An exciting new children's fiction blog - and a cool contest too!

Blogs are one of my favorite ways to keep up with all the news in the world of children's literature. The web is bursting at the seams with funny, informative book-related blogs, some of which are linked to this one (see the menu on the left)!

Well, there's a new blog on the block: From the Mixed-Up Files, which is aimed at middle-grade readers and the adults who love them. What is a middle grade book? It's one for kids who are old enough to sink their teeth into a chapter book but who are not yet ready for edgier, mature teen fiction.

The name of this blog was inspired by one of the all-time middle-grade classics, E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This superb mystery/adventure novel so profoundly excited my imagination as a child that when I first set foot in the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an adult, all I could think was that I was finally walking in the footsteps of Claudia and her brother!

What can you find on this blog? Well, there are suggested reading lists, tips and links for parents, interviews with authors, new book releases, and more. Written as a collaborative project by a group of notable published authors of middle grade fiction, they are also giving away free books all summer! Why don't you check out the rules and try your luck?