When I wrote “Gross Potions” back in 2017 it was an exercise I did with my boys. At the time they were obsessed with the goings on at Hogwarts and writing Gross Potions was a fun way to get them into reading. It was a little raw and sillier with less plot. I eventually added…
Category: Kid Lit
Discover the magic of kid lit on our blog! Dive into enchanting book reviews, author interviews, and the latest in children’s literature trends.
The Well That Grew Giants: A Prairie Folk Tale
The Giant Well August 1863 The scorching hot Kansas wind twisted around Isaiah Milton’s face. His mother had named him after the haunting sound the wind made when it came through the front door of his childhood home: Isaiah. It lured him back twenty years later, and he stumbled through the Kansas plains searching for…
The New Girl – The Alien Invasion That Helped Desegregate a 1950s School
The New Girl September 1953 The Cold War was a scary time for America. The big, bad Soviets were the classic villains, with their missiles aimed at the US. It got so bad that folks started building bunkers under their homes, strong enough to withstand the end of the world. At times, invasion seemed imminent,…
Dee Dee McGee and Her Musical Knee
Have a scab-picker living under your roof? Imagine what would happen if instead of blood, loud music was released each time the body’s healing powers were interrupted. Here’s a poem about a young girl with a proclivity for picking scabs, and how her knee took it to the next level to stop her. Dee Dee…
The Scary Derrière – How to Quit the Potty Talk.
Mister Keister couldn’t keep a job so he’d have to bum money from family and friends. They’d say Keith Keister when are you going to grow up and quit the potty talk and he hit bottom.
The Girls Who Never Left – Summer of Secrets: Unveiling the Mysteries of Camp Karacapi
The Girls Who Never Left Summer “All the best times in my life happen at camp,” ten-year-old Sally declares, hugging her bunkmate on the first day of camp. They hadn’t seen each other since the previous summer, but they picked up right where they left off. “It’s because the rules are different here,” Nancy, Sally’s…
The Cursed Custodian: Dark Secrets of Middletown Middle
“Follow the supernatural journey of Benjamin Brown as he becomes the janitor at Middletown Middle and must confront the ghost of the previous janitor, Chaska Washington. With the help of a sympathetic teacher, Benjamin must complete the tasks that the ghost was unable to finish in life and lay him to rest. But Benjamin’s journey as the school’s “doorkeeper” doesn’t end there, as he must continue to protect the school and its students from otherworldly threats for the rest of his lifetime. Will Benjamin be able to find his replacement before it’s too late? Read this eerie tale to find out.”
A Little Too Dark – The Spirit Week Rampage
The Spirit Week Rampage May 2005 In the dimly lit robotics lab at Middletown Middle School, their robotics team was stressed. The four students huddled around their poodle-sized creation, WENDI. Her cold, metallic body remained unresponsive despite their efforts. Failure was not an option with the State Robotics Olympics less than twenty-four hours away. Adding…
Driving with Whales and Zeppelins
Driving with Whales and Zeppelins Boring. That was how eight-year-old Louis Butler describes visiting Grandpa Charlie’s cottage on the isle of Jersey. The man did not have Nintendo or Cable TV. His telly was an old piece of furniture with plants and books atop it. Visits always consisted of sitting around drinking tea in the…
Bus J. – The Lost Road
Bus J March 12, 2022 The ride home on Bus J is always an adventure. It shuttles the rowdiest kids on the longest ride — a 45-minute trek down Old Bridge Road, through one of the state’s densest forests. It always looked like it was on the verge of nighttime, even on the sunniest of…