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Middle Grade Book Spotlight--Characters as Authors!!!

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Our middle grade book spotlight this week is on books that feature a main character who is passionate about writing since it is the start of NaNoWriMo!  NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it takes place every November.  The goal of this month is to encourage individuals to explore their creative writing side; you set a goal for how many words you want to write throughout the month and then you start your story and see where it takes you.  These titles serve as encouragement for all who up for this challenge; if you are interested in participating this year more information can be found on the NaNoWriMo site.  These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthnanowrimo as well as on Libby and Hoopla.  Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!

The School Story by Andrew Clements--After twelve-year-old Natalie writes a wonderful novel, her friend Zoe helps her devise a scheme to get it accepted at the publishing house where Natalie's mother works as an editor.

Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan--A visiting author teaches five friends about the power of words and writing.

Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise--In this story told mostly through letters, children's book author, I. B. Grumply, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.

Jack’s Black Book by Jack Gantos--Comic misadventures ensue when seventh-grader Jack tries to write the great American novel.

Lily B. on the Brink of Cool by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel--Thirteen-year-old Lily Blennerhassett is facing a boring summer vacation without her best friend. Her summer English project is to keep a journal, and Lily thinks she won’t have anything to write about. However, she meets distant relatives--the LeBlancs--at her cousin’s wedding and is instantly attracted to this cool and stylish family. Despite her parent’s orders to stay away from them, Lily starts to imitate the LeBlancs and sneak away to be with them. The LeBlancs take advantage of Lily, and her credit card, before it is revealed that the family of con artists is going to sue her parents. 

The Glass Town Game by Catherynne Valente--The Brontë sisters, Charlotte and Emily, are traveling to a boarding school when the train magically whisks them to a magical land that existed only in the games the Brontë sisters played as children in an imaginary land called Glass Town. And as their imaginations come to life, they girls learn that their other two sisters have been abducted and must race to rescue them and keep an evil Napoleon from escaping Glass Town and taking over England.