Thought for the Day:
“Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once.”
~ Stephen King ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Writers need words. This is just for fun. There were 650 new words added to the on-line dictionary, dictionary.com, this year. HERE is an article listing 50 of them. My favorite, in this year of a presidential campaign, is #20.
Connie J. Jasperson at Life in the Realm of Fantasy has a terrific post HERE on Character Building: Writing Subtly Positive Emotions. It is a good one.
I love reading stories set in Medieval times and often think how fun it would be to write one. Maybe someday. Anyway, I am always fascinated when I find a good post about that time period. Nicholas C. Rossis, who writes about writing and other things on his blog, sometimes runs a post about that time period. HERE is a good one.
And the beat goes on. 2020 just can’t be over soon enough to suit me. But I am doing things to try to keep my mind off all the fear that tries to derail me. One of those things is, of course, reading. I now “meet” with a group of people with whom I used to teach every week, and once a month we make that a book club meeting. This month, it was my turn to choose the book. I told them I almost exclusively read books written for kids, and they said it was fine to choose a kids’ book. There is a book I had read a few years ago that just stuck with me, and I think about it often. I didn’t remember all the details of it, but I remembered it moved me greatly, and I knew I wanted to read it again. Perfect choice. So I chose Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. We will discuss it this week, but many have already read it and loved it. I read it yesterday. I remembered a long time ago being in the room when my daughter, in her 20s at the time, sat reading The Bridges of Madison County and sobbing, wiping her eyes, and trying to go on reading. Yup. That was me yesterday. What an incredible book. So if you are looking for a very moving book that will take you away from 2020 for a little while, I recommend this one. But that’s not the one I am featuring today.
I love books written for younger middle graders. It takes a deft hand to write these books that may make the difference between making kids become life-long readers or reluctant readers. Making reading fun for kids goes a long way to creating kids that don’t see reading as an onerous chore. Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake with charming illustrations by Jon Klassen is a book that will make kids want to run out and get more books to read. And, for classroom teachers, this would be a terrific read-aloud. Here is the review I wrote for the Manhattan Book Review.
Badger thinks his life is perfect. He lives in a big house loaned to him by his aunt. He has a room to sleep in, a kitchen to keep his cold cereal and milk in (that is all he eats), a room to keep his boxes in, and a room to do his very important rock work in. But he’s surprised when Skunk shows up and says that Aunt Lula said he could also stay in the house.
Badger is not happy, and he gets more unhappy as Skunk cooks delicious but messy food, takes over the box room, invites 100 chickens in for story hour, and then does what skunks do. It’s all too much. Badger throws Skunk out. But soon Badger realizes that he misses Skunk and the chickens and the mess. Is it too late to make things right?
Amy Timberlake has written a laugh-out-loud funny book for younger middle graders that puts a fresh spin on the old trope of learning the importance of friendship. The writing is terrific and so funny. The delightful illustrations by Jon Klassen are a nice addition to the story. Kids will love this one, as will anyone who gets hold of it.
I have a gently-read ARC for one of you. All you need do is be a follower or subscriber (it’s free!), have a U.S. address, and leave a comment below. If you would like extra chances, please share the link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media outlet and let me know you have done that. And don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at the Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.
Rosi Hollinbeck 
This sounds like such a wonderful story!
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It’s so darned cute. Worth your time. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.
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Sounds like a good story, and the illustrations look good, too.
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It is really adorable. Thanks for the comment and good luck in the drawing.
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You are so right about #20 on the list. I enjoy Gary’s books and need to read Orbiting Jupiter too (I’ve had it recommended to me before–this author is from my home state and that always makes me happy). Thank you for sharing your ARC with one of us–I’ve been seeing this book around on blogs very often lately and it’s on my TBR. I shared on Facebook, Twitter, and tumblr.
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Thanks for sharing my link! Yes, Orbiting Jupiter is so good. You must get to it. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.
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I can’t wait to read Amy’s newest book! I went to see her at a book event when she came out with her historical that included WI passenger pigeons.
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You will love it. It’s just so cute. Nice to see you here! Good luck in the drawing.
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What a great cover! My great grandsons love funny at age 6. When I give them books, they grab the funny books first. Skunk and Badger, sounds like it is perfect read with perhaps the help of mom.
I haven’t read Orbiting Jupiter, but I should check it out. I have a few favorites like that and pull them out when I want to lose myself in a good story. Like how your book group is meeting again. That will lift your spirits!
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I should have specified — my book club meets on Zoom. But we meet! Your great-grands will love this book. So funny and cute. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.
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Thank you for the review. Skunk and Badger sounds brilliant!
Also thank you for the kind mention! I, too, find the Middle Ages (and history, in general) fascinating so I have shared several posts on everyday Medieval life. You may enjoy my post on the shaming of bad musicians (https://nicholasrossis.me/2020/01/13/shaming-bad-musicians-in-the-middle-ages/). Inevitably, it involved a lot of fruit being thrown…
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Hahaha. A lot of fruit being thrown. That’s great. Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the drawing.
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Thanks for giving us two recommendations this week. They both sound good, especially Gary Schmidt’s book that had you captivated yesterday. I’ll let someone else win the giveaway this week.
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Both are great. Thanks for stopping by.
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This sounds like a fun book. I’d love to win Skunk and Badger for one of my grandkids. Thanks for the opportunity!
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It is so much fun. Your grands would love it. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.
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You keep finding these fun sounding books. I’ll share on Twitter and Facebook.
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Thanks for sharing my link! Good luck in the drawing.
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I’m always on the lookout for good starter books for new MG readers. Not every kid is ready to read the typical 300 page monstrosity becoming the norm in MG world. Having animals mixed in with the theme of friendship is the perfect combination. Thanks for featuring on MMGM.
I never knew so many new words get added each year to our language. Thanks for that link and the others you featured today.
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This would be a good one to get kids started reading. Yeah, the dictionary adding so many words was a surprise to me too. Thanks for commenting. Good luck in the drawing.
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This sounds like a great story and I can’t wait to read it. And thanks for the link to the 50 new words. That was very interesting.
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Glad you like the link. I thought it was fun. The book is great. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.
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Any book that can enable healthy laughter is a especially good now. This sounds great.
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We can all use a good reason to laugh these days. This is such a funny book. Thanks for stopping by. Good luck in the drawing.
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I’ve had my eye on this one! It looks super fun. 🙂
Hang in there, Rosi. All will be well. Thanks for the extra reason to smile today!
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Good eye, Faith! This is so darned fun. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the drawing.
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This sounds like such a fun story! Also, Orbiting Jupiter sounds like a painful but beautiful story—I enjoyed another book by Schmidt, The Wednesday Wars! I love the article you shared on new words in the dictionary, and the quote and meme are both excellent! I’ll pass on the giveaway, but thanks for the wonderful post!
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I liked The Wednesday Wars. There is a book that kind of follows that one called Okay for Now, that I actually like better than The Wednesday Wars. Also, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by him is also great. I appreciate all your kind words. Thanks for stopping by.
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This sounds like such a great book! Skunk sounds like a fun character. Hopefully, it’s not too late to make things right. :o)
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Hi, Janet. It has been awhile. Nice to see you here. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Good luck in the drawing.
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I remember reading Orbiting Jupiter! I love Gary D. Schmidt’s books and that one is certainly memorable. I hope your book club likes it!
(Oh, and I love the Where’s Waldo – Social Distancing Edition. Now, let me see if I can find him…)
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Hahahaha. Hope you can find Waldo! My book club loved Orbiting Jupiter. Thanks for the comment. Good luck in the the drawing.
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