The Disappearance of the Two Hunters

Creative Writing explores various genres of writing because often times kids don't know where their writing excels. Detective stories, or mysteries, put the skills students have learned in Ms. Grant's Creative Writing class to the test. Students have to think about setting, character, dialog, plot, etc. Most importantly, these stories help to develop reasoning skills, and they have to work together to make the story flow.  So, sit back, engage your brain, and solve a few crimes with some of our finest amateur detectives in Grant's Middle School Mysteries series. 

Shauna Holyoak and I discuss her KAZU JONES series with tips for writing middle grade mysteries, rewriting a story until it's right, and writing about a protagonist that's a different race than her author. Shauna tells the tale of how she landed her agent, previous guest Carrie Pestritto, and how she started her literary career after becoming a parent by writing a regular column. We also chat about book marketing, school visits, actively working to transition from a pantser to a plotter, and so much more. Shauna has been telling stories long before she could ride a bike, and some of them are even true! She writes for kids and teens and thinks it’s kinda the best job ever. KAZU JONES AND THE DENVER DOGNAPPERS is her debut novel, and it was released by Disney-Hyperion in April, 2019! She lives in Idaho Falls, ID with her husband, six of their seven children, and two naughty dogs. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/middle-grade-ninja/support

Ron Keoleian hosts The 5th Pillar, a podcast series with a more relaxed approach to education. This episode features 8th grade students from Larson Middle School. Topics discussed include how each student learns about the world, education now vs. when their parents were students, and the overall middle school experience.