Cover Reveal: The Wild Lands by Paul Greci

I know this is a blog about all things middle grade but I’ve got my first young adult novel coming out and am really excited to share the cover!! The Wild Lands hits the shelves on January 29, 2019 but you can pre-order it now.

Book Information:

Publisher: Imprint (Macmillan)

Publication Date: 01/29/2019

ISBN: 9781250183583

384 Pages, Ages 14 and up

Here’s the blurb from the cover:

When a collapsing U.S. government abandoned an Alaska ravaged by earthquakes and wildfires, Travis’s family chose not to evacuate. But now they realize their mistake—as food stores collapse and the few people who stayed turn on each other.

Travis and his younger sister Jess now must cross hundreds of miles in search of what remains of civilization. The wilderness they’re crossing is filled with ravenous animals, strangers competing for dwindling resources, and petty dictators fighting for control.

They’ll make a few friends and a lot of enemies on their terrifying journey across the ruins of today’s world. Travis and his fellow travelers will fight for what they believe in as they see how far people will go to survive.

This pulse-pounding thriller, full of shocking plot twists, is the ultimate survival tale of humanity’s fight against society’s collapse.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to be sharing some information about the Sequel to Surviving Bear Island in the near future.

Paul Greci is the author of Surviving Bear Island, a 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2016 Scholastic Reading Club Selection. Forthcoming in October 2018 is Follow the River, a sequel to Surviving Bear Island published by Move Books. In January 2019, Paul's first young adult novel, The Wild Lands will be published by Macmillan.

Connecting Students with Authors via Social Media

In the school district where I used to work, social media as an instructional tool was forbidden. Facebook and Twitter were blocked on our network. When I set up a blog for my classroom via the district’s Google Drive account, the technology director blocked access to it from school computers and then took down the blog itself. Her explanation: “Blogger is unsafe for students because the “Next Blog” button at the top of the page can take them to any blog at all.”

“Isn’t that what happens when they use Google?” was my counter-argument. She didn’t dignify my question with a response. Blogs were dangerous. Anybody could see that.

It’s ironic because our district constantly held workshops on how teachers should be using more technology. But it was all lip-service. My district was afraid of technology and its ability to link our students with the outside world.

The technology director said that if we wanted a blog we had to use EduBlogs, a clunky, cumbersome, and often malfunctioning service that was self-contained and inaccessible to the outside world. Which defeats the purpose of having a blog -- a purpose she didn’t understand in the first place.

Thankfully, some schools take a more enlightened approach. They realize that the “social” in social media is the perfect hook for getting students invested in real and dynamic learning.

I was thrilled to get this Tweet from a school in Miami last March:

Turns out this fourth grade class has their own review blog (and yes, it’s through the very dangerous Blogger). They post their reviews and use the class Twitter account to promote the blog and tag the author.  Reading their Twitter feed, it’s obvious to see how excited the students are when authors reply and comment on their blog.

Then, there was this Tweet, which alerted me to another clever way some teachers are using Twitter.

Cover recreations! Or in some cases, re-interpretations. The authors are tagged in the Tweets. Here are a few more clever ones from this account.

Here’s a couple more. (I clipped out the Tweets because they had the students’ personal Twitter handle included.)

It’s a brave new world that lets readers reach out so easily to authors, and it’s hard to think of a more authentic way to engage students in dialogue about books.

Teachers should make good use of it. And their administrators should let them.

Blue Birds: The Evolution of a Cover + Giveaway

As I write, sometimes an image for a book’s cover starts to form in my mind. Back in 2014, when my editor told me cover discussions for my historical novel, Blue Birds, were underway, I took a moment to get on paper the idea I that had been with me almost from the start. It wasn’t meant as direction for illustrators Elena and Anna Balbusso, it was simply a chance for me to record what I had been picturing for months.

Because Blue Birds tells the story of friendship, I knew both girls needed to be on the cover. But how to do this was complicated. Kimi wore only a skirt -- the clothing typical of the Roanoke Indians in the summer months. This sketch was my simple solution.

I set it aside, having shown no one. So it was with great surprise and a handful of goosebumps that I saw the cover art for the first time.

I was struck with the similarity between the ideas: my two characters, Kimi (on the left) and Alis (on the right) holding the wooden bird they share. Even details about which girl was on which side, whose hand was above and whose beneath -- they were exactly the same. If you look closely, the pearls I included in my sketch are also present in the picture. And with gorgeous depictions of local flora (the white flowers are the "star-centered beauties" Alis picks for her mother), the Balbussos were able to place both girls front and center.

When the cover was revealed at The Nerdy Book Club the summer of 2014, Art Director Irene Vandervoort shared her "aim [for Blue Birds] was for art that spoke to the book and felt classic and timeless... I wanted there to be no mistaking that this was/is a book of historical fiction. The most important aspect of the cover to me was to show these two very different girls and their unlikely friendship and bond."

The Balbussos said "The central idea of the cover is to communicate the meeting of the girls of two different cultures and their friendship through their mutual gaze and the union of their hands (one with light skin and one with dark-skinned). We chose the path of symmetrical composition to show both girls very similar but of a different race, without privileging one girl but equal representation. Their eyes meet for communicating friendship, equality, complicity."

Friendship. Equality. Girls who are similar, even in their difference. These ideas were everything I hoped the cover art would tell about the story and are exactly what the Balbussos so beautifully created.

This January the paperback version of Blue Birds released with a different cover, one that's both new and entirely familiar. I love the way it comes full circle, echoes the idea that started as I drafted, stayed with me as I revised.

I'm giving away one paperback copy to a Project Mayhem reader. To enter, simply leave a comment below. The contest closes Thursday, February 18 with the winner announced the following day. U.S. residents only, please.

Cover Reveal & Giveaway for A SLIVER OF STARDUST, by: Marissa Burt

**Update: Three winners for the ARC giveaway have been selected through rafflecopter's random number generator and notified. Thanks so much to all of you for reading Project Mayhem's blog and for entering the giveaway! I'll let you know of other ARC giveaways for A SLIVER OF STARDUST via my twitter or facebook page. Happy reading! M**

You Guys.

I am beyond excited to reveal the cover for my next book, A SLIVER OF STARDUST.
...
Many, many thanks to the extremely talented people behind this gorgeous cover: to Jakob Eirich who created the jacket art, to David Coulson who did the lettering, and to Michelle Taormina who designed the jacket, and to everyone else on the Harper Team who continues to overwhelm me with their brilliant creative work.
...
But wait! Before you see the cover, a little bit about the story from the jacket copy:

I am a gold lock.

I am a gold key.

However high and low you hunt,

You'll never find me.

Wren Matthews outgrew nursery rhymes a long time ago. Little did she know that songs of twinkling little stars and four-and-twenty blackbirds are the key to the ancient magic of stardust - a magic that only a few people can see and use. And Wren is one of them.

Wren has always preferred to stick to herself. But when she is invited to the faraway fortress where an ancient order has long studied and guarded the stardust, she doesn't hesitate to accept.

Soon Wren is swept up in strange dreams, buried secrets, and rumors that an old enemy is plotting his return. As she tries to master her new abilities, Wren only knows one thing for sure. there's magic in the world - and it's waiting for her.

In the stars, a world of wonder and

magic awaits...but it is in grave danger,

and only Wren can save it.

...

And now...

And, because I want you to see how fantastic the back of the cover is:

Wow. I just can't stop gushing about it...prepare yourself for exclamation points! The aurora! The fantastic details! The glow of the lights in the Crooked House! The excitement on Wren's and Simon's faces! The shadows and spray of the water! The wingspan of Wren's falcon! I love Wren and Simon and their story so much and am so delighted that this cover captures the spirit of their adventure.

Count down the days with me until A SLIVER OF STARDUST will make its way into the hands of readers on October 20, or you can pre-order it now at Amazon!

But if you can't wait that long, enter below for a chance to win one of three ARCs that I'm giving away. Tweet or facebook about the giveaway every day from now until Friday 2/27 for more chances to win. This giveaway is open to US addresses only, and I'll send out the ARCs as soon as they become available.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Family Ties Can Be Deadly: The Inquisitor's Mark Cover Reveal

I'm very excited to share the cover for The Inquisitor's Mark, Book 2 in the Eighth Day series, here at Project Mayhem!

And I'm not even going to bore you with my babbling over its deliciously sinister appeal. I asked my editor if the cover designer would be willing to share a few words about how this cover came to be, and I was delighted to get his response -- along with preliminary sketches. 

From Mike Heath, the cover artist:

When I first got the Inquisitors Mark assignment, one of the directions was to create a creepy basement/cellar type of image and after thinking it over, I knew we needed a long hallway basement scene for it to accommodate our lengthy title. So I began modeling the architecture and as I did so I wondered how we could communicate the idea that the tunnels in the book, including the basement, led to different places in the story. A thought that came to mind was to make the drainage pipes, running along the roof of the tunnel, to twist, turn and juncture all over the place.

So after getting a basic structure modeled, I did my initial sketches for Heather Daugherty (Senior Designer at HC). She and her team approved the sketch so it was time to bring the rough sketch to final. To do so,  I typically draw on top of my sketches with notes to myself about what I want to add in the final image.

Then it’s time to add final architectural details and texture the whole area with high resolution textures.This is the most time consuming portion because most of the pieces had to be textured by brushing decay, mold, moss cracks etc on each part of the model from little bolts to pipes to brick. This process is what helps make a place feel real and not computer generated. Once the texturing was complete, I setup the lights in the basement. Being mindful of where the center of interest was, I used a warmer light coming from the end of the tunnel and a cool light setup for the outside of the tunnel as that was to be a secondary interest area.

Being a visual storyteller, I’m pretty intentional about the items in my images. Things like the skateboard in the foreground, the pipes just mentioned, the warm and cool lighting of the structure and the puddles of water all add to a story I'm trying to tell visually.

For me, as the author, seeing this cover for the first time last winter, I was sucked in immediately by the creepy atmosphere. (And I wanted to know if this is what the basements of old buildings in Manhattan really look like! Who knew!?) When my editor mentioned HC was still looking for a tagline at that point, I did some brainstorming on the ski lift -- my favorite place to think -- and threw in my own contribution to the finished product.

Before I share the final cover, you might want to know what the book's about:

After returning from an all-out war with the evil Kin lord in Mexico, Jax Aubrey is back in Pennsylvania with his guardian, Riley, and liege lady, Evangeline. Although they’re in hiding, a man named Finn Ambrose tracks them down, claiming to be Jax’s uncle and giving Jax hope that he has a family after all.

But Uncle Finn may have an ulterior motive. As it turns out, Jax’s great-aunt is the reigning leader of the Dulacs, the enemy clan who assassinated Riley’s family. When the Dulacs kidnap Jax’s best friend, Billy, to lure Jax to New York, it becomes clear that the Dulacs, family or not, will stop at nothing to get what they want. Hoping to trade himself for Billy—while keeping Riley and Evangeline out of danger—Jax goes to Manhattan on his own, where he meets Uncle Finn; his cousin, Dorian; and the rest of his relatives.

There, he stumbles upon a maze of magic tunnels below his family’s luxury apartment building. Uncle Finn and the sinister Dulacs have been keeping secrets from him--and one of them might be the location of Evangeline's long-lost sister, Addie.

With the Eighth Day—and the entire Emrys bloodline—hanging in the balance, Jax struggles to understand who he really is despite all that he knows.

An Ambrose? A Dulac? An Aubrey?

Or an inquisitor who will stop at nothing to keep his liege safe?

What do you think? You can add The Inquisitor's Mark to your Goodreads shelf HERE.

Thank you, Mike Heath, for your great work and for sharing your creative process with us. Thanks also to my HarperCollins editors -- and also to the Project Mayhem crew for letting me share my cover here today!

Chris Eboch on Cover Design

A teacher friend of mine used my middle grade mystery, The Eyes of Pharaoh, with her gifted students. Before the kids started the book, she asked them to look at the cover (art by Lois Bradley) and describe what they thought the book was about. (Here's your chance to make your own guess.)

And here are some of their answers (with the spelling cleaned up):

• I think this is about a girl that find the tomb that dates back to ancient Egypt and also the tomb was never found by scientists.
• I think the book will be about a spirit Pharaoh wanting to go to the afterlife, but can’t read hieroglyphics. So all of a sudden a girl sneaked inside and ended up helping the Pharaoh.
• I think it is about a girl that is running away from something. And she is trying to find something out, something that she is not supposed to find out.
• This book is probably about a girl in Egypt who discovered something about the Pharaoh, or maybe she did something and now the Pharaoh is after her.
• I think the book is about a girl who is running from someone or something. Most obviously it is also about Egypt and hieroglyphics. It is apparently a mystery novel and maybe about some type of god.
• I think the book will be about a mystery. By the front it looks to me that she is getting chased by something through a pyramid.
• I think the book is about a Pharaoh watching a girl. I think she is scared because she thinks he’s going to kill her.

How close were they? Here’s the long version of the book synopsis:

The Eyes of Pharaoh, 1177 BC: During the reign of Pharaoh Ramses the Third, Seshta, a 13-year-old dancer in the Temple of Hathor, dreams of becoming a famous entertainer. Horus, the brother of her heart, is content as a toymaker’s apprentice. Reya, at 16, has joined Egypt’s army with hopes of becoming a hero. Despite their different paths, nothing can break the bonds of their friendship.

When Reya hints that Egypt is in danger from foreign nomads, Seshta and Horus don’t take him seriously. How could anyone challenge Egypt?

Then Reya disappears. Seshta and Horus set out to find him—and discover a darker plot than they ever imagined. To save their friend, Seshta and Horus spy on merchants, soldiers, and royalty, and start to suspect even The Eyes of Pharaoh, the powerful head of the secret police. Will Seshta and Horus escape the traps set for them, rescue Reya, and stop the plot against Egypt in time?

Set in ancient Egypt, the ideas in this book echo in the international politics of today, while the power of friendship will touch hearts both young and old. Suitable for ages 9 and up.

Do you think the kids got a good enough impression of the book from the cover? Many of them did pick up on some aspects of the story – a female main character, mystery, and of course ancient Egypt, although some kids thought the book would be set there, while others thought it involved a modern girl traveling back in time or investigating ancient tomb. This is probably more accurate than what I could get from a lot of book covers. And I guess the most important question is not, “Does the cover accurately portray what’s inside the book?” but rather, “Does it make a potential reader want to read the book?”

How much do you judge a book by its cover? Is it more important to capture aspects of the plot, or the overall tone?

Read the opening chapter of The Eyes of Pharaoh at Chris's website or download a sample from the book’s Amazon page.

Chris is also the author of The Well of Sacrifice, an adventure in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala.

Chris Eboch on What's in a Name? Finding a Title

At the end of the school year, I visited a friend’s gifted class to talk to the kids about The Eyes of Pharaoh. One enthusiastic girl asked how I came up with my titles, because, “Titles are really hard.” Sometimes they are, sometimes they appear like magic, and sometimes Circumstances Beyond Your Control interfere.

The Well of Sacrifice, a middle grade adventure set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala, had that title from the start. On a summer-long trip to Mexico and Central America after college, I had visited many Mayan sites – including Chichen Itza, which had a sacrificial cenote. Imagining a girl tumbling into that “well” inspired the novel. It’s a dramatic title and along with the cover art helps suggest a Mayan historical adventure. It’s nice when you find the right title at the beginning.

An early cover concept

 The Eyes of Pharaoh, on the other hand, was a struggle. The working title was “Spy Dancer,” because the main character is training to be a temple dancer but winds up acting like a spy after a friend disappears. I never planned to actually use that title, but the muse was not cooperating in finding a better one.

When I finished editing the book (in other words, the last possible moment to come up with a good title before submissions), I started brainstorming title ideas. I wrote down any word or phrase associated with the novel – setting, characters, plot threads, theme. I probably had 30 or 40 words/phrases, and then I began mixing and matching.

Final cover

The head of the secret police in ancient Egypt was called “The Eyes of Pharaoh” or “The Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh.” This agent is a minor character in my book, but the character’s role doesn’t really matter – the concept fits with the ideas of spying and politics. The word Pharaoh helps identify the setting, and The Eyes of Pharaoh has a nice mysterious sound. Normally you wouldn’t title a book after a minor character, but in this case I think it works, which shows the advantage of jotting down everything in the brainstorming phase.

I like the title, but there is one problem – everyone, including those who’ve read it and loved it, calls it “Eyes of the Pharaoh.” Having people get your title wrong can’t be good. Fortunately, the first four hits from a Google search on that wording still turn up the book’s page on Amazon, my website, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble, so I guess the damage can’t be too bad.

When I started my series about a brother and sister who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, I wanted to call it Ghost Hunters, but that was already taken by a reality TV show, so I used Ghost Trackers. A few months before the first book’s release, I got an urgent e-mail from my editor. A new Ghost Trackers TV show was coming out, featuring middle school kids, no less. We needed a new title.

I brainstormed all kinds of combinations of Ghost This and Haunted That. Finally, in the kind of epiphany that makes you wonder why you didn’t see it earlier, I realized it didn’t need to be Haunted-anything – Haunted alone worked.

But that created another problem. The first book had been called The Haunted Hotel. Haunted: The Haunted Hotel sounded silly, so we needed a new title for the first book. After another exhausting round of brainstorming, I came up with The Ghost on the Stairs. (Frankly, I like Haunted: The Ghost on the Stairs a lot better than Ghost Trackers: The Haunted Hotel, so I guess I should be thankful to the TV show.)

Using a title that referred to the ghost who was featured in the book set up a pattern for the other books in the series – The Riverboat Phantom, The Knight in the Shadows (that one was my editor’s suggestion), and The Ghost Miner’s Treasure.

A title has to do a lot – intrigue, give a sense of the book, stand out from the crowd. The title may be the hardest words that a writer writes.

I asked a couple of Project Mayhemers and other writers for their title processes, and I’ll be sharing those tomorrow. Sophie Masson had a post on Finding a Good Title on Writer Unboxed, if you want more examples or advice.

How about you? Do you judge a book by its title? Do you struggle with your own titles?

Cover Reveal -- The Last Enchanter

The Last Enchanter 

by Laurisa White Reyes

One year and ten days ago--right here on Project Mayhem--I posted a review and giveaway HERE of The Rock of Ivanore, book one of the Celestine Chronicles series. Today, I am excited to share the cover reveal of book two: The Last Enchanter. 

The Last Enchanter is scheduled to be released October 15th, 2013. The paperback version of The Rock of Ivanore will also be released that day.

I can't wait to see where this truly EPIC story will take us this time!

Synopsis:

Months have passed since Marcus and Kelvin succeeded in their quest to find the Rock of Ivanore. Kelvin is living as royalty in Dokur, and Marcus is studying magic with Zyll. When Fredric is murdered and Kelvin becomes king, Zyll and Marcus head for Dokur in hopes of protecting Kelvin from meeting the same fate, though it quickly becomes apparent that none of them are safe, and Marcus has had disturbing visions of Zyll's death. With the help of his old friends Clovis and Bryn, joined by new friend Lael--a feisty girl in search of her mother--Marcus uncovers a powerful secret that will change the course of his life forever.

And as a special treat . . . 

THE PROLOGUE: 

  

Lord Fredric, ruler of Dokur, stared out his window toward the sea. The sounds of the cutting and hammering of wood, and of men shouting came to him on a crisp salty breeze. Below in the bay, Dokur’s navy was busy rebuilding their ships. Eight months earlier Fredric’s own son had led the Hestorians to these very shores, and Dokur had nearly fallen by their swords. But soon these ships would set sail for the mainland and take revenge on them.

Fredric heard the door behind him open. The gentle clinking of crystal against silver was the only introduction the visitor needed.

            “Is it time already?” Fredric asked without turning. “I would like a little wine to soothe my nerves before bed.”

            Arnot filled a goblet and handed it to his Lord with a slight bow. Fredric downed the contents, and then returned the empty goblet.

“I fear I have grown too old for battle,” said Fredric, crossing the room to his bed. “These eyes have witnessed too much bloodshed, too much suffering.”

            He held out his arms while the sable-skinned attendant removed his royal robe and replaced it with a linen nightshirt. Once Fredric was dressed, Arnot went to the bed and pulled back the covers. “Your bed is prepared, my Lord.”

            Fredric rested his hands on the edge of the mattress. “My stomach,” he said. “It bothers me so.”

            “Perhaps you should rest, Sire,” replied Arnot.

            Fredric rubbed his stomach and then raised his hand to his forehead where beads of sweat had formed.

            “I am not well tonight,” he continued, sighing. “But such is to be expected at my age.”

            Suddenly, Fredric clenched his teeth together and his hands balled into fists against the mattress. He groaned as his entire body began to shake. Fredric grabbed the quilt in both fists and pulled with such force that the fabric tore. A moment later he dropped to his knees, gasping for air.

            “I am in pain,” he cried. “Fetch my doctor!”

            Arnot remained where he stood with his back to the colorful tapestry that hung ceiling to floor against the wall. He stared at Fredric with cold eyes.

            “Arnot,” called Fredric, reaching for the attendant with both hands. “Please help me!”

            A faint smile appeared on Arnot’s lips—so faint that Fredric wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. When the attendant finally crossed the room to the door, Fredric felt relieved that help would be found. He lay down on the floor, too weak now to lift himself into the bed.

            “Tell my doctor to hurry,” he whispered. “Tell him I am very ill.”

            Arnot looked back at Fredric. The smile on his lips was now unmistakable, and there was a look of pleasure in his face.

            “You are not ill,” he said coolly. “You have been poisoned.”

            Then Arnot slipped through the door and shut it quietly and securely behind him.

*********************************** 

Feel free to stalk Laurisa White Reyes at the following spots:

• Website
• Blog
• Facebook
• Twitter

 
Add The Last Enchanter to your Amazon wish list HERE

Find it at B&N HERE 

Add it to your Goodreads list HERE 

 

What the Kids Say ...

THE most important factor in book choice for MG readers:
the cover synopsis

A few weeks ago, Matt McNish posted about first lines. And he got me wondering: How important are first lines to MG readers?

Since I have a captive audience of MG readers every day, I decided to find out. I divided my class into discussion groups, gave them a stack of unfamiliar books, and asked what factors were most important in deciding whether or not to read any of them.

I specifically asked them to consider the first sentence, first paragraph, and first page. In spite of this, every group focused on the back cover or dust jacket. They had to be reminded to open the book and look inside before answering – even though that was part of their directions – because the cover blurb was the deciding factor for them.

A few students were more reflective. “You should really look inside,” Alexa said. “I wasn’t very interested in this one, from the back cover, but the first page is really interesting. I might read this.”

The Kiss of Death: no synopsis, only review blurbs.
Or worse -- nothing at all!

But in each group, the decision to start reading was almost always based on the blurb.  Not so much the front cover, which surprised me. “Covers don’t always show what the book’s about,” Grace said. “But the back of the book tells you the problem in the story, which is what I want to know.”

I asked how important the first page was in determining whether the students continued reading. If they weren’t hooked by the first page, did they keep going?  Some did not.

“I want some action on the first page,” Zoe admitted.

“I’ll give it till page two,” Grace said with a laugh. “And then I’m done.”

“If I don’t like the first chapter, I’ll skip to the next one,” Mike said.

Grace challenged him on that. “You mean, go back and read it later?”

“Nope,” said Mike with a grin. “Just skip it. I know I’m not supposed to.” He shrugged unapologetically.

But most students said they would not quit if the first page didn’t hook them; they’d keep reading further – a chapter or two at least. “Unless there are too many words I don’t know on the first page,” Chris clarified. “Then the book might be too hard for me.”

Josh added, “I always look to make sure there aren’t too many strange names and places and words in the beginning.”  I pointed out that Josh reads almost exclusively science fiction and fantasy. Aren’t they full of strange names and places and words? “Yeah, but too many in the beginning is just confusing,” Josh said. “I want to learn them a little at a time.”

Owen asked his group if they would read a book because of the author or because it won an award. The answer was yes for an author they liked – Andrew Clements and Gordon Korman were mentioned – but an award sticker was not as respected. “They give awards because the book is ‘heartwarming,’” said Zoe, using air quotes to make her point. “And then it’ll have no action in it.”

So – the message for writers? Make sure your opening pages are engaging and don’t dump too many strange things in the beginning. But you absolutely need a cover synopsis that’s a grabber. Even though the author doesn’t usually write that, (unless he or she is self-publishing), make sure the publisher is putting as much effort into that summary as they do on the front cover design.

Don’t worry if you don’t have an award sticker. Kids don’t care. And if you happen to be Andrew Clements or Gordon Korman, you’re golden.

Middle-Grade Novels About Foster Kids

Every once in a while, I notice patterns in the books I'm reading. Lately I've come across three that deal with foster kids and and their families (or in some cases, kids' attempts to hide their need for social services to step in). I've added these new titles to some classics, refreshed my memory on a few other books, and came up with this list: Middle-Grade Novels About Foster Kids.

Why are there so many books on this topic? Here's my take: A child finding her way in a new home setting is probably vulnerable, guarded, out of place and in need of love. And really, even if we've never been in a similar circumstance, can't we all relate?

All descriptions have been taken from Amazon and Goodreads:

THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS - Katherine Paterson
Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's disliked them all. She has a county-wide reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanageable. So when she's sent to live with the Trotters -- by far the strangest family yet -- Gilly decides to put her sharp mind to work. Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come rescue her.

But the rescue doesn't work out, and the great Gilly Hopkins is left thinking that maybe life with the Trotters wasn't so bad ...

TOUCH BLUE - Cynthia Lord
Touch Blue and your wish will come true.

The state of Maine plans to shut down Tess's island’s schoolhouse, which would force her family to move to the mainland--and Tess to leave the only home she has ever known. Fortunately, the islanders have a plan too: increase the numbers of students by having several families take in foster children. So now Tess and her family are taking a chance on Aaron, a thirteen-year-old trumpet player who has been bounced from home to home. And Tess needs a plan of her own--and all the luck she can muster. Will Tess’s wish come true or will her luck run out?


SUMMER OF THE GYPSY MOTHS - Sara Pennypacker
Stella loves living with Great-aunt Louise in her big old house near the water on Cape Cod for many reasons, but mostly because Louise likes routine as much as she does, something Stella appreciates since her mom is, well, kind of unreliable. So while Mom "finds herself," Stella fantasizes that someday she'll come back to the Cape and settle down. The only obstacle to her plan? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. Angel couldn't be less like her name—she's tough and prickly, and the girls hardly speak to each other.

But when tragedy unexpectedly strikes, Stella and Angel are forced to rely on each other to survive, and they learn that they are stronger together than they could have imagined. And over the course of the summer they discover the one thing they do have in common: dreams of finally belonging to a real family.

ONE FOR THE MURPHYS - Lynda Mullaly Hunt
A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family's love.

Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future.

HARRY SUE - Sue Stauffacher
Harry Sue Clotkin is tough. Her mom's in the slammer and she wants to get there too, as fast as possible, so they can be together. But it's not so easy to become a juvenile delinquent when you've got a tender heart.

Harry Sue's got her hands full caring for the crumb-snatchers who take up her afternoons at the day care center, and spending time with her best friend Homer, a quadriplegic who sees life from a skylight in the roof of his tree house. When Harry Sue finds an unlikely confidante in her new art teacher, her ambitions toward a life of crime are sidelined as she comes to a deeper understanding about her past--and future.

BUD, NOT BUDDY - Christopher Paul Curtis
It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him:

1. He has his own suitcase filled with his own important, secret things.

2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.

3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!

Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him--not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.

THE PINBALLS - Betsy Byars
Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again. But against her will and her better judgement, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own lives.






PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS - Patricia Reilly Giff
Hollis Woods has been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. She even runs away from the Regans, the one family who offers her a home.

When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they’ll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won’t let anyone separate them. She’s escaped the system before; this time, she plans to take Josie with her.

Yet behind all her plans, Hollis longs for her life with the Regans, fixing each moment of her time with them in pictures she’ll never forget.

KEEPING SAFE THE STARS - Sheila O'Connor
When crisis hits, a young girl becomes the only one left to take care of her family.

Pride, Nightingale and Baby are the Stars. Orphaned and living with their grandfather, Old Finn, in rural Minnesota, the children, like their grandfather, are wary of outsiders. They believe, as Old Finn taught them, in self-reliance.

But then Old Finn falls seriously ill and is taken to the hospital all the way in Duluth, leaving the children to fend for themselves. Pride, as oldest, assumes the lead. Though she makes mistakes, she keeps them afloat; they even earn money for the bus trip to Duluth. But when they finally see Old Finn, he can't walk or even say his own name, and Pride knows her days of keeping safe the Stars are drawing to a close. Self-reliance can't make Old Finn well again. But maybe, just maybe, a secret from Old Finn's past might make a way for them to stay together after all.

Any books to add to the list? Leave them below!