Podcast appearances and mentions of Laura Ruby

Join Beatrice, Laura and Bevelyn discussing permaculture.In This Podcast: Beatrice Nathan, Laura Ruby, and Bevelyn Okla, discuss their personal journeys and collective efforts in promoting permaculture. Beatrice, a permaculture educator, began her journey in home gardening and sustainability. Laura's experience includes studying permaculture design in Australia and teaching globally. Bevelyn combines her background in sociology, anthropology, and art with a focus on racial equity and storytelling in agriculture. Together, they highlight the transformational potential of permaculture design courses, emphasizing relationships, equity, and disaster preparedness. They also share personal anecdotes of how permaculture has changed their lives, underscoring its broader impact beyond agricultural practices. The trio runs a course in Asheville, North Carolina, integrating diverse perspectives and focusing on sustainability and community resilience..Visit UrbanFarm.org/GrowandHarvest for the show notes and links on this episode! Need a little bit of advice or just a feedback on your design for your yard or garden?The Urban Farm Team is offering consults over the phone or zoom. Get the benefits of a personalized garden and yard space analysis without the cost of trip charges. You can chat with Greg, Janis or Ray to get permaculture based feedback.Click HERE to learn more!Become an Urban Farm Patron and listen to more than 850 episodes of the Urban Farm Podcast without ads. Click HERE to learn more.*Disclosure: Some of the links in our podcast show notes and blog posts are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, we will earn a nominal commission at no cost to you. We offer links to items recommended by our podcast guests and guest writers as a service to our audience and these items are not selected because of the commission we receive from your purchases. We know the decision is yours, and whether you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

Description: In this episode, we explore the concept of a mindful workplace, its practices, and the profound impact it can have on employee and business success.  Resources: Wellness Toolkit  Wellness Guide  Welcome to Workplace Wellness Publication  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Laura Ruby  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Laura Ruby  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR. MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:48:24 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. We're we're really hearing more about mindful workplaces nowadays. We thought we would take today's podcast, really think about this topic more in-depth. So i'm here with Laura Ruby senior HR Business partner and HR Business advisor for mra. We're really going to talk about why mindful workplaces are trending or what you really need to be aware of. 00:00:49:05 - 00:01:11:19 Unknown What are some of the challenges that come along with it in more so or thanks so much for joining us today. I really, really appreciate it. Well thank you. So I'm really pleased to be here. This is definitely a timely concept, I think, for a number of employees to consider or employers to consider. Yeah, absolutely. And I know we were talking about that. 00:01:11:21 - 00:02:02:12 Unknown You're very passionate about this topic and you've been working in the HR for such a long time that this is kind of the perfect topic to go over today. So I think we should kind of start out with what is a mindful workplace. Can you define it? Yes, so mindful workplace is really a combination of factors as we look at new initiatives that people are working towards in that space is really developing an awareness of an individual's thought processes, their emotions and their actions, and helping to enable them to laser focus on those and remove obstacles to productivity and really improving the work workplace from a variety of different aspects. 00:02:02:14 - 00:02:50:21 Unknown Yeah, absolutely. And you guys in part two to that question. Can you describe what that whole concept of the mindful workplace really encompasses? It's actually quite broad in as well. In talk today we'll touch on all of those components but it's it's combining more Eastern philosophies about issues of meditation or focus and concentration, breathing, as well as branching into mental health aspects that are damaging workplaces right now and helping individuals to deal with their own anxiety, stress, as well as other things like other issues they may be experiencing. 00:02:50:21 - 00:03:20:21 Unknown And in relationships, finances, you know, you name it. So it's a very good I'm going to discuss how the company can actually sort of work with developing a healthier source. And actually, I feel like it's definitely transformed throughout the years or in my opinion, I feel like employers didn't really talk about this kind of stuff as much as they do now. 00:03:20:22 - 00:03:48:15 Unknown They didn't care as much about, you know, providing all these resources and mental health resources and wellness resources to employees. So I think it's great we can kind of cover that and talk about it and just the process and how it's evolved over the years, too. So my next question then would be, do you have any practices that a mindful workplace can kind of what can you implement? 00:03:48:15 - 00:04:35:23 Unknown What practices can you implement to create a mindful workplace? I mean, it's all over the map, but I think that really companies that are finding great success with implementing mindfulness, they're starting more starting small programs available to employees, maybe with classes or chair yoga, breathing exercises and some of those smaller components into helping the individual so as to what they're thinking and to continue to say that laser focus on what's in front of them rather than all these other things that may be coming from local personal life or other anxieties. 00:04:36:00 - 00:05:16:00 Unknown So really, it's starting small forces or activities designed to encourage that, as well as programs designed to work to tell physical and mental health things like walking programs or competitions within companies where people compete on a physical level to the mental health aspects and making sure that insurance programs feel great. And it's available to employees, including people who are in search of more provided. 00:05:16:00 - 00:05:48:07 Unknown So it's a very broad spectrum. Some of the larger companies are also includes things like meditation rooms or Zen areas or places where it's cool to take a break there and get reflective. And there are things that people want to address. Yeah, those are all great examples, Laura And I'm thinking about Emirates specifically, some of the cool things we do with our wellness. 00:05:48:09 - 00:06:10:01 Unknown Something I love in the summer, we'll kind of get a group of employees together and walk around. We have some trails around here and the walk show location and that's just great to kind of take like a mental health break, take a walk kind of reboot almost. And we also have a masseuse come once in a while, which is awesome. 00:06:10:03 - 00:06:48:06 Unknown That's a plus. So, yeah, a lot of great examples of what organizations can do well. And I know are you talked about starting small. You don't have to implement this huge idea right away. But what's what other steps can be taken to create a culture that values and supports this mindfulness? Well, that's a really good question. You know, a lot of research out there is built in on more so management assertiveness and exhibiting these behaviors and then having that trickle down effect within the organizations. 00:06:48:06 - 00:07:42:15 Unknown So many companies will start to train their managers on the basic concepts and helping them to modify their behaviors to help other people. And so along with this process, because a lot of them view that managers are kind of the key to their success in the organization. And if you have a manager that's been, you know, like micromanaging to use the term or, you know, laser focus on what people are doing right then, and that can really put a bad tone in the organization as employees, more stress and so more specific, the focus is really to train the managers first and then implement some of these programs for the interviews to help encourage them to 00:07:42:15 - 00:08:14:02 Unknown take that step back and begin to give themselves some additional brave souls. Feel throughout the day. And so a lot of the programs that were designed or have some training programs in the beginning where they'll people there are a number of number of mental health app type applications or mindfulness applications that people install on their desktop or their cell. 00:08:14:04 - 00:08:44:04 Unknown So they encourage that as well as integrating a lot of training, maybe even utilize you to come in and talk about more stressful things that might be pressing individuals who trying to work with children and then someone is engaged with adult care for them, trying to manage those needs. It's on both ends of the spectrum to put that stuff aside and let yourself levels. 00:08:44:06 - 00:09:22:10 Unknown Absolutely. And I know we talked about this a little bit in the beginning, but what about the physical workspace being designed to encourage this mindfulness and others quiet areas, massage room, but any other examples that you can give the physical workspace, specifically? And I think this one is really important and I find myself doing this every at least once a week, just decluttering your office and taking that time to organize it so that things are not visually distracting you. 00:09:22:12 - 00:10:03:08 Unknown You have easy access to them. For example, I support simple members as well as working on the front line. So I basically moved all of my materials out of the visual area. So a couple of computers set up on my desktop and I tried very diligently to only have one computer on the time, but decluttering, moving things where they're easy to get to, but not in the visual space and using common colors, things like to look at, you know, I have a number of pictures in here with my grandchildren and they're kind of between the screen here. 00:10:03:08 - 00:10:32:01 Unknown But, you know, you can use the same concept in your own workspace, even a cubicle or, you know, things just to create that environment. So the grid, as we mentioned, setting up spaces where things can get a little comfortable. Both of these have been stored on a break room. They have like couches and easy chairs for people to sit in versus just the table and a more sterile environment. 00:10:32:03 - 00:11:01:08 Unknown And as you mentioned, like having a Zen room or meditation or just a space that people can go into. But so yeah, I love those. Yeah. And I would add to for the Quiet Areas piece at MRA, we have focus rooms and those are something I definitely take advantage of on a day to day basis. And they're just quiet rooms. 00:11:01:08 - 00:11:24:01 Unknown You can go to solo rooms, kind of gets rid of all the distraction and allows you just kind of focus on your own work. So that's something that I really love about our physical workspace, but also the natural light to think having windows is so important and letting the sun come in or is snow light I guess right now. 00:11:24:03 - 00:11:57:10 Unknown Right, Right. But yeah, even in the offices there in Wisconsin, the turkeys come up near the windows. And so you kind of get this natural breaks throughout the day, taking a step back to nature and kind of disengage from work stress. So stressful opportunities just get into a different. definitely. Definitely. Well, now that we've kind of talked about all the logistics of it, what impact does it really have on employees and business success, too? 00:11:57:12 - 00:12:31:17 Unknown Well, it's not staggering when you talk about the mental health aspect of this. There was a recent study done that nearly half of the employees that were surveyed, I believe this is survey of people they had mentioned almost half the time that their mental stress or issues that they had got into the workplace and in fact they it to so, you know, this is a pretty serious area when you have our high pressure environments. 00:12:31:17 - 00:13:11:14 Unknown We have technology that is helping us to be more efficient. That can sometimes be a distraction as well, where those types of things can certainly effect productivity at work. You also see where employee absenteeism increases when they have to deal with stress or dealing with lots of issues. But now you have employee satisfaction and engagement, which is a huge factor in this as well, is highly impacted by developing those mindfulness practices there. 00:13:11:14 - 00:13:54:19 Unknown As the workforce becomes more engaged to it, we'll see other things like reduced toxicity as a higher productivity and just a number of other things within the organization, especially the team will sort of go into these like best companies to work or those organizations or you see continue to be up there addressing these issues regularly. You absolutely. I think it's also helpful to give some examples of wellness programs so that companies can start thinking about some ideas for themselves. 00:13:54:19 - 00:14:35:19 Unknown So what wellness programs are in place to support employees mental and emotional well-being? For example, there are a couple of other offenders that are out there that have websites within engagement, and they can provide things from training to other directed things for the organization. A lot of companies can work with their community against some training or some other activities to help themselves establish these programs and really it's initiatives that a company needs to undertake and puts in it. 00:14:35:21 - 00:15:10:09 Unknown So they know the company is saying, we recognize that we need to improve mental health so they can begin to throw out some of those initiatives. So again, focusing on the key points that they want to bring into focus group and being mindful as well as the challenge that there's something one of the other things we've seen a lot of conference engaging in is really looking at the effectiveness of our job is goals. 00:15:10:11 - 00:15:51:00 Unknown So we may have a job description, but it could be that the person fails to do so. Do set the tone. So we structured those positions to be acceptable, normal. And again, we're working with some of those wellness providers to implement some of those programs and really give them a start of influence to start us with. They've already given hope to or different types of services into the organization, or they can project because they've worked with some of these programs as well. 00:15:51:02 - 00:16:22:15 Unknown And then I think the next step we see HRC developmental University for tax and spend is outward to see what services they can provide in that space, because again, it's going to be a balancing act of financial commitment. So the company will do little space to implement some of these ideas again and again. The other important aspect to serving themselves to actually find out what it is that they would do, just sitting, just sitting. 00:16:22:16 - 00:16:47:09 Unknown And I think that's another survey back to said, you know, companies go where, you know, about 60% of companies to be doing a great job if you ask their employees and they're like, no, I'm not participating. I'm not really seeing some interest to me. So we're going to get their feedback soon. So let's do the work for you as an individual. 00:16:47:11 - 00:17:18:04 Unknown And then using that David style, allow it to influence the audience. Yeah, that's a great point to bring up. Absolutely. You talked about that stat with how mental health impacts productivity. So wondering if you're kind of seeing anything else here with our mental health really impacts productivity at work. It's well, if you look at company, it's going to be a little bit different. 00:17:18:06 - 00:17:51:05 Unknown But I think if you were thinking about mental health, there are a number of programs designed to work the same as you're providing additional counseling services, maybe through your income, more services available to employees, and then financial wellness and helping them to work with their retirement programs into the future. Now let's look and see what we can set up to really help support financial unexpected financial things. 00:17:51:05 - 00:18:21:16 Unknown So with individuals who are gearing those programs to help minimize anxiety or stress or know that concept or those day to day activities or childcare is another area where, again, you know, it's a huge worry for people watching as to how they're going to provide support to have the right resources available to them, what happens with their child. 00:18:21:16 - 00:18:45:06 Unknown So how they deal with that. So a lot of those focuses to help minimize stress for people and allow them to step away from that. And the other great focus and I think going off of that work life balance talk, when you're talking about care, spending time, that's where the work life balance kind of also comes into play here. 00:18:45:06 - 00:19:14:20 Unknown So we actually had a whole podcast alone on work life balance. So it's definitely important and something you know, everyone wants. So do you have any suggestions for employers how they can help balance work life, work life balance for their employees? Yeah, I think there's a number of things that a company can do. One, they talked battles for reevaluating the jobs being done. 00:19:14:22 - 00:19:47:20 Unknown Are they being done effectively because a lot of work stress comes from that. That very aspect that my job is, is to do an area where I don't have the right tools to get the job done or there may be other efficiencies. So you do not want to remove that stress, but it seems like very flexible hours so people can stylize hours so they're the best person, that sort of thing to do to get kids to school and pick them up in the day they can. 00:19:47:22 - 00:20:24:07 Unknown A special hybrid workplace is also really powerful in addressing that. So identifying when you want to stack all that work around you do work from home. It's that's with a manufacturing environment. It might be implementing, you know, five minute breaks in manufacturing or some other ways to stagger breaks so that people can stop working a little more frequently throughout the day versus just confining that small your ten or 15 minute period. 00:20:24:09 - 00:20:54:02 Unknown So there's a lot of things that something you can evaluate that would work in day and again, contribute to some of that work life balance. You know, and it just shows. I think that's the final thing. You know, companies can use. They're buying talent. So speed is providing it for brands or a health care child. You know, some of these are very aspects of THRIVE. 00:20:54:04 - 00:21:32:10 Unknown I know several companies I work with nowadays. And how do they bring you directly into work and they take it up and have it done for you. And so, you know, and utilizing tools like, you know, ordering your groceries online from the microwave. So there's a person that you can co-champions. Lots of people do. Yeah. Why don't we try to This is how we work for you to help in that flexibility that we're trying to develop in. 00:21:32:13 - 00:22:04:11 Unknown Well, yeah. What's going to make their life easier, right? Yes. I'd like to draw on my laundry and have somebody to get done. Something I read about when I was kind of restructuring for this topic today was Holistic well-being initiative. So things that kind of encompass physical, mental and emotional health. So what are some initiatives employers can implement around here? 00:22:04:13 - 00:22:37:00 Unknown Well, and that's, you know, again, if you take a step back to look at all your wellness programs, what are you offering today and what can you bring in? There are programs that we've been developed that are a little more integrated. So you can say here, I want to create a program about, you know, balancing work so and so things where you coach them and say, you know, when you get into work, take 5 minutes at the beginning of work to just kind of arrive and be at your desk. 00:22:37:02 - 00:23:02:13 Unknown Don't check your email, save your email review. So maybe 20 minutes into the job or, you know, or implementing, there's a technique called the Pomodoro technique, where you divide up your your time into 25 minute increments and you take just a slight break between them. So you just only focus on one thing for 25 minutes to explain two things. 00:23:02:13 - 00:23:40:03 Unknown So if you're implementing, if you're doing project management, you can build that into it as well. So I think just really being open minded as an employer as to what options and again, this is for the survey too. So in handy is to help isolate, you know, what are things that employees interested in. And really I think what inhibits of employees from participating in those initiatives at work is sometimes the time you're hosting a one hour training course. 00:23:40:05 - 00:24:07:13 Unknown Many employees, more than ten of them because they're like, I can't go that. But you can break that down to 15 minute sessions. You'll see that your attendance rates increase. So again, you're really trying to find a sweet spot for what you're offering and how much observation is in that program and then doing follow up. So that was useful. 00:24:07:15 - 00:24:35:16 Unknown You know, how learned about this topic. One of the topics that they want to and so that's not so good, but it's again, taking that to the stage where our approach, it's not just one solution, but there are many aspects to it. Yeah, finding the balance, Google optimization. And I would just emphasize what you said on surveys and employee surveys and Emery can help you with that. 00:24:35:16 - 00:24:57:23 Unknown We have employee surveys, we can help you with custom surveys. So I will make sure to add the link in the show notes. So if you do want to check that out, absolutely go for that. But we're I feel like a lot of managers or leaders may be asking the question right now, how do you know this is having an impact on your employees and your organization? 00:24:58:00 - 00:25:40:03 Unknown Yeah, actually, using metrics, we can implement a lot of metrics within your own organization to measure. First, I would suggest to a baseline to consumer research. So like how often are we missing deadlines or other aspects within the organization? Absenteeism, utilization of PTO also seems to give you an overall view of where we'll start today, even serving and things again we've utilized since then, since getting baseline on the effectiveness of the program is today. 00:25:40:05 - 00:26:17:23 Unknown And then as you move forward with these, once you're putting them out one by one by one, you can measure it into the survey information of that work, which is improving things long term and a little bit annually, you look at absenteeism rates and see how that's being affected or turnover statistics is number one. So as you see absenteeism rates starting to decline now, people lower turnover in the organization and all of these are indicators of several components of success, the wellness. 00:26:17:23 - 00:26:59:12 Unknown But I think again, like I keep harping on it, surveys are a good way to pinpoint work as this affected where you can use exit interviews for people who do leave the organization and find out where do you see the lowest since or something that could have helped to reduce you? And then again, employee feedback about their managers, because again, we've talked about this all starts with leadership and has a trickle down effect and identifying leaders that maybe needs some additional support as well in their managerial style indicators. 00:26:59:14 - 00:27:36:10 Unknown So these are all ways that you can say, yes, we will evaluate that. Some statistics to look at are performing over time. Yeah, sounds like there's a lot of indicators and tools out there to help you kind of measure that impact. And even some of those are mobile applications that people are downloading and which is the organization will store information that can with what effect without utilization and maybe help identify some other areas that people might want to expand upon. 00:27:36:12 - 00:28:12:08 Unknown Well, or as we kind of close out the episode today, is there one thing that you want our listeners to really take away from today's episode on Mindful Workplaces? I know it's it's a lot and there are a lot of stigma associated with meditation or, you know, doing yoga or a lot of things like that, but recognizing that there isn't a one that's all sort of solution, that it's got to be customized to workplace. 00:28:12:10 - 00:28:40:15 Unknown No being well connected experiences to be able to get that feedback, but was one of them in one thing. This is a journey that's about me as an individual. First and then come to me as a company. How we're going to provide resources and tools for each individual on that labor station. So keeping that in your mind, it will help you to develop these break ins. 00:28:40:17 - 00:29:13:23 Unknown Now it's up to me in to help them to use it to help reduce stress, anxiety, stress, anxiety. Just for sure. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being our guest on today's topic and sharing all of your expertise, because I know you have so much in this area. I think everyone can really walk away with a lot of great new ideas and action steps that they can take to create a mindful workplace if they haven't already. 00:29:14:00 - 00:29:36:21 Unknown But to our listeners listening and watching, if you liked our chat and our topic today, I would encourage you to share this episode out and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. Like I said, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below and we have resources on this topic too, so make sure to look at the show notes and thanks for tuning in, Laura. 00:29:36:21 - 00:29:57:00 Unknown Thanks for joining us today and we will see you next week and that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign in to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure you follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. 00:29:57:00 - 00:30:01:22 Unknown Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.  

Listen to Passengers Journal Volume 3 Issue 4 in its entirety. This issue features work from Laura Ruby, Joanna Acevedo, Lisa Ampleman, Mazzy Sleep, J Brooke, Karen Regen-Tuero, Tomas Baiza, and many more. Many thanks to our Audio team, our contributors, and our editors and readers for making this listening experience possible. This Audio Issue represents the hard work and dedication of more than fifty volunteers. Edited, mastered, produced and compiled by John E. Brady.  Passengers Literary Press, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All staff donate their time and effort. If you'd like to support our mission to publish art that is necessary rather than desired, please consider donating at the link below.Support the show

Amanda and Jenn discuss books set in the Caribbean, low-stakes fun, blind dates with sci-fi, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. For listener feedback and questions, as well as a complete list of books discussed in this episode, visit our website. Feedback The Backup by Erica Kudisch (rec'd by April) American Pop by Snowden Wright (rec'd by Tori) The Love Songs of WEB Dubois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers (rec'd by Siobhan) Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Montecello, Morgan Jerkins's Wandering in Strange Lands, and Jenn Shapland's My Autobiography of Carson McCullers (rec'd by Gina) Books Discussed The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling Machinehood by S.B. Divya (cw: death of a child, unwanted pregnancy) His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard (cw: racial violence and slurs, harm to children) Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto Heroine Complex series by Sarah Kuhn When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby (cw: violence against women and children) (rec'd by Annika) Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim (tw rape, ethnic war) When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite Dominicana by Angie Cruz (tw domestic violence) When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, my new obsession (out March 15 but i don't care) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Late in the evening on Friday, January 8, 1993, the employees in one particular restaurant in Palatine Chicago didn't know at the time that they would not be going home that night. Hours after these workers began their closing routine, all seven of their bodies would be discovered inside of Brown's Chicken, a popular restaurant chain. Upon entering the bloody scene, officer Ron Conley dispatched backup saying “Five in the cooler.” This tragedy was the worst mass murder in the Chicago area since 1966 when Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses in their dorm. It would take nine long years for authorities to receive a break in the horrendous case widely known as the Brown's Chicken Massacre.Check us out: Visit Murderish.com for more info about the show and Creator/Host, Jami. The website also has links to buy MURDERISH merchandise and become a Patreon supporter. Patreon subscribers can get access to exclusive Patreon-only episodes. To sign up for Patreon perks, click “Go Behind the Scenes” on the website OR click here for a direct link to our Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/Murderish.Let's get social: @MurderishPod (Twitter), @MurderishPodcast (Instagram), search “Murderish podcast” (Facebook).Sponsors:Halo Collar: Visit ShopHaloCollar.com/murderish to save 20% on your order.Hedgren: Visit hedgren.com/murderish for 20% off plus free shipping with your order.Gainful: Visit Gainful.com/murderish for $20 off your personalized supplements.Laura Ruby: Check out “Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All,” a historical mystery book by Laura Ruby.Want to advertise on this show? We've partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising requests. Click this link to get started advertising your brand, podcast, company etc. on MURDERISH https://www.advertisecast.com/MURDERISH.Pre-roll podcast promo: “The Next Call” with David Ridgen by CBC Podcasts. Find the podcast wherever podcasts are available & make sure to “follow” or “subscribe!”Production & Music: John & Jessica Bukenas of Audio Editing Solutions (production), Nico Vettese of We Talk of Dreams (music).Research & Writing: Steve Field.Jami's new podcast: Subscribe to or follow Judgey & Juryish wherever you listen to podcasts!Remember, listening to this podcast doesn't make you a murderer, it just means you're murder...ish.

A West Point Cadet receives a mysterious visitor. . .and then vanishes. Despite the full force of the US government behind a multi-year search, missing cadet Richard Colvin Cox seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Or has he?   Go to Masterclass.com/STRANGE for 15% off a MasterClass annual membership!  Learn more about Laura Ruby's Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All: https://lauraruby.com/books/thirteen-doorways/ Written and Hosted by Laurah Norton Researched by Bryan Worters with additional research by Laurah Norton  Engineered, Edited, Scored, and Produced by Maura Currie  Sources on our website: https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon for early release and ad-free episodes, exclusive stories, and bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/OneStrangeThing Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OSTPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onestrangethingpod/  and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/One-Strange-Thing-114307627035607 Want to advertise/sponsor our show? We have partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. They're great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started. https://www.advertisecast.com/OneStrangeThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you write a 1920s style detective novel that's set in the 2020s? Thanks to Elly Griffiths, aka Domenica De Rosa, for joining me today to talk about her love of golden age crime fiction and how she put that into her award winning novel The Postscript Murders. She also writes the Ruth Galloway series and the Brighton Mysteries series — find out more at her website ellygriffiths.co.uk and follower her on Twitter @ellygriffiths. The Shedunnit Book Club is reading The Postscript Murders in June 2021 — if you'd like to join us you can become a member at shedunnitbookclub.com/join. There are no major spoilers in this episode, but there is some reference to the plot outline of The Postscript Murders. Books referenced: — The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths — Cinderella Goes To The Morgue by Nancy Spain — A Girl Called Justice by Elly Griffiths — Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh — The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman — By The Pricking Of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie — The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey — Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK independent bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge. Thanks to today’s sponsors. You can get $5 off mail based Victorian mystery game Dear Holmes at dearholmes.com/shedunnit using code "shedunnit" at checkout. The audiobook of Laura Ruby's Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All is available at your audiobook retailer of choice. To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter. The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice. Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/goldenageinspirationtranscript. Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Listen to why youth librarian, Lisa K thinks you should read York: The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby. Written For: 5th-7th Genre: Mystery Themes: Alternative history New York, Jewish religion, treasure hunt, steampunk, diverse Check it out here: https://search.westervillelibrary.org/iii/encore/search/C__St%3A%28york%29%20%28laura%20ruby%29__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold

Texas is invaded by a very unwelcome, and extremely gelatinous, visitor. Could this blob be a particularly virulent fungi--or, as residents suspect, something a little more extraterrestrial?  Go to Hello Fresh http://hellofresh.com/strange12 and use code strange12 for 12 free meals, including free shipping!  Learn more about Laura Ruby’s Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All: https://lauraruby.com/books/thirteen-doorways/ Special thanks to Bradley George of WUSF for lending us his voice. Hosted and Edited by Laurah Norton Written, Researched, Engineered, Scored, and Produced by Maura Currie  Sources on our website: https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon for early release and ad-free episodes, exclusive stories, and bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/OneStrangeThing Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OSTPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onestrangethingpod/  and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/One-Strange-Thing-114307627035607 Want to advertise/sponsor our show? We have partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started. https://www.advertisecast.com/OneStrangeThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of the buildings and homes in Bishop's Stortford have changed very little since medieval and Tudor times. This is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England with a history dating back to Roman occupation and Norman conquest. Many locations claim to have ghosts from churches to pubs to hotels and so much more. Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of Bishop's Stortford! The Moment in Oddity was suggested by Mary Bright and Memory Burcalow and features Knocking On Wood and This Month in History features Operation Chastise and Bouncing Bombs. Our sponsors for this episode include: Laura Ruby's book "Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All. The audiobook is deeply discounted through May 2021 at your favorite digital audiobook retailer and get the paperback from Balzer + Bray wherever you buy books. HelloFresh, go to https://hellofresh.com/bump12 and enter code BUMP12 for 12 free meals, including free shipping! Check out the website: http://historygoesbump.com Show notes can be found here: https://historygoesbump.blogspot.com/2021/05/ep-386-bishops-stortford.html Become an Executive Producer: http://patreon.com/historygoesbump Music used in this episode: Main Theme: Lurking in the Dark by Muse Music with Groove Studios (Moment in Oddity) Vanishing by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4578-vanishing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license (This Month in History) In Your Arms by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3906-in-your-arms License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Outro Music: Happy Fun Punk by Muse Music with Groove Studios All other music licensing: PODCASTMUSIC.COM License Synchronization, Mechanical, Master Use and Performance Direct License for a Single Podcast Series under current monthly subscription. Alchemy For All Full Mix by ALIBI Music

We joined our listener Emily on a ghost hunt of the Old Clay County Jail in Green Cove Springs, Florida. This one will give you goose bumps by the end as we contacted not only spirits connected to the jail, but also a spirit connected to one of the investigators! The Moment in Oddity was suggested by Scott Booker and features an infinite pit that revives animals and This Month in History features the first wagon train leaving for California. Our sponsor for this episode was: Laura Ruby's book "Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All." The audiobook is deeply discounted through May 2021 at your favorite digital audiobook retailer and get the paperback from Balzer + Bray wherever you buy books. Check out the website: http://historygoesbump.com Show notes can be found here: https://historygoesbump.blogspot.com/2021/05/ep-385-old-clay-county-jail.html Become an Executive Producer: http://patreon.com/historygoesbump Music used in this episode: Main Theme: Lurking in the Dark by Muse Music with Groove Studios (Moment in Oddity) Vanishing by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4578-vanishing License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license (This Month in History) In Your Arms by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3906-in-your-arms License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Outro Music: Happy Fun Punk by Muse Music with Groove Studios All other music licensing: PODCASTMUSIC.COM License Synchronization, Mechanical, Master Use and Performance Direct License for a Single Podcast Series under current monthly subscription. Dead Redemption Full with Acoustic Guitar by ALIBI Music

A prowler with peculiar predilections stalks the nighttime streets of World-War-II era Mississippi.  Go to Masterclass.com/STRANGE for 15% off a MasterClass annual membership! Learn more about Laura Ruby’s Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All: https://lauraruby.com/books/thirteen-doorways/ Written and Hosted by Laurah Norton Researched by Bryan Worters   Engineered, Edited, Scored, and Produced by Maura Currie  Sources on our website: https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon for early release and ad-free episodes, exclusive stories, and bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/OneStrangeThing Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OSTPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onestrangethingpod/  and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/One-Strange-Thing-114307627035607 Want to advertise/sponsor our show? We have partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started. https://www.advertisecast.com/OneStrangeThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reading through the twentieth century, one murder mystery at a time. Find more information about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/century. The ten books I talk about are: — The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1905) — Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley (1913) — The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts (1920) — The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934) — Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (1943) — Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert (1952) — From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell (1964) — Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James (1977) — Appleby and the Ospreys by Michael Innes (1986) — Black and Blue by Ian Rankin (1997) Other sources: — The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards — Bloody Murder: from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel by Julian Symons There are no major spoilers in this episode, but the opening plot scenario of each book is discussed briefly. There is a major spoiler for the Sherlock Holmes story "The Final Problem" from 1893.  NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK independent bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge. Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/centurytranscript. Thanks to today’s sponsors. You can get $5 off mail based Victorian mystery game Dear Holmes at dearholmes.com/shedunnit using code "shedunnit" at checkout. The audiobook of Laura Ruby's Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All is on a special deep discount through May, and you can find that through your audiobook retailer of choice. To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter. The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice. Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Bone Gap is a town where things go missing. So no one is overly surprised when Roza disappears but Finn knows this time is different. He knows Roza was kidnapped by someone dangerous. Someone he saw, but whose face he can't remember... This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Balzer + Bray and imprint of Harper Collins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Kelly and Hannah answer listener requests for book recommendations. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. To get even more YA news and recommendations, sign up for our What’s Up in YA newsletter! SHOW NOTES Short story collection. Preferably fiction and/or fun/uplifting Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet; Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan; Take the Mic edited by Bethany C. Morrow; Snow in Love; Hope Nation edited by Rose Brock; The Radical Element edited by Jessica Spotswood. A gift for my brother who isn’t a big reader. He’s in college, loves soccer and video games, and hasn’t enjoyed a book since reading Holes in middle school. Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith; Slay by Brittany Morris; The Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry; Booked by Kwame Alexander; Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez; Warcross by Marie Lu; Feed by MT Anderson. New, contemporary, socially conscious, diverse. Yes No Maybe So by Aisha Saeed and Becky Albertalli; The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert; Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusuf Salaam; Running by Natalia Sylvester; We Didn’t Ask For This by Adi Alsaid; Dear Justyce by Nic Stone. Diverse body positive books. What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume; Melt My Heart by Bethany Rutter; My Eyes Are Up Here by Laura Zimmermann; Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero; If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann; Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy edited by Kelly Jensen. YA dealing with survivors of sexual abuse/pedophilia/other childhood trauma: some of my favorites that I’ve read are Sadie, Girl in Pieces, Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls, Perks of Being a Wallflower and Speak. Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson; Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough; The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith; Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn; How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringyimana; Wrecked by Maria Padian; Infandous by Elana K. Arnold; In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. A YA book to get my friend who doesn’t really read….p.s. she really likes Disney. Disney’s Twisted Tales; Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige; Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo; Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee. One of my high school students likes mysteries and fantasy novels, but doesn’t like any “kissing” (i.e. lots of romance or a focus on a relationship). What suggestions could I give her? Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit by Lilliam Rivera; Endangered by Lamar Giles; Jennifer Lynn Barnes; Karen M. McManus; Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn. A book for my 16 year old nephew who is a very particular reader. Used to love Rick Riordan but has moved on. Beyond Riordan, the only books I’ve sent him that he has actually called begging for the sequels is Scythe. He likes Agatha Christie “because it makes him think” (to figure out what is going on). I’ve tried AS King and Going Bovine, but have not gotten a reaction and all the fantasy tried and trues. Would love an idea from you! Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore; The Future will be BS-free by Will McIntosh; The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah; Warcross and Legend by Marie Lu. A contemporary with some magic and some romance, but the story does not center grief. Now and When by Sara Bennett Wealer; Displacement by Kiku Hughes; Lobizona by Romina Garber. I am looking for a fantasy novel with romance that ideally is part of an almost finished or finished series. I have already read many of the popular ones, so I guess I am looking for those that were a bit more under the radar. I have read/started the Folk of the Air Series, A Court of Thorns and Roses Series, Red Queen Series, all of Cassandra Clare, etc. and loved them all! Looking for something in that realm. Blythewood by Carol Goodman; Lost Voices by Sarah Porter; The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd; Brooklyn Brujas by Zoraida Cordova. Warm fuzzy story about family (chosen, biological, adopted, whatever) with winter holiday(s) (not necessarily Christmas, but Christmas ok) as a backdrop and a happy ending. Something wintery and hopeful. (At least something that leaves the reader with some hope.) I like a variety of things. Some writers whose work I’ve enjoyed: Katie Henry, Karen McManus, Tomi Adeyemi, Jenny Han, Nina LaCour, and too many names to list. A few books I’ve read and enjoyed because of this podcast: Agnes at the End of the World, We Are the Perfect Girl, and Orpheus Girl. 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston; The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel; The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody. A feminist book like Rules for Being a Girl. Girls Like Us by Randi Pink; The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann; Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina; Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson and Ellen Hagan. Books for a 13 year-old. She loves the Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare and anything written by Rick Riordan. Recently, I loaned her my copy of With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (one of my favorite YA authors ever) and she loved it. I’d really like to give her books in a genre she loves and one that will expand her reading material. Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert; New Kid/Class Act by Jerry Craft; Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden; Akata Witch/Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor. Something that will make me laugh, but also teach me something. The Go-Between by Veronica Chambers; Cherry by Lindsey Rosin; Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan; We Are The Perfect Girl by Ariel Kaplan. I’m looking for at book for my niece (18 years old). She is not an avid reader out side required reading in school. She’s not that into fantasy and Sci fi, she likes contemporary fiction better. She might like a short story collection because 40 pages is not as daunting as 350 pages (or more if it’s a series) for a story. Books she had liked recently: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera and Broken Things by Lauren Oliver. Try Margarita Engle, Nikki Grimes, Stephanie Hemphill, Kwame Alexander as an alternative to short stories but still with a lot of white space, as it may be less intimidating; Toil and Trouble edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe; Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. I’m interested in spooky tales, thrillers, science fiction, and non-WWII fiction. No dystopias or urban fantasy, please! The most important thing to me as an aromantic asexual person is that’s there’s no significant romantic element. I don’t want the main character to have any romantic partners or to spend several pages daydreaming about their crush(es). Thanks! Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke; Dread Nation by Justina Ireland; Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham; The Blood Confession by Alisa M. Libby; The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupecho; Jackaby by William Ritter; Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour. A book for my 19 year old sister who loves Wilder Girls and The Poet X. She is a fan of feminism, horror, and queerness in books. The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters; Mary’s Monster by Lita Judge; The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis; Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez; We Are The Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian; The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus. A book for my daughter. She recently told me that she is gay. I want to show her how much I love her and accept her. She loves graphic novels and has read many of the most popular ones featuring same sex relationships. Everything Noelle Stevenson! Lumberjanes, Nimona, The Fire Never Goes Out; Queer: A Graphic History by Meg John Barker and Julia Scheele; Skim by Mariko Tamaki; Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu; Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw; Moonstruck by Grace Ellis and Shae Bragl. Something heavily folklore-based (Maggie Stiefvater or higher level of “heavily”) and LGBTQ+ please? European and Asian folklore are my favorite but I’ll be happy to dive into any other as well. Anna-Marie McLemore; A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Elsie Chapman and Ellen Oh; Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco; A Curse of Roses by Diana Pinguicha; Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao; Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardost. A fantasy or science fiction novel, preferably action-packed. Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger; The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline; Cut Off by Adrianne Finley; Orleans by Sherri L. Smith. An awesome ghost story. The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco; Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn; Horrid by Katrina Leno; The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring; Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour; Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby; Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. School for Good & Evil read-alikes for 14-year-old reluctant reader. Thanks! Carry On by Rainbow Rowell; The Irregular at Magic High School manga series by Tsutomu Sato; The Black Mage by Daniel Howard Barnes; Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki; A Blade so Black by LL McKinney; Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim; Liz Braswell’s Twisted Fairy Tales series; Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Enjoy our presentation of Bone Gap written by Laura Ruby and published by Balzer + Bray. Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza vanishes... well, it isn't the first time that someone has slipped away and left Finn and Sean O'Sullivan on their own. But Finn knows Roza didn't just leave. She was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face Finn cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him. Can Finn find Roza and prove there's more to him, and this town, than meets the eye?Bone Gap was awarded the 2016 Michael L. Printz Award and was a National Book Award Finalist in 2015. Bone Gap is recommended for ages 14+ for violence, language and implied sexual content. For more information and reviews please see Common Sense Media for more information. http://bit.ly/BoneGap_ReviewsBone Gap is available as an ebook and audiobook on Hoopla and Libby by Overdrive.Hoopla Ebook - http://bit.ly/BoneGap_HooplaEbookHoopla Audio - http://bit.ly/BoneGap_HooplaALibby Ebook - http://bit.ly/BoneGap_LibbyEbookLibby Audio - http://bit.ly/BoneGap_LibbyAudioPlease visit www.calvertlibrary.info for more information.Music: Sad Clown (excerpt) by Orquesta Arrecife. Licensed under CC BY-SA 1.0 http://www.opsound.org/artist/orquestaarrecife/ 

It's a very special episode: Four amazing authors helped me celebrate the Hudson Valley YA Society's 10th Anniversary and launch Christine Heppermann's new novel in verse WHAT GOES UP, in conjunction with Oblong Books & Music's "Oblong Online" event series. Listen in on this great event with Christine Heppermann, Brandy Colbert, Laura Ruby, and Sherri L. Smith. (And please forgive any technical glitches, this was a live event from five locations and something of an experiment!)

Critically acclaimed author Laura Ruby talks monster girls and more. We do a deep dive into two of Laura's vampire picks: Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black. We ask the question "who is the real monster?" in correlation to Laura's fantastic short story "Beastiary" from Vampires Never Get Old, the anthology.A two-time National Book Award Finalist, Laura Ruby writes fiction for adults, teens and children. She is the author of the Printz Medal Winning novel Bone Gap, as well as Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All. Other works include the Edgar®-nominated children’s mystery Lily’s Ghosts, the ALA Quick Pick for teens Good Girls (2006), a collection of interconnected short stories about blended families for adults, I’m not Julia Roberts (2007), and the York trilogy. Also in this episode: Neil GaimanSalem's Lot by Stephen KingColdest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black Lauraruby.comPre-order Vampires Never Get Old Support the show (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250230010)

Francesca and Toni are brought to the orphanage when their mother suffers a breakdown and dies, and their father gets involved with a new woman. Their story, set in Chicago of the 1940s, unfolds during the course of the novel. There’s another girl too though, whose voice intersperses herself into the everyday happenings. This is the ghost, Pearl, who would much rather observe other people’s stories then think about her own unhappy one. It takes the friendship and confrontational questions of another traumatized ghost, for her to come to terms with the painful memories of her strict mother and hateful brothers. In meantime, Frankie goes through her teen years and experiences her first love—and loss. Pearl, witnessing Fran’s emotions, is brought closer to her own lost life. The setting of the orphanage is well researched—more about that in the interview with Laura Ruby—and Pearl’s afterlife is original and poignant. The ghost girl reads the Hobbit over the shoulders of a library visitor, goes to a bar where she drinks not-bourbon served by a ghost barkeeper, and keeps revisiting a certain blue house, to watch a young woman and her lover inside. The themes of forbidden love, racism, and dispossession will draw in many young readers. Listen in as I speak with Laura about Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All (Balzer and Bray, 2019) Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series.  You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Francesca and Toni are brought to the orphanage when their mother suffers a breakdown and dies, and their father gets involved with a new woman. Their story, set in Chicago of the 1940s, unfolds during the course of the novel. There’s another girl too though, whose voice intersperses herself into the everyday happenings. This is the ghost, Pearl, who would much rather observe other people’s stories then think about her own unhappy one. It takes the friendship and confrontational questions of another traumatized ghost, for her to come to terms with the painful memories of her strict mother and hateful brothers. In meantime, Frankie goes through her teen years and experiences her first love—and loss. Pearl, witnessing Fran’s emotions, is brought closer to her own lost life. The setting of the orphanage is well researched—more about that in the interview with Laura Ruby—and Pearl’s afterlife is original and poignant. The ghost girl reads the Hobbit over the shoulders of a library visitor, goes to a bar where she drinks not-bourbon served by a ghost barkeeper, and keeps revisiting a certain blue house, to watch a young woman and her lover inside. The themes of forbidden love, racism, and dispossession will draw in many young readers. Listen in as I speak with Laura about Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All (Balzer and Bray, 2019) Gabrielle Mathieu is the author of the YA fantasy, Girl of Fire, the first in the Berona’s Quest series, and the historical fantasy Falcon series.  You can follow her on Twitter to get updates about new podcasts and more @GabrielleAuthor, or visit her website at gabriellemathieu.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as we welcome award-winning author (and fellow Chicagoan) Laura Ruby to speak live on all things writing, creating and geek out on books and more. Laura is the author of books for children, adults and young adults, such as Printz Medal winning Bone Gap, Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All, and The Shadow Cipher. Laura is also a faculty member of Hamline University’s Masters in Writing for Children Program. Speak On It is a program series connecting teens and authors virtually to have a conversation about what speaks to us and inspires us to create. This is the audio from a live interview on YOUmedia's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkAsxRZOajWfmQvwio2mH-J1dOKDezNGk

You know the old adage: Vampires Never Get Old. At least, that's our adage. Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite is an anthology forthcoming from Imprint/Macmillan on September 22, 2020. The anthology includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.Our podcast aims to dig deep into the immortal creatures of the night we love. Each episode will focus on a classic vampire novel or character, as well as feature the contributing authors as guests! In this episode, we gush over the OG vampire boyfriend in Annette Curtis Klause's The Silver Kiss, a foundational text in YA paranormal romance. Evil brothers, vampires who mark their territories by peeing, lonely girls, and poetry—this gem has it all! Welcome. You're invited in.Also in this episode: The Shiny Narrow Grin by Jane Gaskell Seafire by Natalie C. ParkerIncendiary by Zoraida Córdova Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis KlauseThe Vampire Diaries by L.J. SmithSupport the show (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250230010)

SEQUEL: Put on your rose-tinted glasses (the color of innocent wishes and fallen stardust) and get ready to return to the insanely saturated world of Caraval. We get Tella's point of view this time around, and since Tella is easily the better sister, we're much more invested. As the mythology deepens, it's difficult to tell what's real, what's fake, and what to do when you're tardy to the party. How creepy can Julian get before this trilogy ends? And how many dangerously handsome men can one book hold? Spoiler alert: the limit does not exist. TW: Violence. If you like The Worst Thing We Read, help us grow by spreading the word! You can support us by leaving a 5-star review on Apple iTunes. Follow us on Instagram @worstthingweread, Twitter @worstthngweread, or email us at worstthingweread@gmail.com. Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/102293261-kaitlyn-burton https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12635391-savanah-tiffany Book rec: Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind them All, Laura Ruby. Music Rec: Sunshine Kitty album, Tove Lo.

Jordan Brown is Executive Editor, Walden Pond Press & Balzer + Bray, at HarperCollins Children’s Books. He has worked with such esteemed authors and illustrators as Jon Scieszka, Anne Ursu, Gris Grimly, Steve Brezenoff, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Chris Rylander, Erin McGuire, and Laura Ruby. In this podcast Jordan discusses diversity, the state of publishing, and his road to publishing.Support the show (http://scbwi.org/join-scbwi/)

On this episode we hear a panel discussing starting a minority-owned business. We also talk about what we’re reading. Katie read Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby (her earlier book, Bone Gap, and it reminded Abby of  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak) Abby read Pursuit by Joyce Carol Oates Next we … Continue reading S.3 Ep.6 – Starting a Minority Owned Business →

Laura Ruby is the author of books including the fairy-tale inflected award-winner Bone Gap, the York trilogy, a steampunk series for younger readers, and her latest Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All, a ranging, layered historical tale told by a ghost who can't stop tangling with the living.  She watches over Frankie, a girl consigned to an orphanage in World War II era Chicago in a story of heartache and survival that mixes worlds both haunted and achingly real. We talked to Ruby about what shaped her as a writer and her new book — recently named as a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

This week, Liberty and Rebecca discuss Royal Holiday, The Good Luck Girls, A Tall History of Sugar, and more great books. This episode was sponsored Lost at the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi; Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky; and Rebel by Marie Lu, with Fierce Reads. Pick up an All the Books! 200th episode commemorative item here. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, iTunes, or Spotify and never miss a beat book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. Books discussed on the show: The Library of the Unwritten (A Novel from Hell's Library) by A. J. Hackwith   Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir by Jeannie Vanasco   She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis   Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes  The Best American Essays 2019 by Rebecca Solnit and Robert Atwan The Best American Short Stories 2019 by Anthony Doerr and Heidi Pitlor The Best American Food Writing 2019 by Samin Nosrat and Silvia Killingsworth What we're reading: Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller Writers & Lovers by Lily King More books out this week: Redwood and Ponytail by K.A. Holt Fake Lake (Drawn & Quarterly) by Adrian Norvid Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity by Felicia Day Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry The Greater Freedom: Life as a Middle Eastern Woman Outside the Stereotypes by Alya Mooro Pigs by Johanna Stoberock Angel Mage by Garth Nix She Was Like That by Kate Walbert Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance by Bethany Morrow White Bird: A Wonder Story by R. J. Palacio Sarah Jane by James Sallis Cursed by Thomas Wheeler and Frank Miller The Shape of Night: A Novel by Tess Gerritsen Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Typhoon by Wesley Chu What Linnaeus Saw: A Scientist's Quest to Name Every Living Thing by Karen Magnuson Beil Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live) by Eve Rodsky I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day Face It by Debbie Harry Crossfire: A Litany for Survival by Staceyann Chin Everything Must Go (BreakBeat Poets) by Kevin Coval and Langston Allston Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright by Paul Hendrickson A Human Algorithm: How Artificial Intelligence Is Redefining Who We Are by Flynn Coleman Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of King Edward Longshanks by Kelcey Wilson-Lee Baby by Annaleese Jochems Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer Into Captivity They Will Go by Noah Milligan Empire of Lies by Raymond Khoury Me & Other Writing by Marguerite Duras Rebel: A Legend Novel by Marie Lu The Closer I Get by Paul Burston Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby   Dry County: A Novel by Jake Hinkson Love and I: Poems by Fanny Howe Aurora Blazing: A Novel (The Consortium Rebellion) by Jessie Mihalik The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future by Veronica Roth You Don't Know Me: The Incarcerated Women of York Prison Voice Their Truths by Wally Lamb and The Women of York Prison I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones Right after the Weather by Carol Anshaw Reinhardt's Garden by Mark Haber Geometry of Shadows by Giorgio de Chirico, Stefania Heim (translator) Trolls by Stefan Spjut and Agnes Broome Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery by Kelley Armstrong , Rachael Caine, et al. The Topeka School: A Novel by Ben Lerner Roll with It by Jamie Sumner The Lying Room: A Novel by Nicci French Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson Takes One to Know One: A Novel by Susan Isaacs One Night Gone: A Novel by Tara Laskowski Whispers of Shadow & Flame (Earthsinger) by L. Penelope Animal (Bagley Wright Lecture Series) by Dorothea Lasky Fake (Point Paperbacks) by Donna Cooner Creep by Eireann Corrigan Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy The Butterfly Girl: A Novel by Rene Denfeld Toil & Trouble: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake The Book of Daniel by Aaron Smith The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher Weird Little Robots by Carolyn Crimi, Corinna Luyken (Illustrator) A Tale of Magic... by Chris Colfer Full Throttle: Stories by Joe Hill   The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss  The Ingenious Language: Nine Epic Reasons to Love Greek by Andrea Marcolongo and Will Schutt A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son by Sergio Troncoso The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys I Will Never See the World Again: The Memoir of an Imprisoned Writer by Ahmet Altan and Yasemin Congar Kitchen Curse: Stories by Eka Kurniawan and Annie Tucker Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow Stealing Green Mangoes: Two Brothers, Two Fates, One Indian Childhood by Sunil Dutta Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares by Aarti Namdev Shahani Nothing that Is, The: Essays on Art, Literature and Being (Essais Series) by Johanna Skibsrud Crier's War by Nina Varela Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America by Kate Pickert Daughters Of Nri by Reni K Amayo A Pilgrimage of Swords by Anthony Ryan Houses Under the Sea by Caitlin R. Kiernan Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee Yours, for Probably Always: Martha Gellhorn's Letters of Love and War 1930-1949 by Janet Somerville Trinity Sight: A Novel by Jennifer Givhan Monstress Volume 4 by Marjorie Liu (Author), Sana Takeda (Artist) Degrees of Difficulty by Julie E. Justicz Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud by Tom Mueller Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia Cilka's Journey: A Novel by Heather Morris The Bootlace Magician by Cassie Beasley Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow by Charlie Jane Anders, Madeline Ashby The Hanky of Pippin's Daughter by Rosmarie Waldrop Bloody Genius (A Virgil Flowers Novel) by John Sandford

This week, Liberty discusses a few great older books, including All the Missing Girls. This episode is sponsored by TBR, Book Riot's new subscription service offering tailored book recommendations for readers of all stripes. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS or Apple Podcasts and never miss a beat book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. Books discussed on the show: Spin by Lamar Giles Endangered by Lamar Giles Come Find Me by Megan Miranda  All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda  Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennet City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin The Sellout by Paul Beatty York: The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby York: The Clockwork Ghost by Laura Ruby

Intro Hi everyone and welcome to Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.  I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a teacher, a mom, and battling a cold this afternoon! So if I sound a little...off - that is why! This is episode #68 and Today I’m answering some questions about trends in middle grade and sharing with you some fabulous 2019 titles to look forward to this year! Q&A - Trends in Middle Grade Fiction Last month, my husband asked me some questions about trends in middle grade fiction. He teaches a class at Seton Hall all about trends in genre fiction and wanted some input on middle grade. So I thought I would share my responses with you. And I would be very curious about what YOU would answer. What genres or subgenres do you believe are the hottest right now? Well, it’s a format and not a genre but graphic novel memoirs like Hey Kiddo, Real Friends, and Be Prepared are still really popular. And also graphic novel adaptations of classics (like Anne of Green Gables) and popular novels (like Wings of Fire or Percy Jackson).  And again, not genre, but I see more books that are based on the core experiences of the writer. Those novels that draw on the real-life backgrounds of the authors like Kelly Yang’s Front Desk, Tami Charles’ Like Vanessa, and Supriya Kellar’s Ahimsa.  They’re not memoirs but they are books rooted in a very personal experience. To authors, I’d say - take those things that make you unique, that make you a bit quirky, that set you apart from most other people - and write THAT story. Like Kelly Yang taking the experiences of her family coming from China and running motels to write Front Desk. Jarrett Krosoczka writing the critically acclaimed graphic novel memoir Hey Kiddo about his life living with his grandparents after his mom lost custody of him due to drug addiction. Crack that door open and invite us inside. What genres or subgenres do you believe are passé or overexposed? I don’t know…. I do wonder how long the unicorn and narwhal craze will last but that seems to live more in picture books than middle grade. Magical realism - or rather realistic fiction with a magical twist - doesn’t seem to be slowing down. You know - anything can be new and fresh with the right spin.  And also, authors from marginalized backgrounds are still underrepresented in just about every genre so those are stories that will likely have new points of view. I thought I was totally over zombie stories but Dread Nation popped up and whoa!!  I’ve never read a zombie story like THAT before!   If you had to predict, what genre or subgenre do you think is primed to be the next Big Thing in the next year or so? I would say stories about immigrants, refugees, and the unique experiences of marginalized groups (especially by #ownvoices authors) will continue to be popular. Over the last couple of years we’ve seen an explosion of critically acclaimed middle grade stories like Alan Gratz’s Refugee, Jacqueline Woodson’s Harbor Me, and Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai among many more. We also have more and more books coming out that tell stories of police violence in developmentally appropriate ways like Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Blended by Sharon Draper.  I’m also really excited about a new crop of middle grade #MeToo stories on the horizon like So Done by Paula Chase and the upcoming Barbara Dee novel Maybe He Just Likes You.   Any comments about where you see genre fiction heading? In middle grade, like everywhere else,  #ownvoices books are still underrepresented  - everyone has a unique story to tell or a unique POV to offer.  EVERYONE. So my advice to authors, take the spark of your unique life experiences and let that burn throughout your story.  My advice to educators - scour those shelves to find a wider variety of books. Also - if you write for a YA/MG audience, librarians and educators are more and more eager to the ditch the old canon and form partnerships with authors. Look for opportunities like #KidsNeedMentors or reach out to your local schools and libraries.   Book Talk - Most Anticipated Middle Grade Books of 2019   The last couple of episodes were all about looking back on some of the best that middle grade had to offer in 2018. (If you missed those, go check out episodes #66 and #67.)  But today is all about looking forward into the new year. Last year, when I did our Most Anticipated MG of 2018, I went chronologically by month. But this year I’m going about it a little differently and discussing the new releases by category.     First, we’ll chat about the new graphic novels coming up in 2019. And then we’ll talk about new releases from authors who debuted in 2018 and 2017 and see what they’re up to now. After that, I’ll give you a peek at some of the 2019 debut middle grade authors.  Then we’ll see what new books are coming out in favorite series and what sequels we have to look forward to. And finally, we’ll finish up with the 2019 releases from more established authors.   So, buckle up and get ready to add to your wish list. And remember - no need to go hunting for a pen and paper. You can find every book mentioned AND a picture of the available covers AND a link to pre-order them right on the Books Between post for this episode, #69, at MGBookVillage.com.  I’ve got your back, I know you’re busy, so it’s all right there for you. And as I’ve said before, I’ve come to really love pre-ordering - it helps out favorite authors and it’s like a little surprise to your future self.   Before we jump in, just remember that this is just a sampling of all the incredible books coming out this year. I’ll add some links to some other great resources in the show notes and on the website where you can find more complete listings of titles to browse through and the MGBookVillage website has a great release calendar so that’s one to bookmark for sure.   https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/111975.Middle_Grade_Novels_of_2019 http://novelnineteens.com/books/middle-grade-books https://mgbookvillage.org/2018releasedates/ http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2018/12/19-2019-middle-grade-books-to-have-on-your-radar/ https://www.readbrightly.com/middle-grade-books-2019/ https://www.bookish.com/articles/must-read-childrens-books-winter-2019/ http://www.popgoesthereader.com/target-audience-middle-grade/70-middle-grade-novels-i-cant-wait-to-read-in-2019/   Also - publication dates do occasionally change, so just be aware of that.   Alright, get your Goodreads tab open, or your library website pulled up, or your Amazon/Indiebound shopping cart ready, or ….. print out the show notes and bring it to your favorite local bookstore!   Alright - let’s get to it! The 2019 Graphic Novels This January, Lincoln Peirce, the author of Big Nate, has a new graphic/illustrated novel series set in the middle ages called Max and the Midknights that looks really, really cute. Also out on January 8th is Click by Kayla Miller - the story of 5th grader Olive who is having some trouble finding where she “clicks” in middle school. The sequel, called Camp, is being released this April so fans won’t have to wait long for the next one. A fantasy graphic novel that Mel Schuit recommended that I check out is The Chancellor and the Citadel by Maria Capelle Frantz so that’s on my radar now - and yours! Thank you, Mel! On January 29th another Hilo is coming our way! Hilo 5: Then Everything Went Wrong. And on that same day the 5th Bird & Squirrel is coming out called All Tangled Up. One graphic novel adaptation that has really piqued my interest is Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Retelling of Little Women by Rey Tercerio and illustrator Bre Indigo. The classic is reimagined as a blended family living in modern-day New York City. I don’t think I’ve ever hit “pre-order” faster and will be eagerly stalking my delivery person on February 5th for that one! My mailbox is going to be brimming on February 5th because I also HAD to preorder New Kid by Jerry Craft!  It’s about seventh grader Jordan Banks who loves drawing cartoons and dreams of going to art school. But his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school instead, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. Looks amazing!!  90-Second Newbery was singing its praises on Twitter last night and said this about it: “The amazing graphic novel New Kid by @JerryCraft should definitely be on everyone's tbr list and it has a full-cast (and all-star cast) audiobook released at the same time….perfect for rich, nuanced convos abt race, class, identity, school systems, how we share books, code switching, starting new school, just so much!”   So, yeah… I’ll just wait here for a bit while you hit pause and go order that! We also get  the second Wings of Fire graphic novel, The Lost Heir, on February 26th AND the second Mr. Wolf’s Class book called Mystery Club. And a heads up that the graphic novel of The Hidden Kingdom (Wings of Fire Book 3) is out in October 2019. For those Minecraft fans in your life, this March we get another Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior graphic novel - Forging Destiny. And for older middle grade kids - maybe 11 or 12 and up -  look for the new graphic novel adaptations of The Iliad and The Odyssey this March as well. And fans of Terri Libenson’s Invisible Emmie and Positively Izzie will want to get their hands on Just Jaime - coming out May7th. There were lots of smiles among my students today when I told them that news! Bad Guys #9 - The Bad Guys in the Big Bad Wolf is out June 25th.  Perfect launch for a fun summer read. This August brings us Best Friends, the sequel to Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham’s Real Friends -  out on August 27th. And have you seen the cover? It’s Shannon at the top of a rollercoaster with this vibrant purple background. Love it, love it, love it! And Dog Man fans (like my daughter) will be psyched this August because we are getting Dog Man #7: For Whom the Ball Rolls! The seventh graphic novel adaptation of the Baby-sitters Club, Boy Crazy Stacey, illustrated by Gale Carrigan, will be out September 3rd. That’s one of those no-brainer preorders for my classroom library. Also - I was interested to hear that R.J. Palacio is publishing her first graphic novel Wonder story this fall called White Bird. This one is Julian’s grandmother’s story about her life as a young Jewish girl hidden away by a family in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. So be on the lookout for that one September 3rd as well. You want another don’t-even-have-to-think-about-it-just-preorder-it graphic novel? Guts - the long-awaited new Raina Telgemeier graphic memoir is out September 17th!! September also brings the latest from Tillie Walden - Are You Listening.  The peeks I’ve seen of that online look incredible, so that one is definitely on my radar this fall. And then….….. Drumroll please…… Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl!! Ahhhh!!  I knew it! That last page in Mighty Jack and the Goblin King was just too good not to be followed up with a joint adventure. Yay! Jen Wang -  author of last year’s hit, The Prince & the Dressmaker, has a new graphic novel coming out in September called  Stargazing. This one draws on her personal experiences and is the story of two friends - Moon and Christine. And this November we’ll get The Midwinter Witch - the third and final book in the trilogy that includes The Witch Boy and The Hidden Witch. And - wow, I’m just going to start saving up now for September because the graphic novel adaptation of Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover is also coming out on September 24th!  It’s going to be a pancakes and ramen noodles for dinner kind of a month if I want to keep up with all these awesome books coming out!  (And I haven’t even gotten past the graphic novels!) And…. I think, maybe, possibly.. that Amulet #9 (the final one of the series) will be released late this year. But I can’t find much info on it. No title, no date, no synopsis - nada! So, I’m cautiously optimistic that it will arrive in 2019. Finally - another graphic novel to be on the lookout for later in 2019 is Twins by author Varian Johnson who you may know from The Parker Inheritance and illustrator Shannon Wright. The publication date isn’t yet announced, but apparently it’s about twin sisters struggling to figure out individual identities in middle school and it’s based on Johnson’s own childhood experiences as a twin. New Releases from 2017 / 2018 Debut Authors   Early February brings us the second in Anna Meriano’s Love, Sugar, Magic series called A Sprinkle of Spirits and oh is that cover gorgeous! And definitely snag a copy of the sequel to Jarrett Lerner’s EngiNerds - Revenge of the EngiNerds out on February 19th. It is EVEN FUNNIER than the first one. And that’s saying something! Another book I’m looking forward to is Jen Petro-Roy’s Good Enough - about a young girl with an eating disorder. Game of Stars by Sayantani DasGupta - the follow up to The Serpent’s Secret is out on February 26th. And the end of February also brings us Bone Hollow  by Skeleton Tree author Kim Ventrella. Also be on the lookout for The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter by Diane Magras on March 5th. That sequel is getting rave reviews so it’s definitely one to add to your library. Alyson Gerber, author of Braced, will have a new novel out called Focused. It’s about a middle school girl who loves chess and has been recently diagnosed with ADHD. Definitely a book a lot of my students will be able to connect with! In the last week of April we get the sequel to Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time called Aru Shah and Song of Death This April brings us the second novel from Rebecca Donnelly called The Friendship Lie. One book I’m excited to dip into this spring is Up for Air by Laurie Morrison. You might know her from last year’s Every Shiny Thing. From the author of 2017’s The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora and 2018’s Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish comes Each Tiny Spark. This is Pablo Cartaya’s third MG novel and this one features a young girl, a father recently returned from deployment, and… welding. So look for that one in August. And The Cryptid Keeper, the sequel to Lija Fisher’s 2018 The Cryptid Catcher is out this August as is Melissa Sarno’s A Swirl of Ocean. In September comes the sequel to Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. It’s called Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus and follows Aven’s adventures as she heads into high school. At first I thought that might put it in the YA category, but from what I can tell, it’s still middle grade. This fall we’ll also be treated to Abby Cooper’s third novel - Friend or Fiction. Just like Sticks and Stones and Bubbles, this one is also magical realism. It’s about a girl named Jade. In the pages of her notebook, she writes all about Zoe--the most amazing best friend anyone could dream of. But when pretend Zoe appears in real life thanks to a magical experiment gone right, Jade isn't so sure if she likes sharing her imaginary friend with the real world.   Another treat in store for you this fall is the third novel by Elly Swartz - Give and Take. This book is about 12 year-old Maggie whose grandmother’s recent death has triggered her to start hoarding things under her bed. 2019 Debut Authors   So - I’ll just say right now that I could have had an ENTIRE show just dedicated to the amazing middle grade debuts coming our way this year but at some point, I had to cut myself off.  So - I’ll include a link to the Novel19s website where you find many more middle grade debuts and discover some of your new favorite authors.   The Whisperers is Greg Howard’s middle grade debut and one that has really caught my eye. Just listen to this description: “Eleven-year-old Riley believes in the whispers, magical fairies that will grant you wishes if you leave them tributes. Riley has a lot of wishes. He wishes bullies at school would stop picking on him. He wishes Dylan, his 8th grade crush, liked him, and Riley wishes he would stop wetting the bed. But most of all, Riley wishes for his mom to come back home.” Oooo…. This one is out January 15th. If you are looking for a new book for younger middle grade readers - something along the lines of Ramona Quimby or Stella Diaz - check out Meena Meets Her Match by Karla Manternatch. One book that keeps popping up into my radar is the middle grade debut of Padma Venkatraman called The Bridge Home about four children who discover strength and grit and family while dealing with homelessness. That one comes out Feb 5th so be on the lookout for that one. Another debut that I have been dying to read is The Simple Art of Flying by Cory Leonardo!  Let me just read you the teaser: “Born in a dismal room in a pet store, Alastair the African grey parrot dreams of escape to bluer skies. He’d like nothing more than to fly away to a palm tree with his beloved sister, Aggie. But when Aggie is purchased by twelve-year-old Fritz, and Alastair is adopted by elderly dance-enthusiast and pie-baker Albertina Plopky, the future looks ready to crash-land.”  My step-mother had parrots when I was growing up, so this one in particular I really am interested in reading! So I’ll be checking my mailbox for that one on February 12th. Another debut I am excited to read this year is Joshua Levy’s Seventh Grade vs. the Galaxy! Since one of my goals this year is to introduce my students to more science fiction, a story about a school on a spaceship orbiting Jupiter would be perfect! On March 12 we get Lisa Moore Ramée’s debut A Good Kind of Trouble about a girl who just wants to follow the rules. And sometime this spring we get rather the opposite in Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen by Niki Lenz. This one is about a “bully” who ends up living with her aunt who is a nun and tries to turn over a new leaf. This March is the debut of Julia Nobel with The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane about a girl who gets shipped off to a British boarding school and finds a box of medallions that might just be connected to the disappearance of her father. A graphic novel debut coming in March that looks fabulous is Red Panda & Moon Bear by Jarod Roselló. It’s about two Latinx kids who defend their neighborhood from threats both natural and supernatural. And in late April is the first book in a new MG detective series called Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers by Shauna Holyoak and a time-traveling action adventure that will transport readers to ancient Egypt called Jagger Jones & the Mummy’s Ankh by Malayna Evans. Hurricane Season by debut author Nicole Melleby comes out May 7th and oh how do I want to read this novel!  On a recent #MGLitChat focused on the 2019 debut authors, the moderator asked, “What do you hope young readers take away from your book?”  And Nicole Melleby said the following, “ I want them to take away that they’re not alone, that they’re seen, that mental illness is hard but manageable, and that love may have its limits, but help comes in all shapes and sizes. Also that Van Gogh was a brilliant man.”  After reading Vincent & Theo last summer - uhhh…. gimme that book!! Another great middle grade debut to look for on May 7th is Just South of Home by Karen Stong which is described as Blackish meets Goosebumps. The story follows a rule-abiding girl who must team up with her trouble making cousin, goofy younger brother, and his best friend to unravel a mysterious haunting in their tiny Southern town. Also coming this spring is a book that I immediately knew I wanted to read. It’s called Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos. (So, I was pretty much ALREADY sold by the Bowie reference.) The book follows Nova, an autistic, nonverbal, space-obsessed 12-year-old who is awaiting the Challenger shuttle launch and the return of her big sister, Bridget, as she struggles to be understood by her new foster family.  I was a 4th grader when The Challenger Disaster happened and vividly remember watching it happen live on tv, so I am really interested to see how that plays out in this book. Another debut to look for early this summer is All of Me by Chris Baron - a novel in verse about a 13 year old boy who is dealing with a big move, struggles in his parents’ marriage, and his own body image issues. So… if you are a close listener, you have probably figured out that I’m a sucker for books involving baking or cooking.  Maybe that’s why Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca just leapt out at me when I stumbled across it last month. This is a contemporary-fantasy retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream about an 11 year old Indian American girl whose father is a food writer and whose mother is a successful businesswoman. But when she adds some rather…. unusual (and maybe magical?) ingredients to her baking, things get out of hand. So look for that one on June 4th. And if your kids are looking for a fun spooky read this summer, Ollie Oxley and the Ghost comes out on June 18th and looks really cute. It’s about a boy who moves to California and ends up becoming friends with a ghost from the Gold Rush era. Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega is another paranormal middle grade coming this September and it’s described as Coco meets Stranger Things. So, uh… yeah...gimme that for sure! Also coming out this September is The Light in the Lake by Sarah Baughman - a book about a young girl who finds herself caught between her love of science and her late twin brother's belief in magic. Sequels and Favorite Series This January 29th we’re getting two awesome books: a 4th in the Crime Biters series - Fangs for Everything AND I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis.  And watching out for another I Survived book in September called I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919. Also in 2019 we are getting not one but TWO new Babysitting Nightmares books! The Phantom Hour this January 29th and The Twilight Curse on August 20th. February 5th brings another Stick Dog book - Stick Dog Gets the Tacos AND the third Frazzled book by Booki Vivat! This one is called Minor Incidents and Absolute Uncertainties. I just love her titles! In late February kids will be getting book 4 in the DC Comics Secret Hero Society - Science Fair Crisis! Lion Down by Stuart Gibb is out on February 26th. The second in his FunJungle series and the follow up to Panda-monium.) In March comes book five in The School for Good & Evil series: A Crystal of Time , a new Emily Windsnap novel called Emily Windsnap and The Pirate Prince, and another in the Fairy Tale Reform School series called Wished. In March we also get a seventh Jedi Academy Book called Revenge of the Sis. This one starts a new storyline and is written by Amy Ignatow with Jarret Krosoczka illustrating. And an as yet untitled 8th Jedi Academy novel is scheduled for September 2019. AND I’m really excited for the third BAT book: Bat and the End of Everything by Elana K. Arnold.  My daughter’s 4th grade class read the first book and they - of course! - fell hard for this series! Jeff Kinney fans will be excited about Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid - a book told from Rowley’s point of view that is out this April. And that month also brings us another Unicorn Rescue Society novel - The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande. And my 9 year old is going to be thrilled when I tell her that Katherine Applegate’s sequel to The Endling is coming out May 7th. It’s called Endling: The First and is already in my cart. The second book in Laura Ruby’s York series - The Clockwork Ghost is also headed our way this May and so is Another Fenway & Hattie book - In the Wild! Natalie Lloyd’s sequel to The Problim Children - Carnival Catastrophe is due to be out June 25th. And not quite a sequel but more of a spin-off, is Dough Boys by Paula Chase - author of 2018’s So Done. Characters Simp and Rollie are the leads in this novel told in two voices. Also - Karina Yan Glaser’s third Vanderbeekers novel is coming this September - The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue! And finally - just announced this morning - is Kate DiCamillo’s new novel coming September 24th - Beverly, Right Here. And if you guessed that this is the Beverly from Raymie Nightingale - then you are correct!  So now each of the three girls will have their own novel. By the way - if you haven’t seen it yet, the cover by Amy June Bates is stunning!!     2019 New Releases from Established Authors   First up here is the book I am devouring right now - The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart which just came out on January 8th. And oh…. does this book live up to its hype! Brace yourself to hear lots more about this one later! Also out this January is a book my friend Sandy has been raving about - The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, U.S.A by Coretta Scott King honor nominee Brenda Woods. So I definitely need to add that one to my TBR list. This January readers will get a new Gordon Korman novel - Unteachables AND a new Andrew Clements novel - The Friendship War. January also brings us the first book in the really incredible Rick Riordan Presents Imprint - Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee. This is a space opera about thirteen-year-old Min, who comes from a long line of fox spirits. (By the way - if you have kids who love Rick Riordan’s novels or who love adventure books with a dash of humor and myth - then check out his Imprint site. I’ll include a link in the show notes so you can check them all out. From those lucky enough to read advanced copies, I haven’t heard anything but praise.) Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas by Andrea Pyros is one to watch out for this February. And another upper middle grade February release that caught my attention is a joint novel told in letters by Counting by 7s author Holly Goldberg Sloan and The Interestings author Meg Wolitzer. It’s called To Night Owl from Dogfish and it’s about two very different 12 year-old girls named Averie and Bett who are sent off to the same sleepaway camp in order to bond after their single dads fall in love with each other. February also bring us another novel by Anne Urso (author of the critically acclaimed The Real Boy) This novel, The Lost Girl, is about identical twins Lark and Iris.   On March 5th we get another Lisa Graff novel called Far Away about a girl, CJ, whose aunt is a psychic medium who claims that she carries messages from the dead. And I’m really psyched for We’re Not From Here by Tapper Twins author Geoff Rodkey. This novel is also out March 5th and is about refugees from planet Earth who need to find a new home on a faraway planet. I had the opportunity to read an ARC of this one and it’s quirky and hilarious… and timely. Definitely add this one to your pre orders. March also brings us another Rick Riordan Present’s book called Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez. I’ve been hearing lots of great buzz about this one, so I’ll definitely need to pre-order a copy. On March 19th we get a new Kevin Henkes novel called Sweeping Up the Heart and this one is the story of the spring break that changes seventh-grader Amelia Albright’s life forever. In late March Natalie Lloyd fans will be treated to Over the Moon - a story about twelve-year-old Mallie who lives in a mining town where boys leave school at 12 to work in the mines, and girls leave to work as servants for the wealthy. But of course with that quintessentially Lloyd magic interwoven. And another Cynthia Lord book is coming out this March! She is the author of Rules and A Handful of Stars. This one is titled Because of the Rabbit and is about a young girl who starts public school for the first time after being homeschooled. Where the Heart Is by Jo Knowles is coming out April 2nd and a really interesting looking book called Summer of a Thousand Pies by Margaret Dilloway will be released April 16th. It’s about a girl who has to save her aunt’s pie shop. I think this one would be  a winner for kids who enjoy shows like The Great British Baking Show. In early May, we get to read Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s next novel, Shouting at the Rain about a girl named Delsie who lives with her grandmother, loves tracking weather, and who starts to wish for a more “regular” family and life. You can’t go wrong with the author of Fish in a Tree and One for the Murphys so… just pop this one in your cart now! And another novel that is getting all kinds of early buzz is the latest from K.A. Reynolds called Spinner of Dreams. It’s being called “inventive, empathetic, and strange in all the best ways.”  Plus - it has a really otherworldly cover that I just want to stare at... And finally - I know you all have heard me rave about this one before - but Barbara Dee’s Maybe He Just Likes You is going to be AMAZING!  My students and I got the chance to read the first chapter and we were all already hooked. But let me give you a little taste from the teaser: “For seventh grader Mila, it starts with an unwanted hug on the school blacktop. The next day, it’s another hug. A smirk. Comments. It all feels…weird. According to her friend Zara, Mila is being immature, overreacting. Doesn’t she know what flirting looks like? They don’t understand why Mila is making such a big deal about the boys’ attention. When Mila is finally pushed too far, she realizes she can’t battle this on her own–and finds help in some unexpected places.” I can’t WAIT!!   Phew!!  Alright - I am both energized and - I gotta be honest - a little daunted! But - I am reminding myself and I hope you’ll remember too that it’s not about a mad dash to read all of these books. But to give you a taste of what’s to come so you can match readers with books they might like and get them excited about new releases.   I hope you have a wonderful year reading and I would love to know - what are the books that you and your students are most looking forward to in 2019?   You can email me at booksbetween@gmail.com or jump into the conversation on Twitter/Instagram at the handle @Books_Between.      Closing   Thank you so much for joining me this week.  You can find an outline of interviews and a full transcript of all the other parts of our show at MGBookVillage.org.   And, if you have an extra minute this week, reviews on iTunes or Stitcher are much appreciated.   Books Between is a proud member of the Lady Pod Squad and the Education Podcast Network. This network features podcasts for educators, created by educators. For more great content visit edupodcastnetwork.com   Talk with you soon!  Bye!  

In Episode 56, Heather and Bennett discuss the book Bone Gap by Laura Ruby and the female Ghostbusters movie. Other topics include: the Bold Type, Friends, 10 Things I Hate About You, Sweet Home Alabama, Apple, the Emmys, the Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Darren Freakin' Criss, Lea Michele, Jesus Christ Superstar, Witcher, The Neighborhood, New Girl, Room, Mary Poppins, NOS4A2, Gone Girl, Holding Up the Universe, Boy Meets World, Parks & Rec, Avatar: the Last Airbender, the Golden Compass, Captain Marvel, the Romanovs, Rainbow Rowell, and Pride & Prejudice.

This week the Snark Ladies are still trying to figure out how to podcast as we discuss Laura Ruby's Greek mythology inspired YA novel Bone Gap. Also we have a lot of feelings about the corn. theme music by Stefan Chin: http://www.twitter.com/pilocrates Find us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Snark_Squad http://www.twitter.com/SweeneySays http://www.twitter.com/mynameismarines http://www.snarksquad.com

In this episode we salvage an old discussion of The Leaving by Tara Altebrando. (Don't worry, it sounds totally natural—and theme appropriate— when Kim and Molly suddenly disappear during our Random Comments from the Internet segment, are replaced by Katie, and then suddenly reappear for Read-a-likes. Don't worry; they were not kidnapped, and their memories were not erased by morally flexible scientists.) Kim suggests We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Nate suggests The Dead Zone by Stephen King. (Then after the end credits roll, Nate also suggests the film I Know What You Did Last Summer, the actor Ryan Phillipe, and the alternative rock band Bush.) Nathan suggests Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Lindsey suggests Emmy and Oliver by Laura Benway and Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff. Cash Money suggests the television program The Leftovers. Molly suggests The Cellar by Natasha Preston and The Bunker Diaries by Kevin Brooks. We've included a clip of LilyCReads' review of The Leaving in our Random Comments from the Internet segment (hope that's cool, Lily). Check out the full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYuvoGtLdbo

Despite some sound quality issues (sorry!), we’re back from our hiatus and ready to tell you what you’ll be reading this spring! As always, we’ll end with what we’re reading this week. Books and other media mentioned in this episode: Ann’s picks: White Tears by Hari Kunzru (releases March 14, 2017) The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman Gill (releases March 21, 2017) American War by Omar El Akkad (releases April 4, 2017) The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (releases April 11, 2017)– The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova– Episode 8 – Back to School– The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova If We Were Villains by M.L.Rio (releases April 11, 2017)– The Secret History by Donna Tartt The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown (releases April 25, 2017) Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (releases May 9, 2017) York: The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby (releases May 16, 2017)– Bone Gap by Laura Ruby– York series by Laura Ruby– The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin Halle’s picks: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (releases March 7, 2017)– Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul (releases March 7, 2017)– Lindy West books– Roxane Gay books– Jenny Lawson books Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (releases March 7, 2017) The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck (releases March 28, 2017)– The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah– Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay– The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn (releases May 2, 2017)– Jane Austen books– Lost in Austen (TV) Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan (releases May 9, 2017)– Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan– Commencements by J. Courtney Sullivan– The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner (releases May 16, 2017)– The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner– Episode 4 – Young Adult Books for Adults– George R.R. Martin books– A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon What We’re Reading This Week: Ann: I See You by Clare Mackintosh– Tana French books– I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh Halle: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (releases April 11, 2017)

Drew and Christopher tackle YA through the 2001 classic Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and the 2016 Printz Award Winner, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Grand theories are posited, the state of YA is considered, the line between YA and regular lit is blurred. No one gets hurt and everyone's happy.   15 seconds of a song: Regina Spektor, "Us" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brain Burps About Books Podcast #227 Defining Magical Realism An Interview with Laura Ruby Announcements The launch of How to Create Your Author Platform (and Market Your Books without Being Pushy) went great, the students are awesome. The course is wait listed but you can CLICK HERE to be notified as soon as it opens sign up. Plus you'll get 5 things you can do today to start your platform before you even get in the class. Join the fun in the Brain Burps About Book Podcast Group: www.katiedavis.com/podcastgroup. I'll be offering extras, and sharing resources to help you  grow and learn best practices. Appearances I'm speaking at Podcast Boston on June 13th. I'm teaching Yale this summer. (Yes, THAT Yale!) Date to be determined - I'll let you know as soon as I know! This Week's Guest is Laura Ruby! This week’s guest is Laura Ruby. Laura is one of my BFF's and she also writes fiction for adults, teens and children. She is the author of the newly-released YA novel BONE GAP*, as well as the Edgar-nominated children's mystery LILY'S GHOSTS, the ALA Quick Pick for teens GOOD GIRLS (2006), a collection of interconnected short stories about blended families for adults, I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS (2007), and the forthcoming middle-grade trilogy YORK. She is on the faculty of Hamline University's Masters in Writing for Children Program. She makes her home in the Chicago area. Laura and I talk about We talk about bees and their relationship to gender issues. Animals: magical and otherwise. The way we see the people we love. How Laura names her characters. How many words do you need for a novel? How does Laura edit? What is magical realism and what is Laura Ruby’s definition of it? Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird: A Novel Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma * I did receive a free advanced copy of BONE GAP and I am happy to call Laura Ruby my friend.

This week on Fangirl Happy Hour, Renay and Ana dig deep into the new YA fantasy novel Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Then, we discuss the wildly successful comic Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, cleaning up with sales and kudos all over the comics industry. Lastly, we tackle our first piece of short fiction […] The post Fangirl Happy Hour, Episode #7 – “100% Pure Fantasy” appeared first on Fangirl Happy Hour.

Episode #4:  We discuss the whys and wherefores of oral sex, in life and in YA fiction. Subscribe in iTunes here. Show Notes Christa is currently reading The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith; just finished Bone Gap by Laura Ruby & The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds Carrie is currently reading Infandous … Continue reading Episode #4: The LadyHead Seal of Approval

Permaculture Salad Podcast Episode #2 featuring Laura Ruby of Yummy Yards. Download