Posts Tagged Book collections

Short Story Collections Selection: 5 Must-Read MG Anthologies

Book turning pages

Winter break can be a great time to dive deep into a novel, but the busyness of the season (and maybe a new gift or two!) can also lend itself to shorter reading experiences.

What better way to sample multiple author offerings than with a collection of stories or essays? Collections like the incredible ones below can also provide a chance to discover a new favorite writer or see an established author branch out in a new genre or style.

Either way, these collections will be sure to entertain and enrich – no matter the time of the year or the amount of time to read.

A Little Bit Super: With Small Powers Come Big Problems Edited by Leah Henderson and Gary D. Schmidt

[Cover of A LITTLE BIT SUPER.]

Everyone knows that superheroes are supposed to have awesome powers like strength or invisibility or flight. But what happens when you’re a mostly regular kid . . . who’s just a little bit super?

In these hilarious and thought-provoking stories from today’s top middle grade authors, fourteen young people are each coping with a recently discovered minor superpower.

The Haunted States of America Edited by SCBWI

[Cover of THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA.]

Every state has an urban legend that evokes fear and curiosity in equal parts, and this collection chronicles all of these logic-defying horrors… strap in for this spooky cross country tour, but be extra careful not to let any of these terrors follow you home.

You Are Here: Connecting Flights Edited by Ellen Oh

[Cover of YOU ARE HERE.]

An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport.

As their disrupted journeys crisscross and collide, they encounter fellow travelers–some helpful, some hostile–as they discover the challenges of friendship, the power of courage, the importance of the right word at the right time, and the unexpected significance of a blue Stratocaster electric guitar.

Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood Edited by Kwame Mbalia

[Cover of BLACK BOY JOY.]

Black boy joy is…

Picking out a fresh first-day-of-school outfit.

Saving the universe in an epic intergalactic race.

Finding your voice–and your rhymes–during tough times.

Flying on your skateboard like nobody’s watching.

And more! From seventeen acclaimed Black male and non-binary authors comes a vibrant collection of stories, comics, and poems about the power of joy and the wonders of Black boyhood.

Hope Wins: A Collection of Inspiring Stories for Young Readers Edited by Rose Brock

[Cover of HOPE WINS.]

In a collection of personal stories and essays, award-winning and bestselling artists from Matt de la Peña and Veera Hiranandani to Max Brallier and R.L. Stine write about how hope always wins, even in the darkest of times.

From a family restaurant to a hot-dog shaped car, from an empty road on a moonlight night to a classroom holiday celebration, this anthology of personal stories from award-winning and bestselling authors, shows that hope can live everywhere, even–or especially–during the darkest of times.

No matter what happens: Hope wins.

These short stories and essays are the perfect fit for busy times and busier readers – and taking a moment to enjoy them will be sure to improve any season.

 

 

 

Bookshelves

I wasn’t a very good reader as a kid. I struggled. But I loved books. The pages, the pictures, the covers, the smells all enticed the young me even as the words eluded me. I loved going to the library and walking down the aisles of shelves looking at the book spines and the volumes on display.

Eventually, I got the reading help I needed and those shelves became even more magical. I still visit the library and wander up and down the aisles looking at the books on the shelves. I still get the side-eye from librarians when they ask me if I need help. I also get the side-eye from kids in the children’s book section when I scour the bookshelves like an interloper in their world.

The Shelves

Books are magical things.

Bookshelves house that magic. Bookshelves arrange and display the magic, keeping it safe and accessible.

My son recently bought a house and moved out. I took over his old room as my office. My first real office! After the remodeling and painting, I moved in. Desk. Chairs. Rug. Bookshelves!

I can proudly say that I was able to move my book collection from the myriad of shelf spaces around the house to my new bookshelf setup. My wife even found an awesome little companion bookshelf at a garage sale to showcase the special books in my book collection.

Shelves of Power

All this shelf work got me thinking about how the books on our bookshelves say volumes about who we are as readers, writers, and human beings. 

What can our bookshelves tell us about ourselves? Do the contents reflect our personality? Our likes?

How about our goals and dreams?

Pause for a moment and look at the individual books on your bookshelf. Do they bring up a memory of a time or place? Did they teach you something new or how to do something better? 

I have books which have entertained me for years—books I’ve read half a dozen times and discovered something new each time. There are books on the shelf which remind me of family. Some titles I remember being on the limited bookshelf in the house where I grew up. There are the World Book encyclopedias and their companion yearbooks, circa 1971 thru 1987, my parents purchased for us six kids at a great financial sacrifice.

On my bookshelf, there are the books I read to my kids while they sat on my back on the bedroom floor and listened before falling asleep. There’s the complete hardback set of Harry Potter books, with the Goblet of Fire to Deathly Hallows books bought in the pre-dawn hours of their release days. Sports books, coaching books, writing books, classics, science texts, mentor texts, my growing Native American author section, etc. A seemingly random assortment of books in a myriad of subject matter, but books which reflect who I am and/or who I want to be.

  • Memories.
  • History.
  • Knowledge.

A whole life represented. A collection of hopes and dreams. Some of the threads woven into the fabric that has become my middle-grade-leaning writing voice. Each book on the shelf traveling in orbit through my personal universe.

How about your bookshelves?  Do they represent more of who you are or who you want to be? Or a nice mixture of both?

Library Shelves

Take a stroll down the aisle of your local library.

Can you get a picture of who your community is by the books shelved there? Is the personality of the community reflected in the titles on the shelves? Can you get a sense of place by walking the shelves of your local library?

If you have the good fortune to live near or have access to a college or university, have you ever visited its libraries?

From my experiences, I can honestly say they are marvelous places. The main library, the college-specific libraries, and the technical libraries, all work in concert to represent the institution and its mission. Liberal arts, engineering, medicine, agriculture, law, whatever the main focus of the institution is, it’s reflected on the shelves of its libraries.  

Furniture?

To lit-minded folks like us, a bookshelf is more than a mere piece of furniture. Much more.

Bookshelves house our life maps. They act as our compass for when we get lost. They’re our windows to the imagination. They contain magical doors to possibility and potential, knowledge and hope. As I sit here and look a the bookshelf I’ve put together, I’m reminded of the impact those books sitting on those shelves have on the formation of me as a human being. The sofa doesn’t do that. The rocking chair doesn’t. The end table is just an end table. A bookshelf just a piece of furniture? No way!

Please tell us about your favorite bookshelf. Share a photo or share what that particular bookshelf means to you. You can leave your bookshelf love in the comments below or on Twitter. Let’s have some fun with this and tweet your message to @mixedupfiles and hashtag it with #MUFbookshelf.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Read. Write. Repeat.