We Need Diverse Middle Grade

Welcome to the home page for our series We Need Diverse Middle Grade (WNDMG), where we archive all our WNDMG posts.

Our mission: We celebrate and promote diversity in middle-grade books, and we examine the issues preventing better equity and inclusion on the middle-grade bookshelf. We intend to amplify and honor all diverse voices.

We Need Diverse Middle Grade posts once a month, drawing on work from our own team of contributors as well as from guest authors, editors, agents, teachers, librarians, and booksellers. You can count on our presence here on Mixed-Up Files to shine a light on the stories, work, and truth of all those who are still underrepresented in this field. You’ll be able to recognize our monthly posts by seeing our WNDMG logo: the diverse world we envision. Our artwork is by contributor Aixa Perez-Prado.

Guest Posts for We Need Diverse Middle Grade

If you’re interested in being considered for a guest post slot on WNDMG, please feel free to email: mufcommunications@gmail.com. Please Note: We do not pay for guest blog posts.

Latest from the Blog

  • Through the Eyes of Gen Z
    Through the Eyes of Gen Z
    March 11, 2026 by
    When we embark upon our journey as storytellers, we become part of the writing community at large. Each of us seeks to build relationships with not only our audiences, but also long to engage with other creatives across multiple mediums. As middle-grade authors, it is so important for us to stay connected with our readers and understand life through their eyes. People make sense of the world around them based on their own lived experiences, but if I have learned anything from my kids, it’s that the younger generation has just as much to offer us as we have to offer them. That fact is the focus of this WNDMG post. This month’s interview is with the co-founders of ProjectGenZWrites: Ruby Seidner and Boston Rohan. ProjectGenZWrites is a youth-led, nonprofit organization that offers free videos, tools, and resources for the next generation of creatives across multiple mediums. I had the pleasure of meeting these trailblazers several years ago when I...
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  • WNDMG Author Interview: Charlotte Watson Sherman
    WNDMG Author Interview: Charlotte Watson Sherman
    February 11, 2026 by
    Let’s give a warm welcome to Charlotte Watson Sherman, a former librarian and author of children’s picture and middle-grade books. She’s going to dish about her latest works and share her best librarian recommendations for middle-grade readers to enjoy during Black History Month and beyond. So, settle in and enjoy! Tell me about This Opening Sky. How did the idea for the book come about? This Opening Sky is a middle-grade verse novel about two 12-year-old girls – one Black, one White – coping with the end of the Civil War. Aurelia, the daughter of a plantation owner, has lost...
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  • WNDMG Author Interview: Khushboo Patel on her Verse Novel ALL THAT CHANDNI KNOWS
    WNDMG Author Interview: Khushboo Patel on her Verse Novel ALL THAT CHANDNI KNOWS
    December 10, 2025 by
      Author Interview – Khushboo Patel I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to author Khushboo Patel today. Khushboo is a debut author of a gorgeous new middle grade novel in verse as well as a couple picture books, and I had the honor of reading (and blurbing) her gorgeous MG book! Her title is called “All That Chandni Knows” which launches from G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Kids on March 31, 2026. I absolutely loved every bit of this book— the verse, the plot, the character, the voice. I find myself always searching for...
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  • How to Free a Jinn book cover
    DOUBLE DOSE of WNDMG!!! Author Interviews with Raidah Shah Idil and Yxavel Magna Dino!
    November 12, 2025 by
    November’s typically filled with so much to do! Some households just finished celebrating Dia de Los Muertos, while others are saluting the veterans in their lives. Others are already planning Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, or any other -Givings Day dinners! Yet those in the bookish community simply wait for all the incredible new releases that embrace the family spirit. And what better way to celebrate family this month than with a double dose of WNDMG book releases! We recognize that publishing is an incredibly difficult pursuit and that journey can be even harder for international authors. Yet, despite all odds, I have...
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