Posts Tagged middle-grade fiction

Interview with Molly and the Machine author Erik Jon Slangerup and Giveaway!

By on June 10, 2022   /   Articles   /   13 Comments

Welcome, Erik! 

Thanks for having me! Big fan of the Mixed-Up Files!…and all things mixed up.

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I can say that I knew you when, as we hosted you at Claire’s Day way back in 2006! I am so excited for the release of your latest, Molly and the Machine  a heart-warming novel for middle-grade readers.

Ha, yes, it’s been a minute! But that festival is such a great memory for me. I recall a moment stepping out of a tent, and seeing some kids skipping along in these fantastic, colorful costumes, one holding balloons, and another blowing bubbles, and I thought: wow, this is really magical…books are magical.

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Tell us a little bit about your journey as a writer…

Oh man, as I look back to way back when, it really does feel like a journey now, ha! For 25 years, I was lucky enough to make my living as a creative writer in the ad business—as many do—while writing some picture books on the side. It was lots of fun, and helped hone my craft, but a few years ago, I felt like time was growing short, and decided to make the side gig the main one. Shortly after that, I had a serendipitous coffee with an amazing writer friend, Bryan Hurt, who put me in touch with Elizabeth Rudnick, another amazing person, who eventually became my agent. Prior to that, I’d already been shopping my manuscript for “Molly and the Machine,” but Liz helped me beat it up, expand it, and make it much better. Revising was a very long process, because I’m a slow writer. But after that, things moved fast, and we sold it in an exclusive first look over a weekend, which I can now appreciate is pretty crazy.

 When did you start writing Molly And The Machine?

The kernel for Molly and the Machine actually began as a sketch, a little more than ten years ago—told you I was slow! I like to draw as well as write, so that’s sometimes how I initially capture an idea. (I have that sketch framed in my office now.) I grew up watching old monster movies, like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and was always terrified of being eaten by some giant creature like the cyclops. So I channeled that fear into a story about a giant robot who swallows children.

The young protagonist is Molly McQuirter, an eleven-year-old girl who is navigating the grief from her parent’s broken marriage, her dad’s broken heart, all the while dealing with an annoying young brother. Molly is inventive, creating Rube Goldberg-like chain reaction machines, and she escapes her reality by taking off on her bicycle, Pink Lightning. How did the character of Molly come to you?

What a great description. Isn’t Molly great? Like all characters, I suppose she’s an amalgamation of many people I know—my Mom, my daughters, maybe even a little of myself. I’m the oldest of four, and I think there’s always this feeling of responsibility that comes with having younger sibs. But I was really attracted to the idea of taking some of the traditional gender norms in literature, like “knight rescues damsel,” and flipping them. So, among other things, this is a story about a girl who sets out on a quest to rescue her brother. Girl saves boy.

At the heart of the story is love. Which relationship in the novel was your favorite?

I’m so thrilled that comes through—even between all the explosions and mishaps. Most of all, I love the dynamic between Molly and her beloved “Gruncle” Clovis, because for me its representative of the kinds of bargains we all strike among those we love to meet people where they are in life, and accept the gifts they’re able to offer, even when it falls short of a “model relationship,” whatever that might be. That’s life—being stuck in a room filled with weird, wonderful, incredibly flawed people, and figuring out how to love them.

Grunkle is quite a character and brought to mind Hagrid from Harry Potter. Would you say the same?

That hadn’t occurred to me! Unlike some younger debut authors, I only experienced Harry Potter as a parent, so while I love that universe, it doesn’t occupy quite the same space in my heart and mind that it does for, say, my oldest son, Dalton, who remains a huge fan to this day. But now that you mention it, I can see the similarities! Both Hagrid and Gruncle are very well-intentioned, but sort of bumbling their way through everything, aren’t they? Oh, and of course, they both have these monster motorcycles with sidecars! (Gruncle’s “Blue Thunder” is a refurbished bike from World War II—with some James-Bond-like gadgets—like Molly’s “Pink Lightning.”) And although Gruncle is far from half-giant stature, he does have a very big personality!

The setting, the Hocking Hills area of Ohio is a character in itself. Why did you choose to use this location for the background?

Yeah, those hills to play a big role in the story. Ohio is filled with all kinds of little tucked-away treasures like this. Aside from it being one of my favorite getaways, I chose Hocking Hills because I love exotic locales. This might sound strange to someone born and bred in Ohio, but for a Californian transplant like myself, the landscape here is so lush and green, it feels like another world. And that’s just the feeling I wanted to convey. (The woods also made the perfect hiding spot for a ten-story-tall robot.)

The novel is set in the 1980s, a time before many of the conveniences and distractions young readers have today. Offer a bit about your experiences in growing up during this time frame and how that transferred into your novel.

My generation was much more feral. We were pre-cellphone, pre-internet, pre-GPS. Who knows, maybe less of us survived intact, but the ones who did have good stories to tell! The environment that young people grow up in today can present a different set of challenges. It’s what drew me to the idea of an enormous robot that swallows children. On one level, the robot can be seen as a metaphor for all the ways technology envelopes us—and has the power to make us feel more connected, or more isolated. And navigating that can be really complicated. So, I hope this story invites more conversation and reflection on that.

What do you hope young readers take away from Molly And The Machine?

I hope readers come away with the sense that are real adventures out there to be had—and sometimes the outcomes might depend on how they apply their own wits and grit.

 I understand you are already working on a sequel to Molly’s first story. Can you share a bit about this new adventure?

Absolutely! Right now, I’m deep into revisions on “Molly and the Mutants,” the next book in the series. I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll share that the resolution at the end of book one inadvertently winds up causing the problem that arises in book two… and that problem takes the shape of some very large—and very hungry—amphibious creatures that require even more ingenuity on Molly’s part to save everyone in Far Flung Falls from becoming something’s lunch. (As you can see, I’m tapping into my fear of being eaten again.)

Thank you, Erik, for your time and for offering insights into your writing journey, and the creation of Molly and the Machine.

Oh, it’s my pleasure, Julie! Love chatting books!

The publisher, Simon & Schuster has graciously offered a complimentary copy for a giveaway, to one lucky winner. To enter, click here…

 

 

 

 

 

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The F.A.R.T. Diaries #1: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed!~ An Interview with Peter Bakalian

By on June 3, 2022   /   Author Interviews  

Welcome to my interview with author Peter Bakalian and his hilariously clever middle grade book The F.A.R.T. Diaries #1: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed! I’m sure the title has you as curious as it did me. So let’s jump right in and see what this diary is all about.

The Book

The F.A.R.T. DIARIES #1: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed! by Peter Bakalian

Publisher: Aladdin

Released: May 3, 2022

When a young teen discovers a top-secret parenting manual, it’s kids versus grown-ups in this kooky, illustrated middle grade thriller with nonstop, seat-of-your-pants action that will delight fans of Jarrett Lerner and Stuart Gibbs.

When a tween boy [Codename: Furious Popcorn] picks up what he thinks is a cookbook and finds a diabolical parenting manual, his world turns upside down. The Ultimate Guide to Hacking Your Kids was written by an organization called F.A.R.T. (Families Against Rotten Teens), a secret society of grizzled parents whose origins date back to antiquity.

FP is determined to get to the bottom of this, but when he begins investigating F.A.R.T., the manual goes missing, his parents deny knowing anything about any kind of book, and–maybe strangest of all–kids at school start listening to their parents and teachers. What kid would ever do that?

F.A.R.T. proves to be more than just some gassy acronym and parental rules and regulations when FP and the Only Onlys, his best friends since preschool, discover F.A.R.T.’s grand plan: a brain modem that can turn kids into well-behaved zombies!

This wacky crew has no choice but to find out who’s behind the nefarious organization and save young people the world over from total F.A.R.T. domination!

“A laugh out loud outrageous adventure with likeable characters and an engaging storyline. I loved the obstacles, the fast pace, and the unique skill set each character brought to the group.”   –  Meagan Marie, Goodreads 

Interview🎙️

Hi Peter! We are thrilled you’ve stopped by the Mixed-Up Files to share this fun middle grade book. Let’s start with the obvious – Humor. It’s a huge element throughout the story. And it’s not just humor, but some quirky and witty humor such as the characters having coded names. How did you come up with such an ingenious idea and title?

Thank you for the word “ingenious.” I’ve heard other adjectives!

Haha! I’m sure.

F.A.R.T. (Families Against Rotten Teens) is about a secret organization of frustrated parents whose mission is to keep kids confused and obedient. It’s been around since ancient times. All parents know about it. F.A.R.T. publishes a parenting manual that’s chock full of dirty tricks, advertisements for insane products and services. No kid is ever supposed to see it, until one does.

The idea came about when I was young parent and I heard a commercial for a manual that promised a perfectly obedient child within 30 minutes or less. I was ready to empty my savings account for it until I realized that it would become useless once my son caught on to the 30 minute secret. Anyway, I realized that this 30 minute manual was hype, but it got me thinking – what if a manual like that really existed and a kid found it?.

Surely this will get MGers to think about it’s possibility.

As for the book title, I tried a lot of acronyms but F.A.R.T. was the silliest so it won. The original title of the book was HOW TO RAISE YOUR ROTTEN KIDS UNTIL THEY’RE READY FOR JAIL.  A little harsh, yes? Anyway, the folks at Aladdin suggested putting F.A.R.T. on the cover and I’m glad they did.

I loved the silly! I’m sure young readers will, too.

If a secretly coded description of F.A.R.T. (Families Against Rotten Teens) was found on the back of a cereal box, what would a middle grade reader see? Same middle grader reader’s parents/guardians see?

Now, THAT’S ingenious.

😊 Aw . . . thank you.

Hmm, I think you could print anything you wanted under the words NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION. No kid would ever read it. Does anyone? If they did they’d probably never buy the cereal. I was going to suggest something diabolical with Alpha-Bits cereal, but they discontinued making it last year, which means that all our domestic cereals are illiterate.

Haha! Good point.

I’m afraid I’ll have to kick this problem over to the folks in F.A.R.T. RESEARCH. Incidentally, cereal plays a pivotal role in the second book of this trilogy.

Visuals👓

How did the illustrations influence the text? Did you change anything once the illustrations were added?

The illustrations and text were conceived simultaneously. Basically, I’d have an idea like a camera that prevented kids from pulling a photobomb – you know, making a weird face just as you took their picture. I wrote the copy quite seriously even though it was ridiculous (e.g.: The camera would shoot 40 gallons of compressed water at the kid if it sensed an incoming photobomb.).

See, that is genius and super funny!

At the same time, I’d Photoshop stock images to support this idea, as if it were an article from Consumer Reports.  I’ve spent a number of years producing and writing animation where text and images were conceived hand in hand, so I tend to think that way.

The book also contains interactive graphics on some pages. Were those after-thoughts or did you write scenes on purpose to include them?

At its heart, F.A.R.T. is a mystery story, so the graphics included clues and details that were essential. They were always meant to be there. Personally, I love when a book rewards me with seemingly hidden details. When I was a kid, Mad Magazine would include tiny sketches of guys having a fist fight or a duel in the page margins. I’d think I was the only one who saw it, but of course everyone did.

(PS: Readers – the graphics are very cool and interactive. I agree with Peter. They were essential.)

Excerpt📖

Let’s break in for a moment to share a teeny excerpt from F.A.R.T. (Families Against Rotten Teens).

Diary 1: Ride at Your Own Risk DIARY 1 RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK
The guys who run amusement parks won’t tell you this, but all the really good rides have a secret exit just before you get on them. It’s true. They call it a “Chicken Hatch,” and it’s for people who lose their nerve at the last minute.

Me, I think it’s wrong to call people “chicken” because they don’t want to vompedo their lunch on some roller coaster. That’s why I’m offering you a chance to exit this diary right now.

I’m serious. I’ve kept this journal in case something should happen to me, but the detours and trapdoors that follow could easily scramble your eggs. But before you leave, consider this: F.A.R.T. wants you to take this exit.

Yes, you heard that right—F.A.R.T. They want you to laugh at their ridiculous name and go back to eating your cornflakes because you’re not supposed to know anything about them. Not you or your friends or any kids anywhere.

Now, if you’re still with me, ask yourself this question:
ARE YOUR PARENTS SUDDENLY SMARTER?
I mean a lot smarter. Do they always find your hiding places for junk food, like the Pringles can you disguised as a fire extinguisher or the cake frosting you use for toothpaste? Have they recently discovered that you’ve rigged the thermometer in the medicine chest to read 10,000 degrees when you want a sick day, or put Meow Mix on your veggies so your cat will eat them?

How about you? Has a change come over you at school? Do you high-five your teacher when she pulls a pop quiz, remind substitute teachers that homework is due, or tell fellow students, You only hurt yourself when you forge a bathroom pass? Sound familiar?

And riddle yourself this: When your parents go to a PTO meeting, where do they really go? IS there a PTO? Have you ever been to a meeting? Of course not.

Like you, I ignored these warning signs until I stumbled onto the truth. It was a bizarre truth that made sense of it all, but none of my so-called friends could believe it. If you must know, they laughed at me. The fools!

What I needed were people who could grasp the incredible. People I could trust. And I needed them now.

That was when I called THE ONLY ONLYS.

I loved the ONLY ONLYS!

Story Charm✨

All humor aside, this story challenges the relationship between parent and child. What collective message and/or lesson do you hope readers of all ages will take away after reading F.A.R.T.? (Is it too obvious that I like typing your title?)

I used to think: Raising a kid will be easy because I was a kid, once.  Then, this kid enters your life and you realize that all the stuff that worked on you as kid doesn’t work because YOUR KID ISN’T YOU.  Naturally, you look for answers from other parents and manuals and a boatload of experts – it’s a whole industry – and again you discover that nothing works quite the way you thought it would. The F.A.R.T. Manual is a parody of all it. The message, I guess, is that you’re raising an individual, not a Mini-Me.

BTW, I like typing F.A.R.T., too. I have it on speed type so it pops up whenever I type an “f” followed by a period. Unfortunately, I forget to turn this feature off and it has sneaked into some of my business correspondence with troubling consequences.

Too, funny! *Note: to clarify, while writing up the interview I shared with Peter how much I liked writing F.A.R.T.

Why will MG readers relate to the group of young characters you’ve created?

Well, I hope they do. Our four characters’ initial bond was that they are all only children – hence they call themselves the Only Onlys – but that becomes less important.  I think what makes them relatable is that they fuss and fight among themselves, but they like each other very much. That was important to me. We all have relationships like that. I’ve also noticed that comedy ensembles – even those that beat each other up for most of the story – are always loyal to each other in the end, and that seems essential to the genre.

Author Insights👀

What was the most challenging part of writing this story? Easiest?

I’m not confident enough to start writing and see where it takes me. I believe Stephen King does that but – surprise! – I’m not Stephen King. Or Burger King. I began as a television writer.  No producer wants to hear that you wrote yourself into a corner when the show starts shooting tomorrow, so I outline and outline. The easiest part – or the more enjoyable part – is the dialogue I get to write for my characters.

And IMHO – because I’ve read the book – the dialog is fantastic! I really enjoyed that part.

What do you see as the greatest challenge for middle grade literature today?

More people are fighting for the real estate between kids’ ears than ever before, so an author must be a willing marketer and understand new information channels.  The challenge is to do this responsibly.  I’m climbing that learning curve right now and it’s fascinating.

Writer’s Corner📑

Fun fact: What does your creative/writing space look like?

I love being surrounded by everything I could possibly need, like a surgeon. You can see it at Peterbakalian.com for free! My desk fits perfectly in an alcove because I purchased a beautiful dining room table at an estate sale and sawed off the ends to make it fit. Ah, the things we do for art.

From your vast experience, what are the three top traits an aspiring writer should focus on honing?

I’m a first time novelist, so “vast” may not apply. In any case, it reminds me of the joke: There are four ingredients to writing a successful novel, but nobody knows what they are.  But since you asked, people often say “Write what you know,” but I’d suggest writing what you like. You’ll research it for pleasure and your enthusiasm may rub off on the reader.  Second, protect your writing time from interruptions. You’ll win no popularity contests, but it’s essential. Lastly, there are A LOT of books on how to write by some very successful writers. I enjoyed them all, especially learning that they wrestle with the same doubts that we all do. They tend to say the same things about conflict, action, etc, but they may save you from rookie mistakes that will cost you time, which is the most precious thing you have.

What next creative adventure might be on the horizon for you?

There are two more books in the F.A.R.T. trilogy, so that’s my horizon for now. I am truly grateful for the opportunity.

That’s great! I’m sure readers will be anxiously waiting for those books.

About the Author

Peter Bakalian

After starting as an intern at Walt Disney Studios, Peter Bakalian joined the production team for Rankin/Bass’s ThunderCats and later earned Emmy recognition for his writing on Curious George. He was also nominated along with Suzanne Collins for Best Animated Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America for the Fox musical special Santa, Baby! which he also produced. His work has also appeared on the BBC series Big & Small and Scholastic’s Clifford’s Puppy Days. F.A.R.T. is his first novel. He lives in Bradley Beach, New Jersey. You can find Peter on his Website & on LinkedIn.

 

Thank you for sharing yourself and your work with our readers and writers. All the best to you!

Feel free to share your thoughts with Peter about his book. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you! And if you’d like to check out another illustrated middle grade book, hop over to this Link!

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Great Friendships in Middle Great Books

By on May 20, 2022   /   Articles, Book Lists  

Honey and Me, my debut novel out Oct 18th with Scholastic Press, which follows the highs and lows of 6th grade with best friends Milla and Honey. Cover art by Shamar Knight-Justice.

In honor of my debut novel Honey and Me—a coming-of-age story about the friendship and escapades of two eleven-year-old girls—being available for preorder, I thought I would do a post about the central theme of friendship in middle grade novels. Although main character Milla has her insecurities and must find the courage to step out of her best friend Honey’s shadow, I deliberately wanted to write about a true friendship, supportive rather than undermining, with give and take, each friend filling in in the spaces where the other needs help.

I adore the friendship between Isaac and Marco in Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros

For this reason, I just absolutely loved Falling Short, the new book by Pura Belpré-award-winning author Ernesto Cisneros. Isaac and Marco go through sixth grade going to all kinds of lengths to try to help each other when one has a strength and the other a weakness. The two boys continuously respect each other despite their differences, and I can’t think of another book where the friendship between two boys appears in quite this way (please add in the comments any that you know of!) Everyone should be blessed with a friend like Isaac to Marco, and Marco to Isaac.

Alexa & Katie on Netflix, my favorite show about a friendship

 

A special shout-out to the Netflix show Alexa & Katie for one of the most beautiful of female friendships I’ve ever seen depicted. While this is obviously not a middle grade novel, I think it’s noteworthy in this context. I watched it with my seven-year-old (who was watching it a second time), my sixteen-year-old loved it too, and although it’s about two girls starting high school (while one is just finishing a course of chemo for leukemia,) I’d say it’s perfectly pitched toward a middle grade audience. If you haven’t already, I urge you to watch it for its humor, poignancy, spot-on cast, fabulous acting, sharp dialogue, and that perfect combination of every episode making me both laugh out loud as well as surreptitiously wipe tears from my eyes.

 

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin, a wonderful book about finding yourself and friendship

Another book that I adore for the core friendship at its heart is The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin, about Pacy, known as Grace at school, who is looking for her talent, her identity and a best friend. The essence of the Chinese Year of the Dog, which Pacy’s mother tells her is a year for friendship, comes true when Melody arrives and the two girls develop an instant bond. Especially moving and illuminating is this joint interview of Newbery Honor-winning author/illustrator Grace Lin and Alvina Ling, VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, about how this book is actually based on their own friendship as children!  Or this joint podcast interview with them about the publishing industry, or even better their own podcast Book Friends Forever.

 

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE FRIENDSHIPS?

I put a call-out to my fellow MUF contributors as well as to the SCBWI-British Isles Facebook group for more suggestions of great, not-so-great, favorite or otherwise memorable friendships in MG literature—whether something that you read as a child and stuck with you, or something you’ve read more recently— and got some great recommendations.

Props to YA author Matt Killeen for immediately suggesting “Anne Shirley and Diana… bosom friends.” Although I used “Judy Blume meets All-of-A-Kind Family” to pitch Honey and Me, I think the friendship between Anne and Diana in Anne of Green Gables was definitely an inspiration for my own characters Milla and Honey. And actually, when I think about it, it really does all come back to Anne and Diana, who are eleven when they first meet, as the prototype for middle grade friendships in modern literature. (Again, please add in the comments if there’s something older I’m not thinking of.)

“When I See Blue by Lily Bailey has a gorgeous friendship in it. Hannah Gold’s books have beautiful animal-human friendships of course! And Phil Earles’s When the Sky Falls has an animal-boy friendship too and themes of being understood my someone/thing. The Super-Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates has a really authentic friendship trio in it and it’s worth checking out Jenny Pearson’s other books as she really gets child friendships right (being a teacher helps).” Anna Gamble

MUF bloggers write:

“I like Wish by Barbara O’Connor, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson, and as a kid I loved the loyalty and friendship between Sara Crewe and Ermengarde St. John in A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.” Laurie J. Edwards

“Soup by Robert Newton Peck was my favorite friendship book growing up. Its about the hilarious adventures during the 1930s of Robert and Soup and it’s based on the author’s own childhood. I also loved All-of-a-Kind Family which explores friendship and sisterhood. Most recently feels almost impossible to choose. So many! But I must include a shout to Simon & Schuster’s MIX imprint (Aladdin Books) which is dedicated to books about tween female friendship. I’ve had the honor of writing three books for the imprint including, Queen of Likes, The Hot List and Things Are Gonna Get Ugly.” Hillary Homzie

The Hot List, by Hillary Homzie, about the “de-intensification of a friendship”

I also want to note that sometimes friendships are unstable, toxic, or unhealthy, and unfortunately this is something that most people encounter at some point in their life, not to mention being the root cause of so much middle school emotional injury. Hillary Homzie’s The Hot List is about what she describes as the “de-intensification of a friendship” which I think is an invaluable topic for an MG book.

 


Many people suggested New Kid by Jerry Kraft, which was on my list too.
“I was thinking about your Q[uestion] about MG books and friendship, and how essential friendship is at that age and often how complicated those relationships are. One more recent MG book I really enjoyed was the graphic novel NEW KID by Jerry Craft, about a 7th grade boy named Jordan who starts at a new school where he is one of the few kids of color in his grade. Jordan wants to keep his old friends from his neighborhood and make new ones at his school, but he often feels like he doesn’t really fit in anywhere. This is a smart, engaging, funny and moving #middlegradenovel I think kids really relate to.” Andrea Pyros

Agreed! And I particularly love that in its sequel, Class Act, we also get the POV of some of Jordan’s friends.

THE MAGIC INGREDIENT

I think that one could argue that friendship is both essential in MG literature, and also that little bit of magic ingredient that makes it stick with you long after you are a child, becoming a part of the make up of your own coming of age. Here are some great lists of middle grade books about friendship that have already been compiled. Please add your own favorites, from childhood or more recently, in the comments!

15 Great Middle Grade Books About Friendship

4 of the Best Friendships in Middle Grade Books

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/kids/6-awesome-middle-grade-friendship-novels/

 

50 Must-Read Middle Grade Friendship Stories

12 Books About Friendship for Middle Grade Readers

Better Together: 10 of the Best Friendships in Middle Grade Lit

 

Honey and Me, out with Scholastic Press on October 18th, 2022, and available for preorder now. Visit me at meiradrazin.com.

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