From The Mixed Up Files

In today’s Author Spotlight, Sydney Dunlap chats with author Stan Yan about his middle-grade graphic novel, THE MANY MISFORTUNES OF EUGENIA WANG. Stan is an award-winning, first generation American-born-Chinese, Denver-based writer, illustrator, caricature artist and instructor. He helped to co-found the Squid Works comic creator cooperative and was a board member of the Colorado Alliance of Illustrators. Stan is a recent co-Regional Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (RMC-SCBWI) and a co-founding professor of the online kidlit art school, the CuddlefishAcademy.com. You can find him online...

To kick off the new year, I polled the busy members of From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors to share their bookish goals for 2026, whether for reading, writing, or something else. Here’s what they said:  “I’d like to stretch my writerly wings and attempt something out of my wheelhouse, like a picture book or chapter-book series. It’s time to shake off the cobwebs in 2026!” — Melissa Roske “Instead of reading and writing more, more, more, I want to engage with books in an intentional and thoughtful way.” — Jennifer Kraar “I’d like to finish the second draft...

  Happy 2026 Mixed-Up Files readers! We have some exciting new middle-grade books coming out this January. Here are just a few on them!   Gumshoe by Brenna Thummler In the hot, gossipy town of Stony Lonesome, shy eleven-year old Willa interacts with others the only way that feels right...

Take a walk through a number of different forests across the globe and join scientists and naturalists as they discover many amazing secrets of some remarkable trees. And learn how we can all help protect these important guardians of our globe. Can You Hear the Trees Talking? Discovering the Hidden...

In today’s Author Spotlight, Sydney Dunlap chats with author Stan Yan about his middle-grade graphic novel, THE MANY MISFORTUNES OF EUGENIA WANG. Stan is an award-winning, first generation American-born-Chinese, Denver-based writer, illustrator, caricature artist and instructor. He helped to co-found the Squid Works comic creator cooperative and was a board...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and I’m not talking about the holiday season. It’s almost time for the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual youth media awards! Held on Monday, January 26th, 2026, the youth media awards include the most prestigious awards for children’s literature, including the John...

  Happy 2026 Mixed-Up Files readers! We have some exciting new middle-grade books coming out this January. Here are just a few on them!   Gumshoe by Brenna Thummler In the hot, gossipy town of Stony Lonesome, shy eleven-year old Willa interacts with others the only way that feels right...

Don’t wait for a writing community to show up. Create one. Invite, seek and you will find. Turn off your phone. Read. Read. Read. Did I say read? Live in gratitude If you are not where you want to be that’s okay. It means you know what you want. Even...