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

  • Five Questions with Kortney Nash, Assistant Editor at Godwin Books
    Five Questions with Kortney Nash, Assistant Editor at Godwin Books
    March 12, 2025 by
    Kortney Nash, an assistant editor at Godwin Books/Henry Holt, pops in at From the Mixed-Up Files Of Middle-Grade Authors to share books and advice. She has an inextinguishable love for sci-fi. She was part of the editorial team for the middle-grade graphic novel, Oasis, published February 18, 2025, which has received seven-star reviews so far, as well as a shout-out in the New York Times. As an author, her picture book, Tell Me About Juneteenth, will be released in May 2025. As a newish editor, tell us about your publishing journey. What types of books did you like to read while growing up and how does that impact the type of list you would like to build? Growing up, I read all types of books! I think the first books I fell in love with while learning to read independently were the Junie B. Jones series. I remember there being a lot of humor in those, and they really drove...
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  • Exploring the magic of ancestry and myths makes Gloria L. Huang’s stories magical
    Exploring the magic of ancestry and myths makes Gloria L. Huang’s stories magical
    January 10, 2025 by
    It might seem that creating an epic fantasy novel starring a charming character who portrays intelligence, anxiety, cultural divides from parents, close and diverse friendships, and the magic and myths of a Chinese water goddess would be an impossible task. Gloria L. Huang has done this in her delightful middle grade novel Kaya of the Ocean. This talented writer brought stories and goddess myths from early childhood, mingled with stories of a tragedy in her family’s past, to a contemporary world in ways that completely engage her readers. But she claims it wasn’t easy. This is a novel that has...
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  • As You Wish by Nashae Jones
    WNDMG – Anticipated Diverse MG Reads for January 2025
    January 8, 2025 by
    A new year often equates to new beginnings. Everyone feels refreshed and ready to tackle grand adventures and daring challenges. We cast away the failures and mistakes of the previous year in exchange for new projects, goals, and resolutions. While I don’t always make new year’s resolutions (at least not ones that I announce aloud to the world), I think my goal for 2025 is to broaden my reading horizons and be more diligent about tackling my booklists to share with others. As readers, writers, parents, and educators, we all seek to open our eyes to new worlds and opinions in...
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  • WNDMG Author Interview with Raj Tawney on his book All-Mixed Up
    WNDMG Author Interview with Raj Tawney on his book All-Mixed Up
    December 11, 2024 by
    WNDMG Author Interview I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to author Raj Tawney today. Raj’s book is titled All Mixed Up  (Paw Prints Publishing), which was published November 26, 2024. I absolutely love the description of this novel, a story about finding yourself and pride in your identity- and this sounds like a book every young reader needs! I encourage everyone to buy a copy for themselves and their classrooms and libraries. About All Mixed Up: Description taken from online: New York Times essayist, Raj Tawney, delivers a gripping story of a multi-ethnic American boy who forges...
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