From The Mixed Up Files

The holidays are here! One of the best things to do when it’s chilly outside is to curl up under a warm blanket with some hot cocoa and read a book! Here are some fun seasonal MG reads for all readers, whether they enjoy action, adventure, fantasy, love, mystery, or cozy!   Let It Glow by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy When Aviva Davis and Holly Martin meet at the holiday pageant tryouts for their local senior’s center, they think they must be seeing double. While they both knew they were adopted, they had no...

Coming up on November 14, 2024 is the 8th annual LibraryCon Live!  The free event, hosted by Library Journal and School Library Journal, is a day-long celebration of fandom, spotlighting genre fiction for adults and teens. Anyone can sign up to attend this live virtual day. Panels include: Comics & Manga Programming in Schools and Libraries The School/Life Balance So, You’ve Established Your Manga Section. Now What? Supernatural YA  Closing Keynote with David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson, Big Jim and the White Boy (Ten Speed: Penguin Random House) Find out more and register here....

The holidays are here! One of the best things to do when it’s chilly outside is to curl up under a warm blanket with some hot cocoa and read a book! Here are some fun seasonal MG reads for all readers, whether they enjoy action, adventure, fantasy, love, mystery, or...

From ancient ciphers to modern-day digital encryption techniques, this month’s book list explores the science, technology, engineering, and math that make code-making (and code-breaking) possible.         The Enigma Girls written by Candace Fleming It all began with a letter in an unmarked envelope received by ten teenage...

I had the pleasure of picking the brain of Suma Subramaniam, a seasoned author (and long time member of the Mixed-Up Files team), to discuss the release of her latest chapter book: V. MALAR – GREATEST HOST OF ALL TIME! Suma took time from her busy schedule to indulge my...

The holidays are a busy time of the year, and we often forget to do the things that we love the most–like reading. Here are some fun ways to promote reading during these busy weeks. You can send these suggestions home with your students or do this with your own...

Exciting new books coming out this month for the middle-grade readers on your holiday gift list. The titles below include new additions to several New York Times Bestselling series, and two war-time historical fiction titles. Although intended for younger readers, A Sea of Gold, the latest by the amazing author/illustrator...

Writing prompts, whether in a classroom or workshop setting, can be hit or miss–especially if the prompt is too general. If you ask students to choose an object in the classroom, for instance, half of them might focus on the ancient clock on the wall and how slowly the second...