Tag Archives: middle grade

The Case of the Missing Message-a Brains Benton Mystery: an interview with Fred Rexroad

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Podcast #068

For my sixty-eighth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author Fred Rexroad about the children’s mystery novel The Case of the Missing Message: A Brains Benton Mystery by Charles Spain Verral. Jimmy Carson knows that when his best friend and part-time super sleuth Brains Benton gets his hands on mystery, he’s not going to let go no matter what kind of trouble they run into. And they run into plenty. Circus performers, secret messages, stampeding elephants, mouthy parrots, and a couple of real nasty guys all turn up in mystery tailor-made for Brain Benson.

Fred Rexroad is author of the Tanner-Dent Mysteries, including Whiz Tanner and the Phony Masterpiece, Whiz Tanner and the Mysterious Countdown, and Whiz Tanner and the Olympic Snow Caper. You can find  Fred’s website at www.fredrexroad.com.

Podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Please link, share, comment, write a review or subscribe. Let me know what you think! And if you are interested in participating in the Dream Gardens podcast, send me a request through my contact page.

My next podcast will be with author Laura Sassi about the children’s book of poems When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne. It will be published on Monday, January 20th , 2020.

The Golden Compass (Northern Lights): His Dark Materials, Book 1 – an interview with Kat Zhang

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Podcast #064

For my sixty-fourth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author Kat Zhang about the classic fantasy novel The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman. Originally published in the UK with the title Northern Lights, The Golden Compass is first of three books (The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass being the other two) that tell the adventures of a young girl, Lyra, and her demon Pantalaimon, as the search out to find the meaning of a mysterious Dust that’s got everyone panicked, and why something known only as the Gobblers are kidnapping children. Along the way she’ll meet an army of talking armored bears, prophesying witches, and the enchanting Mrs. Coulter, who may not be what she seems. In this book Philip Pullman creates a world that is both completely original and yet oddly familiar, and brings us one of the great characters of fiction in the form of the wild and big-hearted Lyra Belacqua.

Kat Zhang is author the YA series The Hybrid Chronicles, the middle grade novels The Emperor’s Riddle  and The Memory of Forgotten Things, the recently published picture book Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao, and coming in 2021, Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon. You can find Kat’s website at katzhangwriter.com.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Please link, share, comment, write a review or subscribe. Let me know what you think! And if you are interested in participating in the Dream Gardens podcast, send me a request through my contact page.

My next podcast will be with author Dan Richards about the middle grade historical supernatural thriller The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle. It will be published on Monday, November 18th.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – an interview with Lindsay Lackey

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Podcast #063

For my sixty-third Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author Lindsay Lackey about the middle grade fantasy novel The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis . In this third book of Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, Lucy and Edmund are joined (very reluctantly) by their cousin Eustace Scrubb in an adventure across the seas of Narnia to find the seven lost lords. Along the way they will encounter sea serpents, merpeople, magicians and even a dragon, and together they will find out what happens when you sail to the edge of the Narnian world.

Lindsay Lackey is author of several reader guides for non-fiction by Madeleine L’Engle. Her debut middle grade novel is All The Impossible Things. You can find her website at lindsaylackey.com.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Please link, share, comment, write a review or subscribe. Let me know what you think! And if you are interested in participating in the Dream Gardens podcast, send me a request through my contact page.

My next podcast will be with author Kat Zhang talking about the fantasy novel The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. It will be published on Monday, November 4th.

Lizard Music and The Trolls – an interview with Christina Uss

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Podcast #062

For my sixty-second Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author Chritina Uss about the middle grade novels Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater and The Trolls by Polly Horvath. Lizard Music is a story of a boy, a Chicken Man, some jazz-playing lizards, and an invisible island, which all makes perfectly good sense if you are a fan Daniel Pinkwater’s surreal comic tales. The Trolls recounts the strange and humorous family stories Aunt Sally tells to the children she’s watching, stories such as about Uncle Louis who came for two weeks and stayed six years, Maud who shot eighty cougars, the Mean Little Fat Girl, and of course, the Trolls. Both books are from writers who are truly one-of-a-kind in all the best possible ways.

Christina Uss is author of the middle grade novel The Adventures of a Girl called Bicycle. You can find Christina’s website at www.christinauss.com.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Please link, share, comment, write a review or subscribe. Let me know what you think! And if you are interested in participating in the Dream Gardens podcast, send me a request through my contact page.

My next podcast will be with author Lindsay Lackey talking about the fantasy novel The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis. It will be published on October 21st.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper – an interview with Susan Adrian

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Podcast #056

For my fifty-sixth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author Susan Adrian about the middle grade fantasy novel The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper.

First published in 1973, The Dark is Rising is the second book in a series of five books known as the Dark is Rising series. It tells the story of Will Stanton, who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is one of the Old Ones, a group of beings with extraordinary powers who are battling against the Dark. Drawing on English and Celtic mythology, The Dark is Rising is both a fantasy about the never ending battle between Good and Evil and a coming of age story of a young boy who must figure his place is in the world.

Susan Adrian is the author of the YA novels Tunnel Vision and The Dark at the End and the middle grade novel Nutcracked. Her latest middle grade novel Forever Neverland was just released June, 2019. You can find Susan’s website at susanadrian.net.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Please link, share, comment, or subscribe. And if you are interested in participating in the Dream Gardens podcast, send me a request through my contact page.

My next podcast will be with author Kelly Jones, talking about the middle grade novel  The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater. It will be published on July 16th.