Giveaways

The Great Library Giveaway Spotlight #3

By on September 29, 2012   /   Book Lists, Giveaways  

We’re not even two weeks into our library giveaway, and the books are piling up! This makes us very happy! We are thankful for the generous authors, publishers, and our own Mixed-Up Files blog contributors who have sent in books. Keep ’em coming! You can see the complete list of donated books here. For information on how you can donate a book to add to our collection, please visit our Great Library Donations page.

And to nominate a worthy public, school, or private library to receive the books, please go here.

Each of our spotlight posts will highlight ten or so of the books we will be giving away. Check out these terrific titles!


After Eli by Rebecca Rupp
Description: Some people die heroically, others accidentally. When Daniel Anderson’s older brother dies, he wonders which category Eli’s death falls into. In an attempt to understand, Danny creates a Book of the Dead — an old binder that he fills with details about dead people, how they died, and, most important, for what purpose. Time passes, and eventually Daniel is prompted to look up from his notebook of death and questions to make new friends and be swept into their imaginings.


Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger
Description: Regular kid Lenny Flem Jr. is the only one standing between his evil-genius best friend—Casper, a master of disguise and hypnosis—and world domination. It all begins when Casper spends money from his granny on a spectacularly convincing fake mustache, the Heidelberg Handlebar #7. With it he’s able rob banks, amass a vast fortune, and run for president. Is Lenny the only one who can see through his disguise? And will he be able to stop Casper from taking over the world?


Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Description: One night a plane appeared out of nowhere, the only passengers aboard: thirty-six babies. As soon as they were taken off the plane, it vanished. Now, thirteen years later, two of those children are receiving sinister messages, and they begin to investigate their past. Their quest to discover where they really came from leads them to a conspiracy that reaches from the far past to the distant future—and will take them hurtling through time.

Description: Do not let a mop sit overnight in water. Fix things before they get too big for fixing. Custodial wisdom: Mattie Breen writes it all down. She has just one week to convince Uncle Potluck to take her on as his custodial apprentice at Mitchell P. Anderson Elementary School. One week until school starts and she has to be the new girl again. But if she can be Uncle Potluck’s apprentice, she’ll have important work to do during lunch and recess. Work that will keep her safely away from the other fifth graders. But when her custodial wisdom goes all wrong, Mattie’s plan comes crashing down. And only then does she begin to see how one small, brave act can lead to a friend who is hound dog true.


Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Description: Seventh grader Georges moves into a Brooklyn apartment building and meets Safer, a twelve-year-old self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer’s first spy recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: what is a lie, and what is a game? How far is too far to go for your only friend? Like the dazzling When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy will keep readers guessing until the end.


My Mixed-Up, Berry Blue Summer by Jennifer Gennari

Description: June has a lot on her plate in this middle-grade novel debut: bullying, backlash to her lesbian mom’s gay marriage, and a baking competition are all served up for our brave heroine. Does June have what it takes to turn her mixed-up berry blue summer into something as sweet as wild berry pie?

 

Nowhere Girl by A.J. Paquette

Description: Luchi Ann only knows a few things about herself: she was born in a prison in Thailand. Her American mother was an inmate there. And now that her mother has died, Luchi must leave the only place she’s ever known and set out into the world. Neither at home as a Thai, because of her fair skin and blond hair, nor as a foreigner, because of her knowledge of Thai life and traditions, Luchi feels as though she belongs nowhere. But as she embarks on an amazing adventure-a journey spanning continents and customs, harrowing danger and exhilarating experiences-she will find the family, and the home, she’s always dreamed of.


Pie by Sarah Weeks

Description:  When Alice’s Aunt Polly passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe.  Or does she?  In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily surly cat Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice. Suddenly Alice is thrust into the center of a piestorm, with everyone in town trying to be the next pie-contest winner…including Alice’s mother and some of Alice’s friends. The whole community is going pie-crazy…and it’s up to Alice to discover the ingredients that really matter. Like family. And friendship.  And enjoying what you do.


Spunky Tells All by Ann Cameron

Description: Spunky the dog would be happy to share all of his secrets, if only his human family spoke his language. But no matter how hard he tries to talk, it’s all “yerf!” to them. Through a series of unfortunate miscommunications, his family decides that Spunky wants a friend–specifically, a cat. Spunky can’t imagine anything worse than having to share his family, especially Huey and Julian, with the snobby  Balinese Fiona. But when headstrong Fiona keeps getting into trouble and it’s up to Spunky to save her, he is astonished to find that being her protector has given his life new purpose and meaning.


The Map of Me by Tami Lewis Brown
Description: The note Momma left on the fridge says only: “I HAVE TO GO.” But go where? Twelve-year-old Margie is convinced that Momma’s gone to the Rooster Romp at the International Poultry Hall of Fame, in search of additions to her precious flock of chicken memorabilia. And it’s up to Margie to bring her home. So she commandeers her daddy’s Faithful Ford, kidnaps her nine-year-old sister, Peep, and takes to the open road. As she navigates the back roads of Kentucky with smarty-pants Peep criticizing her every move, Margie also travels along the highways and byways of her heart, mapping a course to help understand Momma—and herself.

* All descriptions from Indiebound.

 

 

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The Great Library Giveaway Spotlight #2

By on September 25, 2012   /   Book Lists, Giveaways  

We are a full week into our Great Library Giveaway.  Only three weeks left to nominate a worthy library!  Click here and follow the instructions if you have a library that you’d like to see receive our collection of middle-grade books.

We’d like to thank authors and publishers who have donated books, as well as our blog members.  Thanks to all of you.  If you’ d like to donate a title, please see our Donations page for more information.

Ten titles that have been donated are:

 

Vanished by Sheela Chari

Description: Eleven-year-old Neela dreams of being a famous musician, performing for admiring crowds on her traditional Indian stringed instrument. Her particular instrument was a gift from her grandmother—intricately carved with a mysterious-looking dragon.

When this special family heirloom vanishes from a local church, strange clues surface: a tea kettle ornamented with a familiar pointy-faced dragon, a threatening note, a connection to a famous dead musician, and even a legendary curse. The clues point all the way to India, where it seems that Neela’s instrument has a long history of vanishing and reappearing. Even if Neela does track it down, will she be able to stop it from disappearing again?

Hannah West on Millionaire’s Row by Linda Johns

Description: Hannah West is back in an all-new mystery?and this time she?s living in the lap of luxury in a mansion on Millionaire?s Row in Seattle?s Capitol Hill neighborhood. When someone starts breaking into homes and doing feng shui, Hannah is immediately intrigued. It all seems innocent at first. But when some small but valuable objects start to disappear from the neighbors? houses, Hannah can?t help wondering if there?s a connection. Could it have anything to do with the Antiques Caravan that?s in town to tape an episode of their television show?

Road Block by Yolanda Ridge

Description from Barnes and Noble: In this sequel to Trouble in the Trees, it’s the end of grade six and Bree plans to spend the summer hanging around her townhouse complex in Vancouver, climbing trees with her friends. But her parents have other plans for her; she is going to Ontario to stay with her grandma who lives on a farm “in the middle of nowhere.” A farm that is about to be destroyed by a superhighway unless Bree can stop it. Convinced that saving the land will end her grandma’s unhappiness, Bree tries to rally cousins and neighbors, but instead of finding help, Bree uncovers some shocking things about her relatives. The more Bree gets to know about her extended family and their farm, the more complicated everything becomes. If she isn’t able to save the farm, can she at least manage to save her family?

Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg, Book 1) by Geoff Rodkey

Description: It’s tough to be thirteen, especially when somebody’s trying to kill you.

Not that Egg’s life was ever easy, growing up on sweaty, pirate-infested Deadweather Island with no company except an incompetent tutor and a pair of unusually violent siblings who hate his guts.

But when Egg’s father hustles their family off on a mysterious errand to fabulously wealthy Sunrise Island, then disappears with the siblings in a freak accident, Egg finds himself a long-term guest at the mansion of the glamorous Pembroke family and their beautiful, sharp-tongued daughter Millicent. Finally, life seems perfect.

Until someone tries to throw him off a cliff.

Suddenly, Egg’s running for his life in a bewildering world of cutthroat pirates, villainous businessmen, and strange Native legends. The only people who can help him sort out the mystery of why he’s been marked for death are Millicent and a one-handed, possibly deranged cabin boy.

Horton Halfpott: Or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M’Lady Luggertuck’s Corset by Tom Angleberger

Description: Tom Angleberger’s farcical middle-grade mystery begins when M’Lady Luggertuck loosens her corset (it has never been loosened before!), thereby setting off a chain of events in which all the strict rules of Smugwick Manor are abandoned. When, as a result of “the Loosening,” the precious family heirloom, the Luggertuck Lump (quite literally a lump), goes missing, the Luggertucks look for someone to blame. Is it Horton Halfpott, the good-natured but lowly kitchen boy who can’t tell a lie? Or one of the many colorful cast members in this romp of a mystery that combines supreme silliness with a tale of a young hero with heart.

Malcolm at Midnight by W. H. Beck

Description from www.whbeck.com: When Malcolm (a smaller than average rat) arrives as the fifth grade pet at McKenna School, he revels in the attention, the Pop-Tart crumbs, and his new Comf-E-Cube. He also meets the Midnight Academy, a secret society of classroom pets that keeps the nutters (kids) out of trouble. After all, everybody knows, “a lot happens in a school when the teachers aren’t looking.”

There’s just one problem. Have you heard? Rats have a terrible reputation! So when the Academy assumes that Malcolm is a mouse, he doesn’t exactly speak up. Then the Academy’s leader, a glasses-wearing iguana named Aggy, disappears and the Academy smells a rat . . . a dirty rat fink, to be specific. Now Malcolm must use all of his ratty persistence to prove his innocence, get Aggy back under her heat lamp—and to find out if it’s possible to be a critter of valor and merit, even if you’re a rat.

Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker

Description: This is the story of THE LEAGUE OF PICKLEMAKERS

Ben: who began it all by sneaking in one night and filling homeroom with ball-pit balls.

Frank: who figured out that an official club, say a pickle-making club, could receive funding from the PTA.

Oliver: Who once convinced half of the class that his real parents had found him and he was going to live in a submarine.

Bean: Who wasn’t exactly invited, but her parents own a costume shop, which comes in handy if you want to dress up like a giant squirrel and try to scare people at the zoo.

TOGETHER, they are an unstoppable prank-pulling force, and Fountain Point Middle School will never be the same.

Reality Leak by Joni Sensel

Description: Come follow this trail of riddles lined with popcorn and drawn in invisible ink!

Pants that walk by themselves . . . Secret messages that pop up in the toaster . . . A mysterious factory that plants already-popped corn and makes invisible ink . . . or is it inc?

What is going on in South Wiggot? It all started when Mr. Keen arrived in the dusty little farm town–in a wooden crate. Strange things have been happening ever since, and Bryan Zilcher is determined to find out why, before things can go from strange to sinister.
This compelling adventure is like nothing else you’ve ever read. Part Saturday morning cartoon, part secret agent mystery–and all zany fun!

The Black Heart Crypt: A Haunted Mystery by Chris Grabenstein

Description: Halloween is near, the one day of the year when the ghostly plane is close enough to the human plane to allow mischief and mayhem. But the ghosts who have their eye on Zack aren’t thinking mischief, they are thinking murder.

In the fourth volume of Chris Grabenstein’s popular Haunted Mysteries series, Zack must yet again do battle with malevolent spirits. And with perseverance and pluck, and the assistance of three dotty aunts, he must save his town from a 200-year-old threat.

Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall

Description: Eleven-year-old Samuel was born as Master Hackler’s slave, and working the Kentucky farm is the only life he’s ever known—until one dark night in 1859, that is. With no warning, cranky old Harrison, a fellow slave, pulls Samuel from his bed and, together, they run.

The journey north seems much more frightening than Master Hackler ever was, and Samuel’s not sure what freedom means aside from running, hiding, and starving. But as they move from one refuge to the next on the Underground Railroad, Samuel uncovers the secret of his own past—and future. And old Harrison begins to see past a whole lifetime of hurt to the promise of a new life—and a poignant reunion—in Canada.

*Descriptions are from Indiebound unless otherwise noted.
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The Marble Queen – Interview with Stephanie J. Blake

By on September 24, 2012   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

For the past seven years, I’ve been celebrating the highs and lows of writing with my friend, Stephanie J. Blake. I’ll never forget the day she took us all by surprise and announced her book deal, not too long after she had announced that she was taking a break from writing to try out some other ventures. Most of us travel a bumpy road to publication and we learn to accept that the bumps are just part of the process. But Stephanie’s writing travels have been filled with twists and turns, and even an occasional cliffhanger.

At last, I am excited that we are now here to talk about Steph’s arrival at her first destination, a debut novel titled The Marble Queen, published by Amazon Children’s Publishing. The following description comes from Amazon.

Freedom Jane McKenzie isn’t good at following the rules. She doesn’t like any of the things that girls are supposed to like. She’s good at fishing, getting into trouble—and playing marbles. All she wants is to enter the marble competition at the Autumn Jubilee and show the boys in the neighborhood that she’s the best player. If she can’t be the Marble King, then she’ll be the Marble Queen. First, Freedom has to convince her mother to let her enter. But there’s a new baby on the way, Freedom’s daddy is drinking too much, her little brother is a handful, and her mother is even more difficult than usual. Freedom learns that when it comes to love, friendship, and family, sometimes there are no rules. Set in 1959, The Marble Queen is a timeless story about growing up.

Welcome to The Mixed-Up Files, Steph! Before we talk about your journey to publication, I’d like to know a little more about The Marble Queen which takes place in 1959. What kind of research did you do to learn about what life would be like for a young girl during that time?

Since 1922, hundreds of kids have competed (and still do) in the National Marbles Tournament, now held in Wildwood, New Jersey. Mibsters can win prizes and college scholarships. How cool is that?  I was inspired to write The Marble Queen after reading an article about a group of old men who were crowned Marble Kings as children. These men felt that playing marbles had changed their lives for the better. In 1948, sponsors started crowning a boy and a girl. A book idea was born. One problem, I knew virtually nothing about marble shooting. I took some liberties with the time frame in the book because I wanted to explore the gender roles of girls and women during the late fifties. I had a lot of fun teaching myself how to shoot and play Ringer, the marble game featured in the book. I’ve been collecting marbles from antique stores. I also learned a lot about the fifties. I ate SPAM. I watched tons of old commercials and television shows. I listened to Elvis.

Was the character of Freedom based on anyone you know?

The main character, Freedom, is the daughter I’ll never have, and she is a bit like me when I was a kid—independent, stubborn, strong-willed. The incident in church with the thimble is familiar. My mother used to thump us when we acted up. Also, I actually fed my little brother a worm once. We were going to name our last child Freedom Jane, but he happened to be a boy.

How did you know you were meant to be a writer?

In 6th grade, I decided I was going to become a writer. I kept a journal and read everything I could get my hands on. In high school, I had reported news and sports for my hometown newspaper. My first college major was journalism. I fancied myself the next Dianne Sawyer. I got a B.A. in English. My first creative publication credit was a poem in the college literary magazine. My father couldn’t understand why I didn’t get a teaching certificate. I told him I was going to be a writer! And I was/am. I wrote employee handbooks and policies & procedures for several years in the telecom field. I also worked on short stories and poetry. A few years into staying home with my boys, I started a cheesy romance novel, but quickly abandoned it for picture books. In 2006, I got serious about publication. Wrote a novel for middle grade boys. Came close, had an agent, but no offers.

Was there ever a moment when you thought you’d made a mistake about choosing to write?

I had just finished a new manuscript (ironically it was The Marble Queen), when I was abruptly dumped by my first agent. I worked with two other agents on another manuscript over two years, but nothing happened.

Agent after agent rejected The Marble Queen—17 in all. “Too quiet.” 13 publishers rejected it. I figured it was never going to happen for me. I gave up, went back to school, and earned a phlebotomy certificate. I was working at a hospital, drawing blood, when I got an offer on The Marble Queen.  The manuscript had been in a slush pile for a year! I quit that job two weeks later and haven’t looked back.

What has been one of the highest moments in your writing career?

The absolute best day was “The Call!” Of course, there have been some fairly awesome days since…depositing the advance check, squealing over cover art, seeing the printed ARC, seeing the pre-order go up on Amazon, and I’m starting to plan the launch party.

What has been one of the lowest moments?

Oh, the agony of trying to get published; don’t we all know it well? Honestly, some of my biggest challenges to date happened during revisions. I cried, I ranted, I worried, but it’s made the book stronger.

You strike me as a really strong-willed and tough person, a lot like your character Freedom. During the moments when the business side of writing becomes a drag, how do you stay motivated?

Well, thank you. I am unagented right now, so I’m going at this next part of the journey alone. I have not been assigned a publicist or given a big marketing plan, but I was given 25 ARC’s, and I am trying to place each one where it will get the most bang for its buck. I have created a school visit packet, a book club packet, bookmarks, bookplates, a website, etc. I have reached out to my local bookstores, libraries, and local media outlets.

I don’t write every day, but I do try to “work” an hour or so a day, whether it’s catching up on Facebook or Twitter, reading, research, etc. I need to get better at turning off the noise of the internet. I work better on deadline right now.

Your book was originally sold in June 2010 to Robin Benjamin at Marshall Cavendish. Then, in December, Marshall Cavendish was bought out by Amazon Publishing. Can you tell us what that process was like and what it means to you and The Marble Queen?

I found out along with the rest of the world that my original publisher had sold its children’s titles to Amazon. My heart fell out of my butt, if you want the truth. I was afraid that my little book would be swallowed whole by a big corporation. Turns out, the only thing that has really changed is the name of the publishing company. I don’t know what any of it means, except that the book will also be available for the Kindle, as well as hardcover and audio. I hope the book will be reviewed and makes its way into bookstores, but I don’t know, yet.

Do you have plans for your next book?

My editor is reading my option book, a contemporary middle grade with touches of magical realism. I’m keeping that one a secret for now. The main character’s name is Liberty. I am also working on a companion novel to The Marble Queen, which will be little sister Barbara’s story, set in 1971.

When can we get our hands on The Marble Queen?

Amazon is releasing all three versions on December 18, 2012: Hardcover, audio, and Kindle. They are available for pre-order. www.themarblequeen.com

To celebrate my birthday, Sept 24th, I would like to give away one Marble Queen ARC to a random commenter below.

That’s awesome! It’s your birthday and you’re offering our readers a chance at a free gift. Thanks, Steph. And thanks for dropping by for an interview. I hope you have a fantastic birthday!

So, readers, like Stephanie said, leave a comment below and I will draw a random name for an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of The Marble Queen. The winner will be announced on Sunday, September 30.

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