S1 E6: Real Kids and Punchy Chapters with Barbara Dee

Today’s guest writes books that are best described with these words: Award Winning. Real Challenges. Resilience. Humor. Barbara Dee is the author of 14 middle grade novels and is the QUEEN (in our opinion) of capturing that middle grade voice as well as depicting tough topics in an accessible way for kids. Our talk with Barbara Dee was full of strategies on how to write authentic voices, chapter titles, and keeping tension solid throughout the book to keep readers turning pages.You can listen to the podcast above or on Apple Podcasts. DiscussionWe would love to hear from our listeners! What other ways can you tap into the mindset of a middle schooler for your writing if you are not a teacher or guardian of a student? Leave us a comment. Thank you for listening and sharing! If you are interested in joining our book club, complete this google form.Music credits: Will SaulnierAbout Barbara Dee* Awards among her 14 novels include several starred reviews, The Washington Post’s Best Children’s Books, ALA Notable Children’s Books, ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, School Library Journal’s Best Middle Grade Books, and the ALA Rainbow List Top Ten. Her books appear on numerous state awards lists as well.* Graduated magna cum laude from Yale with honors in English.* MA degree from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English and a JD degree from the University of Chicago Law School.* One of the founders and a former board member of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival, now the largest children’s book festival in the country.UnstuckLyla is thrilled when her seventh-grade English language arts class begins a daily creative writing project. For the past year, she’s been writing a brilliant fantasy novel in her head, and here’s her chance to get it on paper! The plot to Lyla’s novel is super complicated, with battle scenes and witches and a mysterious one-toed-beast, but at its core, it’s about an overlooked girl who has to rescue her beautiful, highly accomplished older sister.But writing a fantasy novel turns out to be harder than simply imagining one, and pretty soon Lyla finds herself stuck, experiencing a panic she realizes is writer’s block. Part of the problem is that she’s trying to impress certain people—like Rania, her best friend who’s pulling away, and Ms. Bowman, the coolest teacher at school. Plus, there’s the pressure of meeting the deadline for the town writing contest. A few years ago, Lyla’s superstar teen sister Dahlia came in second, and this time, Lyla is determined to win first prize.Finally, Lyla confides about her writing problems to Dahlia, who is dealing with her own academic stress as she applies to college. That’s when she learns Dahlia’s secret, which is causing a very different type of writer’s block. Can Lyla rescue a surprisingly vulnerable big sister, both on the page and in real life?* A Junior Library Guild selection* Colby Sharp’s Awesome 2024 Books* Reading Middle Grade: Realistic Fiction Books for 5th GradersLooking AheadWe have amazing authors coming in future months! Order the books now and join our discussion.Follow UsFollow Alexis on all the places in her link tree.Follow Brittany on her substack.See you next month!Thanks for reading Read to Write Kidlit Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readtowritekidlit.substack.com