The kidlit community of readers, writers, bloggers, teachers and librarians is terrific for supporting new voices. In the spirit of that, I’ve put together a list of all the 2011 debut middle grade books I could find. I know I've missed some, so If you know of any others, please post in the comments and I’ll add to the list. I like the thought that one of these might be an author to add to a favorites list in the future.
Many thanks to book blogger, the Story Siren http://www.thestorysiren.com/ and her terrific list of YA and MG debuts, which helped me get a start on this, and to @chorkie from Twitter for tipping me off to that list. Here’s my question for Project Mayhem readers-What makes you pick up a book by an unknown (to you) author?
A DOG’S WAY HOME by Bobbie Pyron
ALICE-MIRANDA AT SCHOOL by Jacqueline Harvey
ALIENS ON VACATION by Clete Smith
CALLI BE GOLD by Michele Weber Hurwitz
CASPER CANDLEWACKS IN DEATH BY PIGEON! by Ivan Brett
CHARLIE JOE JACKSON’S GUIDE TO NOT READING by Tommy Greenwald
CINDERELLA SMITH by Stephanie Barden
COLD CASE by Julie Pratt Leonard
DESPERATE MEASURES by Laura Summers
DOGSLED DREAMS by Terry Lynn Johnson
FETCHING by Kiera Stewart
FLIRT CLUB by Cathleen Daly Maurissa
FLUTTER by Erin E. Moulton
HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY by Crystal Allen
HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES by Meg Haston
INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai
JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW by Nathan Bransford
JUNIPER BERRY by M.P. Kozlowsky
KAT, INCORRIGIBLE by Stephanie Burgis
LATASHA AND THE LITTLE RED TORNADO by Michael Scotto
MY UN-FAIRY TALE LIFE by Anna Staniszewski
PETER NIMBLE AND HIS FANTASTIC EYES, Jonathan Auxier
POSSUM SUMMER by Jen K Blom
RETURN TO EXILE by E.J. Patten
SPARROW ROAD by Shelia O’Conner
STIR IT UP by Ramin Ganesram
THE BLOOMSWELL DIARIES by Louis L. Buitendag
THE DRAGON OF CRIPPLE CREEK by Troy Howell
THE EMERALD ATLAS by John Stephens
THE FOURTH STALL by Chris Rylander
THE GREAT WALL OF LUCY WU by Wendy Wan-Long
THE MAP OF ME by Tami Lewis Brown
THE PRINCESS CURSE by Merrie Haskell
THE RENDERING by Joel Naftali
THE ROTTEN ADVENTURES OF ZACHARY RUTHLESS by Allan Woodrow
THE UNDERTAKERS by Ty Drago
THE WIZARD OF DARK STREET by Shawn Thomas Odyssey
VANISHED by Sheela Chari
VILLAIN SCHOOL by Stephanie Sanders
WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE by Tess Hilmo
~ Dee Garretson
Many thanks to book blogger, the Story Siren http://www.thestorysiren.com/ and her terrific list of YA and MG debuts, which helped me get a start on this, and to @chorkie from Twitter for tipping me off to that list. Here’s my question for Project Mayhem readers-What makes you pick up a book by an unknown (to you) author?
A DOG’S WAY HOME by Bobbie Pyron
ALICE-MIRANDA AT SCHOOL by Jacqueline Harvey
ALIENS ON VACATION by Clete Smith
CALLI BE GOLD by Michele Weber Hurwitz
CASPER CANDLEWACKS IN DEATH BY PIGEON! by Ivan Brett
CHARLIE JOE JACKSON’S GUIDE TO NOT READING by Tommy Greenwald
CINDERELLA SMITH by Stephanie Barden
COLD CASE by Julie Pratt Leonard
DESPERATE MEASURES by Laura Summers
DOGSLED DREAMS by Terry Lynn Johnson
FETCHING by Kiera Stewart
FLIRT CLUB by Cathleen Daly Maurissa
FLUTTER by Erin E. Moulton
HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY by Crystal Allen
HOW TO ROCK BRACES AND GLASSES by Meg Haston
INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai
JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW by Nathan Bransford
JUNIPER BERRY by M.P. Kozlowsky
KAT, INCORRIGIBLE by Stephanie Burgis
LATASHA AND THE LITTLE RED TORNADO by Michael Scotto
MY UN-FAIRY TALE LIFE by Anna Staniszewski
PETER NIMBLE AND HIS FANTASTIC EYES, Jonathan Auxier
POSSUM SUMMER by Jen K Blom
RETURN TO EXILE by E.J. Patten
SPARROW ROAD by Shelia O’Conner
STIR IT UP by Ramin Ganesram
THE BLOOMSWELL DIARIES by Louis L. Buitendag
THE DRAGON OF CRIPPLE CREEK by Troy Howell
THE EMERALD ATLAS by John Stephens
THE FOURTH STALL by Chris Rylander
THE GREAT WALL OF LUCY WU by Wendy Wan-Long
THE MAP OF ME by Tami Lewis Brown
THE PRINCESS CURSE by Merrie Haskell
THE RENDERING by Joel Naftali
THE ROTTEN ADVENTURES OF ZACHARY RUTHLESS by Allan Woodrow
THE UNDERTAKERS by Ty Drago
THE WIZARD OF DARK STREET by Shawn Thomas Odyssey
VANISHED by Sheela Chari
VILLAIN SCHOOL by Stephanie Sanders
WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE by Tess Hilmo
~ Dee Garretson
I definitely have not read enough of debut mg books!!! I really, really want to read Anna's Unfairytale Life. I will get that for my daughter for Christmas so I , I mean she, can read it! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat book recommendations here!!
I can't believe I've only read three of these. I'll have to get on that.
ReplyDeleteWorking on this list alerted me to several I hadn't heard about, and there are at least two I'm now planning on getting my daughter for Christmas. So many good books, so little time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great list. I have a lot of reading to do!
ReplyDeleteThat post by Project Mayhem was actually by me. I haven't figured out how to have my name added in to posts. We don't have a mysterious Oz-like behind the scenes Project Mayhem wizard, though that would be kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteGreat list!! Thanks. I love having all these titles in one place! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great Christmas list...for me!! I know many of these authors and I'm so happy to seem them all debuting in 2011! Fantastic (and helpful) list, Dee! ;)
ReplyDeleteI've read seven. There are many here I either didn't know where debuts or haven't heard of before.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Wow! This is a great resource...perfect for Christmas shopping. :)
ReplyDeleteYikes, I haven't read enough of them! I haunt my library's "new books" shelf, but that only gets me so far... I really loved Merrie Haskell's The Princess Curse -- that's another one for the list.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I seriously have bought books based on a great cover alone. I know, sad, but you've got to take chances sometimes! ;)
ReplyDeleteNot sad at all! Whatever draws you, I say. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the list! I would add The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander and Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky - both 2011 middle grade debuts :).
ReplyDeleteScratch Juniper Berry - I just noticed it on your list :).
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. For someone who likes to think she's up on all things MG, I have not read way too many of those! Bad Shannon. As for your question, a combo of things get me to pick up a new author--reviews, covers, blurbs, theme...
ReplyDelete11 of these are Cybils MG nominees. (And probably more are Cybils MG SF/Fantasy). So I'll have read 11 by year's end.
ReplyDeleteApart from being a Cybils' panelist, the main reason I pick up a book (and I never seem to know which are debuts) is through word-of-mouth.
Thanks, Kelly and Kellie! They are added.
ReplyDeleteAwesome list. I've read 4. I wish you could give Kristi at The Story Siren some more for her 2012 list. There's not that many MG authors. I'll have to check out the ones on your list.
ReplyDeleteI am not very proud to say I only read 2 out of this list. I do however plan on reading more MG for the 2012 debut authors and hopefully do some catch up on the 2011.
ReplyDeleteI mostly pick up a MG because of a recommendation from another blogger or fellow writer.