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Emily- Middle Grade Fiction

@emilyaverymartin

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middle grade fiction ✍️ middle school ELA teacher 📚 sailor 🧜‍♀️⛵️

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What an amazing few days we have had at #betterbooks Huge gratitude to @irene.rene.ren @chelseammoyer @sknigge and Gary Schmidt. You took us SO deep into craft - exactly where we wanted to be!!
#kidlit #authorsofinstagram #writingworkshops #middlegradebooks by @emilyaverymartin

I’m not THAT old, but I’m down to less than 10 things on my life bucket list.

One of them is to sail the Pacific crossing (Mexico or Central America) to Hiva Oa.

It’s one of the few remaining bucket list items that I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to do. (But I’m still hopeful!)

Other things on my list—
—publish novels (I’m still working on making them the best I can!)
—visit a few more countries that I've never been to but have family or other significance to me. ( Croatia, Sweden, Brazil)
—live in another country (either French or Portuguese speaking because I really want to improve those languages) for at least 6 months.
—be able to play the piano well enough to accompany singers.
—always be working on becoming a better wife, mom, daughter, sibling, ELA teacher, follower of Jesus.

Do you have a bucket list? If so, what's one fun thing on it?

#bucketlist #bucketlisttravel #sailing by @emilyaverymartin

Heartland by Jilanne Hoffman. @jilanne2694
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This middle grade novel came out this month and I read it as soon as I could.

Zyla has a complicated relationship with her mom who loves their sixth generation Iowa farm. Zyla is not as much of a fan of the farm because of all the TIME it takes to WORK! She’d rather be hanging out at the library.

Zyla wants to find out who her dad is, so when she finds an environmental disaster near their home and learns that Dad is a big-wig lawyer for a factory farming, she thinks she’s found a way to get closer to him. (Because of course, he would want to help solve an environmental problem!)

But when she discovers Dad isn’t going to help, she realizes that she’s got to help Mom and that she loves the farm too.

This novel had a unique form of a dual timeline with Mom story as a girl told in verse and Zyla’s in prose.

I’ll definitely consider teaching Heartland next year to my 5th/6th grade class. It was really eye opening to the problems with factory farming and the environmental concerns addressed within the book and in the back matter.

I recommend this for 5th-7th graders who love a good family and friend story, farms, and wants to be a bettersteward of the environment.
#mglit #elateacher #middlegradebooks by @emilyaverymartin

Are you or do you know a person who feels deeply? Someone who feels the feelings of others (including animals)? Are you an empath like me?

This middle grade novel nailed what it means to be one.

Lucy, the main character thinks she needs to be fixed because of her deep emotions, but she finds out that what she perceives as a weakness can be turned into an opportunity to love and serve her community.

I loved the setting of this novel (Prince Edward Island)! It’s full of lighthouses, lobsters, and a friend who loves Anne of Green Gables (of course)!

I highly recommend this contemporary with magic middle grade novel for 8-13 year olds, their parents, librarians, teachers, and for anyone who is an empath.

Beautifully written @erin_n_stewart !

Oh, and this is the most beautiful cover I’ve seen in a long time!

#mglit #middlegradebooks #empath #mg middleschoolela by @emilyaverymartin

I bought this book from a recommendation of the children’s’ section bookseller at Topping and Company in Edinburgh. It helped me to remember why as a nine-year old kid I promised myself that someday I’d be a mystery writer.

Fast forward a lot of years and I’m finally working on my first middle grade mystery. I had to write several other books first because let’s face it, writing a good mystery is hard work. (Writing any book is hard work but a mystery is even more challenging.)

@ellarisbridger did a fabulous job writing this beauty. It’s got all the feels— flawed characters that you come to love, a murder, and a cast of suspects. Oh, and a boat, which is course another reason I loved it.

#mglit #mgliterature #mgmystery #middlegradebooks #mysterybooks by @emilyaverymartin

I knew I was going to love this book from the first chapter! I always know if a book will be a favorite if I can listen to the audio version first and love it. (I'm much more of an eye-reader than an ear-reader.)

The audio was great, so I bought the book and reread it, and wow. Debut author, Adam Rosenbaum @rosenbaumwrites has voice!

I'm always impressed when an author can really tie humor in with serious topics which Rosenbaum does in this book. There were moments that the voice of the character reminded me of my favorite author, Gary D. Schmidt, which if you know Gary's work, you know that's a huge compliment!

Elwood McGee has ghost sight. Who knew there would be so many ghosts in the town Elwood and his parents move after the tragic death of his brother?
Now, that Elwood knows he can see ghosts, he's got to figure out a way to get back to his old home and talk to his brother again.

I think any 8-12 year old would enjoy this book. (And all adults like me that love middle grade, too.) by @emilyaverymartin

I write in cafes, libraries, park benches, the beach, in my car waiting for kids, but mostly I write at a boring desk in my bedroom.

Here I’m feeling the Harry Potter vibes. I do get inspired by seeing where famous authors got their inspiration and Edinburgh is an inspiring place!
#theelephanthouse #edinburgh #harrypotter by @emilyaverymartin

The Peach Thief, set in Victorian England, was hard to put down. Linda Joan Smith creates a character, Scilla, who you want to follow to the end (and beyond!) This is an upper middle grade novel and would also be a great read for YA readers.

After the loss of her two friends, Scilla, an orphan in a workhouse in England, sneaks into the Earl's Garden for a peach. Oh, a glorious peach! She's caught and becomes an apprentice gardener but no one (or so she thinks) knows that she is a girl! Only boys are allowed to be gardeners.

Scilla falls in love with plants and a bit in love with another gardener, Phin who entices her to steal an occasional piece of delicious fruit. She finds favor with the head gardener and earns his trust, so when she is tempted by Phin on the night of the Prince's arrival to break in and steal a coveted apple, Scilla must decide who she really is and where her loyalties lie. (Garden of Eden vibes are real here.)

Smith builds constant tension in this book through Scilla's emotions and through her hiding the fact she is a girl. It helps the reader see the disparity of wealth and gender during this time in England.

The Peach Thief is a compelling historical read. I recommend it to older middle grade readers and young adults. Adults will love it too! (There are hints of adult themes in a few occasions.)

#middlegradebooks #middlegradefiction #middleschoolteacher #mglit #yabook #kidlit by @emilyaverymartin

Fun times this summer with my son out of @santacruzharbor on our Hobie Holder 14.
#sailing #sailingstagram #sailingfamily #hobieholder14 by @emilyaverymartin

Looking to the Lake of Shining Waters from where L.M. Montgomery once gazed.

I love visiting famous authors homes! (So far I’ve been to Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott (my favorite one!), John Steinbeck, Emily Dickinson, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Stephan King, and now L.M. Montgomery. (Still have Jane Austen on my list!)

I also once hiked to Robert Louis Stevenson’s grave in Samoa.

My favorite things to see in the historic homes are the author’s writing desk and the view from their windows!

Have you visited any well-known author’s homes? If so, which ones? What did you love about them?

Thank you, @miriamherm for the great shot!

#anneofgreengables #princeedwardsisland #pei #childrensliterature #lmmontgomery #famousauthors #famousauthorshomes by @emilyaverymartin

Candle Island by Lauren Wolk ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

There are a few authors out there who are auto-buys for me. When Lauren Wolk publishes a book, I pre-order it at my local bookstore because I know I’ll not only love it, I’ll want to own it. (And I’ll likely want to teach it to my students!)

Candle Island is my favorite of hers yet. (Which is saying a lot!) I listened to her on a podcast recently where she shared that she starts her books with setting. I’m so amazed how this really pulls me into the mood of her book immediately! And I’m impressed with how beautifully she creates her characters in these settings.

Candle Island takes place in Maine.

I fell in love with the main character of Candle Island, Lucretia who moves to Maine with her mother after her dad dies in an accident. She takes in a baby osprey, is an artist, and a girl with a secret.

She befriends Bastian who has a secret of his own and who is willing to teach her the waters in her new sailboat, a sailboat that used to belong to one of the town girls, Murdock, who isn’t much of a fan of Lucretia for good reason.

Lucretia, Bastian, and Murdock are all eventually drawn together by their secret talents and a shared goal to help solve a town mystery.

This book touches on themes of creativity, honesty, friendship, and standing in your own power.

Did I mention that the writing is incredibly beautiful? All of Wolk’s works are. I love to read her books slowly and hold on to each sentence. Each word. (With the hope that some of that beautiful writing will rub off on me and just for the pure enjoyment of beautiful language. )

Oh, and the sailing scenes in this book I loved! It was fun that I was reading it at the same time I got my boat out of storage to fix it up and get back on the water! ⛵️ Made me want to move to Maine and have my own dock or little mooring!

I highly recommend this book for all ages! Adults will also love it. It would be a great read aloud for families too.

#laurenwolk #candleisland #mgliterature #mglit #maine #middlegrade #middlegradebooks #middlegradefiction #middlegradereads #childrensbooksboost #bookstagram by @emilyaverymartin

I love all my bookshelves but especially this one. It has all my favorite middle grade reads. And as always, I organize them in rainbow colors. #bookstagram #mglit #mgliterature #rainbowbookshelf #elateacher by @emilyaverymartin