Book Lists!

June is finally here. School is out (or almost out), and everyone is ready for a long, relaxing summer. This past year has got me thinking about summers when I was kid. Back then, summer vacation consisted of baseball games in the pasture, slip and slides, camping out in the back yard, and traveling only as far as your bike could take you in the hours between breakfast and dinner. A slow and easy summer like that meant two things – you hung out with the same small group of people day in and day out and you spent a lot of time making up games to keep you entertained. One of the games we played when the days got too long and we got too bored was Desert Island. Desert Island  consisted of naming your Top Five – the five songs, albums, movies, tv shows, and books (of course) that you’d want to have if you were stranded on...

Hello Mixed-Up Filers! We are in for a treat today!  Today we have Supriya Kelkar, author of That Thing About Bollywood which is out now from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers  JR: Hi Supriya, and welcome to Mixed-Up Files! SK: Thank you! It is so great to be back!...

As Ramadan ends, Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr. Because these religious events are based on the sighting of the crescent moon, their dates change from year to year. The crescent moon usually appears one night after the new moon, which is when the moon is completely blacked out....

As a mother, nothing comes close to my primitive urge as a mom to protect my child. So, I thought it ironic to visit a playground in North Carolina when my son was young and see a warning sign of alligators nearby. This sign hit me with the realization that...

This May there are lots of great new middle-grade releases to read. Here are a few coming out this month. Let us know which ones you’re excited to read in the comments! Metropolis Grove by Drew Brockington The big city is full of Superman sightings, but here in Metropolis Grove?...

The creative mind is a wonderful and mysterious thing. Serendipity. Déjà vu. That sweet feeling when one thing enters the equation and the answer snaps into place like pieces of a puzzle. The workings of the human brain are sublime. Humans have worked for centuries to define the nuts and...

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. One of my favorite things about historical fiction is the window into seldom studied chapters...