Ever wondered what it's like to win both a Newbery AND a Caldecott award?Author/illustrator and delightful human, Grace Lin, is with us today and she shares all the behind-the-scenes award info you've been looking for, plus:...

What's it like to write, publish, and promote a book a year? Here to tell us today is middle-grade author Mae Respicio, author of the award-winning The House That Lou Built,

If you haven’t read The Verdigris Pawn, by Alysa Wishingrad, you’ll want to after listening to this interview! "Time distorts all truths." The Verdigris PawnIn both her book and this podcast, Alysa Wishingrad addresses ...

"When you meet people, you don't hate them anymore." This quote from Hilary during this interview expresses so much about her humanity, her love, and her wisdom. Her historical WWI and WWII novels, The Skylarks' War, and Swallow's Fligh...

Newbery Honor winning middle grade author Rajani LaRocca and her Super Agent Brent Taylor have collaborated to share Rajani's prolific collection of picture books and middle grade novels with the world, and in this interview, they share what th...

We had way too much fun interviewing Samantha Gentry editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. We got so much insight into the editorial process, acquisitions, publication, editor phone calls, and so much more!Samantha Gentry is ...

We had SO much fun interviewing Paige Terlip, literary agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency! Paige shares her joy at working with this fantastic agency. She gives tips for querying, shares her Manuscript Wish List, talks about dream clients,...

We are so pleased to join two wonderful school librarians, and members of the @FReadomFighters—Nancy Jo Lambert and Becky Calzada for an interview about censorship, #FReadom, and access to books for children. Along with Carolyn Foote and other ...

Author Cindy Baldwin shares her journey writing The Stars of Whistling Ridge! She offers amazing insight into disability representation, and chronic illness in fiction, sharing her own experience so generously! Cindy is so careful to represent ...

The opportunity to do this interview with Newbery Honoree and New York Times Bestselling author Gary D. Schmidt was one of the great honors of our professional lives! Were you hoping to get a mini-MFA from this master of middle grade storytelli...

We had SO much fun interviewing Super Agent Jennifer March Soloway! Jennifer has had a fascinating career journey, helping her wind up as a highly successful literary agent with a robust client list, with a premier children's literary agency—An...

Our biggest takeaway from our interview with Middle Grade author Kaela Rivera was her final advice to writers —Practice Patience. Kaela's debut novel, CECE RIOS AND THE DESERT OF SOULS was her tenth completed manuscript. In this delightful inte...

In Part 2 of our Agent / Author / Editor series with Jennifer A. Nielsen, we dig in to interview prolific author / editor duo: Jennifer A. Nielsen and Lisa Sandell of Scholastic Press.  The two have worked together for years, bringing many...

This dynamic agent/author duo is a delight to interview, and we learned so much. Jennifer A. Nielsen and Joan Paquette were a fundamental part of building each other's careers, and their combined wisdom and collaboration blew us away. We had wa...

Our biggest takeaway from our interview with Middle Grade author Lisa Moore Ramée was this: The people who don't make it as authors are the people who gave up. Lisa Moore Ramée took the long way around to get here with her career, and her beaut...

This may be the most important episode of Middle Grade Book Party we'll ever release. If you are an advocate of children's literacy, or care passionately about getting great books into the hands of children everywhere, this is the episode for y...

Our biggest takeaway from our interview with Middle Grade author Rajani LaRocca is this new mantra she shared with us—Follow the Dopamine! She says if if doesn't bring you joy, don't do it! And that goes for marketing, career advice, and how to...

Oddly, my favorite takeaway from our interview with middle grade author Gillian McDunn was her fresh take on her favorite writing snack. Apparently since you don't think about what you eat while you write, your best bet is a large plate of raw ...

Episode Trigger Warnings: School shootings, child violence. Jasmine Warga is a wonderful MG writer who tackles difficult subjects with grace, dignity, and care. Come meet her and her books, find out why they make us cry and inspire us s...

We're so excited to have middle grade author Nancy Tandon guest hosting this podcast featuring authors Lindsay Currie and Jessica Vitalis as they talk about effective marketing through  street teams. This episode is POWER-PACKED with pro-t...

Victoria Piontek is hands down one of our favorite middle grade authors and people. See why as you hear her answer to questions about fainting goats, her own childhood pets, her love of child readers, and her mission to represent children with ...