a watershed experience in a young person’s life whether it is across town or across the world. Here are six recently published or soon to be published diverse books about moving and migration.
book cover Letters from CubaOne of my favorite things about historical fiction is the window into seldom studied chapters in history. Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar is an epistolary novel about a Jewish refugee putting down roots in Cuba while working to bring the rest of her family out of Poland during the horrors of the Second World War. Twelve year old Ester narrates her new and mostly welcoming life in Cuba in letters to the sister she left behind. It is based on the author’s own family story. (Published Aug 2020. Nancy Paulson Books, PRH)
Land of Cranes by Aida Salazar is a contemporary refugee story set along the US-Mexico border. In spare and haunting verse, nine year old Betita tells the story of her family, fleeing the drug cartels of Mexico to find refuge in Los Angeles, only to fall into the hands of ICE and suffer detention and deportation. There are a few graceful line drawings to fill out the pages with the shortest poems. It’s not an easy story to read but the format encourages taking it slow and asking questions along the way. Though the narrator is on the younger end of the MG spectrum I’d recommend this one for older readers. (published Sept 2020, Scholastic Press)
book cover While I Was AwayWhen I was in in the late 70s and 80s I had a friend who, like debut author Waka T Brown, traveled to Japan to stay with grandparens regularly in order to keep his language skills and connection to his family culture fresh. I remember his complex feelings about the whole thing. Pride in his culture, love for his grandparents who seemed fiercely strict to me. But sadness at missing summer camp with his scout troop. I remember that kids teased him about his proficiency in martial arts in an era before martial arts were popular. But I also remember how impressed we all were by his fluency in Japanese and the way he drew kanji with a brush pen. I loved how While I was Away by Waka T Brown captured all the beautiful complexity of being a bicultural kid moving between Kansas and Japan and finding things to love in both places. A very promising debut.  (published Jan 2021, Quill Tree Books, HC)
The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold is another debut novel. This one centers on ten year old Gabrielle who has moved to New York from Haiti. She faces the usual struggles, living with relatives she doesn’t know well, learning English, navigating the usual schoolyard teasing. What makes this one stand out is a fantastical element. An encounter with a witch who offers Gabrielle the ability to assimilate by magic. Though she knows better she makes the bargain only to learn what it cost to lose her heritage. A sweet story with a satisfying conclusion. (published Feb 2021, Versify, HMH)
book cover UnsettledUnsettled by Reem Faruqi is a novel in verse about the experience of coming to America from Pakistan. One of the things I appreciated about this book is the role sports played in helping Nurah and her brother feel at home and gain new friendships. There are many reasons to support sports and the arts for children in schools, one of them is the role they play in helping our diverse student populations find common ground and things to strive for together. I was happy to see a glossary in the back along with a recipe for Aloo Kabab. (soon to be published May 2021,
You may have noticed that so far every protagonist I’ve reviewed has been female. I’ve been paying more attention to gender balance on the bookstore shelves at Annie Blooms in the last year. I’d been hoping for more than this one new book about a middle grade boy on a great life journey. However, Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza is the only recent book on this theme I could find. (If I’ve missed a good one please mention it in the comments.) It’s a charmer though. Ahmed was a bit a slacker in his old school in Hawaii but in Minnesota, he’s challenged in ways he wasn’t before. I especially enjoyed how the author weaved in the characters thoughts about three MG classics I’ve loved all my life–Holes, Bridge to Terebithia, and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
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Here There Be Unicorns: Creating Fantasy Worlds

By on February 17, 2021   /   Fiction, For Kids, Homeschool Resource  

Are unicorns real? People through the ages have wondered about these shy, elusive creatures. Although sightings are rare, and captures even rarer, we can’t help being curious about these magical animals with their single horn and healing magic.

Writers have long been attracted to unicorns, and many have written about these wonderous beasts. Readers, too, love these one-horned magical animals. Unicorns alight from the pages of books to fly through our imaginations.

If you’d like to invent your own fantasy world inhabited by unicorns, dragons, fairies or other magical creatures, here are a few steps to follow:

1) Research – It’s important to know what’s already been written by other authors so you’re aware of what most people already believe.

I asked Amie Borst, author of the Unicorn Tales series, to tell us a little about how she created her unicorn world:

After a trip to Scotland in 2017, my childhood love for unicorns was rekindled. In the spring of 2018, I had set out to write a series of unicorn stories. By fall of 2018, I threw myself into the unicorn universe!

I knew the unicorns needed to have powers (water, air, earth, fire) but wanted to expand upon that even further. At the time, someone had suggested Greek mythology. That suggestion was like a lightbulb moment. Unicorns are the national animal of Scotland, so it seemed appropriate that the stories be somewhat linked to Celtic mythology.

So, I quickly ordered books and got to work, reading up on Celtic Gods and Goddesses. The research was fascinating and also overwhelming. But there was so much inspiration to be had.

Tons of research later, I developed the Isle of Avonlea, the world where my unicorns reside. A system of government was put in place. The islands four kingdoms (Wintersend, Springsmorn, Summerstart, and Autumnseve) each represent the seasons. They also have their own unique export. The unicorns all work in tandem to maintain the balance on the island while also discovering their magical talents and abilities.

The Isle of Avonlea is a huge universe with many other mythical creatures. Each unicorn on Avonlea has a familiar; a fairy who is a physical manifestation of that unicorn’s powers.

Like Amie, as one of the authors for the Unicorns of the Secret Stable series, I started my journey by reading unicornhistory and lore. I’m jumping into a world already created by Whitney Sanderson, where two girls, Iris and Ruby, are Unicorn Guardians. Even though, the fantasy world for this series already exists, I read everything about unicorn history from ancient Greece, Rome, and China into the Middle Ages, when scribes jotted down tales of unicorn sightings and captures. Two books I found helpful were Behind the Legend: Unicorns by Erin Peabody and A Natural History: Dragons and Unicorns by Paul and Karin Johnsgard.

2) Set Up the Rules of the World – After you know what other writers have done, it’s time for you to get creative. You can use what you’ve learned to shape your world, or you can come up with a totally new and different reality.

Once you’ve set down rules, you’ll need to keep them consistent. For example, in the Birch Tree Chronicles series I’m cowriting with Shelley Day Jewell, only people who believe in magic and have pure hearts can see fairies. If we suddenly change that rule partway through the story and let anyone, even the villain, see fairies, readers will be confused unless we find a way to explain why it happened.

3) Decide on a Time and Location – Along with rules, you’ll need to decide on a time (past, present, future) and location (real world, pretend world, another planet). If it’s set in the real world, you need a portal or passage to get to the fantasy world.

In the Unicorns of the Secret Stable series begun by Whitney Sanderson, only two humans know of the secret place where the unicorns dwell. The two young girls, Iris and Ruby, are Unicorn Guardians of the Enchanted Realm. They have jeweled keys to unlock the gate at Magic Moon Stables. To everyone else, the land behind the fence appears to be an empty pasture. But once the girls pass through the gates, they enter a world of wildflowers and unicorns and magical lands like the Diamond Desert, Fire Mountains, and Fairy Forest. For these books, that gate is the portal to the unicorn world.

4) Invent the Creatures – If you reinvent mythical creatures that readers already know about, you’ll need to make sure readers know how your characters are different.

Most readers think of unicorns as having one horn and healing magic. They’re often depicted as gentle, kind, and shy. If your unicorns have three horns and are mean and cruel, you’ll need to present them that way in the beginning of the story.

If you make up characters that have never been seen before, it’s important to paint a strong word picture so readers can visualize your creatures. Better still, have an artist create a drawing to include with the story.

5) Create a Map – Many fantasy books have maps. This not only helps the author to keep places and names and landforms straight while writing, but maps also help orient readers.

What is equally as fascinating is how authors create the fantasy worlds these creatures inhabit. Many fantasy books contain maps of the world the author has developed. It helps to orient readers and to remind authors of the obstacles their characters might face when traveling from one place to another.

Shelley Day Jewell, who is cowriting the Birch Tree Chronicles series with me, shared these tips with me:

Creating a fantasy world starts with an idea—just like a story—and then evolves. I research to find a seed, and then the world seems to create itself. I’d read that it’s common for fairy worlds to have four seasons at the same time. From that one seed, a new realm was born.

Shelley sketched a rough map that Birch, the eleven-year-old main character, might have drawn. The first map of is of the fairy world. The second is of Birch’s neighborhood.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can make your map as simple or fancy as you’d like. Think about unusual shapes and landmarks that have meaning to your characters. In sharing about her map of the Isle of Avonlea, Amie Borst said:

Creating a map of the universe was one of the first steps before even writing the stories. Without a visualization of this world, it would have been difficult to develop the characters and their corresponding stories. So that’s when I started sketching on a sheet of paper, drawing a shamrock and dividing the island accordingly. I soon moved into a notebook and began character interviews and detailed each kingdom right down to the types of plants that grow there.

It’s been a blast writing this series and with thousands of copies sold, I think readers love it as much as I do!

I’m sure they do too, Amie! Thanks so much for sharing your secrets with us.

6) Plot Your Story – This is the most important part of making your fantasy world real. Give your characters strong desires, flaws, and goals. If readers can connect with your magical creatures, they’ll want to stay in your fantasy world until the end of the story.

Consider the Rule of Three. Often in fantasy stories, main characters need to try three times to reach their goal or escape from a villain. Each try should be harder than the last. At that point, the main character feels like giving up. There seems to be no way to succeed. But with one final burst of courage, the character makes that final try, and this time, reaches the goal.

Because this rule is used frequently in fantasy, readers come to expect it. You can keep to their expectations by using it or surprise them with something different. You’re the author so, you decide.

7) Let Your Imagination Go – The nice thing about fantasy is that you don’t need to stay in the realm of what’s possible. Let your mind wander to the impossible.

If you get stuck while writing, try asking yourself: What if? Don’t criticize any ideas as you brainstorm. This is a fantasy world, after all, so anything can happen. Just let your mind drift to any odd and unusual ideas. Jot them down as you go, and soon you’ll have many different bits and pieces that might end up being the perfect puzzle pieces for putting your world together.

And if you prefer to read stories others have created rather than creating your own world, you have plenty of unicorn stories to keep you happy, including some classics. Even if you can’t capture a unicorn for yourself, you can still capture their luck and magic in the pages of these books:

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

The Unicorns of Balinor series by Mary Stanton

Here There Be Unicorns by Jane Yolen

Series and books for middle-grade readers abound. Here are just a few:

Unicorns 101 by Cale Atkinson

The Unicorn Rescue Society by Adam Gidwitz

Beasts of Olympus: The Unicorn Emergency by Lucy Coats

Unicorn Island by Donna Galanti

Unicorns of the Secret Stable by Whitney Sanderson

Unicorn and Yeti by Heather Ayris Burnell (for young readers)

Uni the Unicorn by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (for younger readers)

 

I want to thank these authors who shared their helpful tips:

Amie Borst believes in unicorns, loves glitter, and keeps a stash of chocolate hidden away from her chocolate-stealing family. She is the multi award-winning author of several books for children including the Scarily Ever Laughter series (Cinderskella, Little Dead Riding Hood, Snow Fright), the Doomy Prepper series, and Unicorn Tales. She was a judge on Rate Your Story for several years, and a founding member of the group blog, From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors, where she contributed for nearly a decade.

Website: www.amieborst.com

Blog: www.amieborst.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/amieborst

Facebook: www.facebook.com/amieborstauthor

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/amieborst

Instagram: www.instagram.com/amieborst

Shelley Day Jewell has been a writer in her head since grade school, but didn’t start the real thing until ten years ago. She’s had short stories published in Boys’ Quest, Hopscotch, and The School Magazine. She’s been an honorable mention in the Women On Writing flash fiction contest three times and a third place winner once.

She grew up in New England surrounded by mountains, meadows, and forests, which is where many of her stories take place. She resides in the mountains of Northern New Hampshire with her family and a plethora of pets.

When not at her day job, Shelley is currently working on an MG adventure series, a YA mystery, and YA fantasy, traipsing through the woods, climbing mountains, or enjoying the spectacular sunsets will drinking coffee, reading, or knitting. You can connect with Shelley at her blog.

 

 

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