Not quite writer’s block. More like writer’s detour. #amwriting sortof.
Christopher Holliday
Author: Susan Uhlig
Amari and the Night Brothers
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations, #1) (Balzer & Bray, 2021) by B. B. Alston is like a cross between Men in Black and Harry Potter at summer camp.
13-year-old Amari Peters struggles with anger against those who think she doesn’t fit in since she’s a scholarship student and black. It’s worse since her older brother Quinton has been missing. Many believe he is dead, but Amari knows he’s alive. A chance to tryout for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs this summer may help her find out where Quinton is. But again in a world of magic, there are those who don’t think she belongs. Amari must stand up for herself and learn all she can about this new world to have any chance of finding her brother.
This was B.B.’s debut novel. The books have been published in over 30 countries and a movie is in the works! Wow! Here’s the Spanish version, Amari y Los Hermanos de la Noche. The third book in this trilogy is expected out this summer.
Awards:
- ALSC Notable Children’s Books, 1995-2024. Commended, 2022. (Association of Library Services for Children)
- Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award, 1997-2023. Selection, 2022. (Children’s Literary Assembly)
- Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 1997-2024. Commended, 2022. (YALSA)
- Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2011-2024. Selection, 2022. (YALSA)
- SLJ Best Books of the Year, 2010 – 2023. Selection, 2021. (School Library Journal)
Read about this NY Times bestselling author here.
Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters.
Cassandra Clare
Creating characters
The Beatryce Prophecy
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Beatryce Prophecy (Candlewick Press, 2021) by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Sophie Blackall is an unusual but appealing story.
It starts with a prophecy about a girl who will “unseat a king.” Next we meet Answelica, the goat, whom the monks fear. One day Brother Edik finds a child in the pen with the demon goat. Beatryce doesn’t remember anything but her name. And king’s soldiers are searching for her.
Kate is a two-time Newbery medalist and Sophie is a two-time Caldecott medalist.
Read about Kate’s many novels here, her picture books here, and her early chapter books here.
Check out all of Sophie’s children’s books here.
I Wish You More
Perfect Picture Book Friday
I Wish You More (Chronicle Books , 2015) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld is such a sweet book with deceptively simple text and lovely illustrations. It’s a great gift book. The pages make me smile.
Each spread shares what “I wish you more” of. So many good lines. One of my favorites is: “I wish you more we than me.” My favorite illustration is on “I wish you more treasures than pockets.”
Amy is a prolific author. A bonus on Amy’s website is that you get to choose the ambiance and see what the umbrella does. Very fun. I had to play with them all. Click on the links on the right for her children’s books, bio, etc.
Tom is an author/illustrator. Read about him here and see all his books here. Below is the story behind the story.