The best part of being a writer is getting letters and email from my readers. Middle grade readers particularly are so passionate about what they read. They tell you they are quite sure they are the biggest fan of your book that you’ve ever had. They tell you how much their life mirrors that of the main character’s. One young reader of my book, A DOG’S WAY HOME, assured me she will take excellent care of her copy because she plans to read it to her children one day.

But hands down, for me the best letters are the ones that tell me my book helped them see things in a different way. My 2012 book, THE DOGS OF WINTER, was inspired by the true story of a child in Russia who lived homeless with a pack of wild street dogs for two years. It’s not an easy book, emotionally. I didn’t sugar coat anything. But that book, of all the ones I’ve written, prompted the longest, most heart-felt letters about. As Gabby wrote to me after her class read THE DOGS OF WINTER, “It makes you think and question and realize things about the world you didn’t notice before.”

My new book, STAY, is starting to get its own fan letters. STAY is the story of Piper and her family who are experiencing homelessness. Piper’s story intersects with that of a little dog named Baby and his person, Jewel. They too are homeless. But because shelters don’t allow animals, Jewel and Baby must live in a city park. Again, a tough subject. But gratifyingly, readers say, “This book really opened my eyes,” or “I will never look a homeless person the same since reading your book.” And best of all, “Now I want to do something to help. To make a difference like Piper did.”

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines compassion as, “sympathetic consciousness of other’s distress together with the desire to alleviate it.” I also think of compassion as the ability to see things and people differently through an open heart. “Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes,” as my mother often instructed us.

Story is a great way to develop a sense of compassion in kids. I was a passionate reader as a kid and teen. I was particularly drawn to stories—both fiction and nonfiction—about people dealing with challenges I could only imagine. The biographies of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, BLACK LIKE ME, by John Howard Griffin, ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHIN, by Jean Craighead George, and of course, Anne Frank’s THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL. These books not only opened my eyes and my heart, they helped me become the kind of author who writes to widen that circle of light which is compassion.

I believe kids search for connection, are still open and curious enough to embrace “other.” And I believe kids truly want to make a difference. Whether it’s making masks for health care providers, donating lemonade stand money to animal shelters, or writing letters to soldiers overseas, kids want to feel empowered to alleviate distress.

Several months ago, I had the good fortune to connect with a remarkable young person named Roby Summerfield. Roby lives in a small mountain town about forty-five minutes from where I live. The town of Bakersville has fewer than five hundred people. Being the passionate reader that she is, Roby decided to establish the Bakersville Little Free Library. Roby’s goal is to fill the tiny library with books for young people featuring books on subjects she’s passionate about: empowerment of women and girls, cultural diversity, disability visibility, and environmental awareness. But, as she explained to me in her email, “The overall theme is kindness and compassion.” You bet I not only donated a signed copy of STAY for her library, I persuaded several other children’s authors to donate signed copies of their books too. “The role of being a library steward,” Roby says, “has enabled me to connect with my community, and feel that I am making a difference close to home.”

Six years ago, I taught at a writer’s conference on Sanibel Island in Florida. I was the only children’s author on the faculty. When asked why I choose to write for kids rather than adults, I said it’s because the books we read as kids—particularly between the ages of seven and twelve—that have the ability to shape who we become as adults. We carry them with us in our hearts, and often in our way of seeing, into adulthood. Middle grade authors are in the unique and humbling position to write stories that open hearts and widen the circle of light. Something needed now more than ever.

Bobbie Pyron is the author of seven award-winning, critically acclaimed novels including A DOG’S WAY HOME, THE DOGS OF WINTER, LUCKY STRIKE and her latest novel, STAY. Bobbie lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with her husband and their dog, Sherlock. You can find out more about her and her books at bobbiepyron.com.

To find out more about Roby Summerfield’s Bakersville Little Free Library, visit her Facebook page facebook.com/bakersvillelittlefreelibrary, and her Go Fund Me page, Kindness & Compassion Through Books.

Like everyone, I’m stressed, worried, hoping, praying, and longing for things to please go back to ‘normal.’ Literally the whole world is trapped in a Pandemic. But it’s just a moment in time. It too shall pass. Or so I try to remind myself when tears threaten. When everything seems like too much.

And though the current state of the planet is a whole other level, to be honest, I’ve been dreaming of normal and falling short to some extent my entire life. Every problem, every insecurity, always standing in the way of the idyllic normal in my head. I think maybe we all do this, at least a bit? Particularly in middle school—a time beset by so much physical and emotional change under even the best of circumstances. A time when perhaps many of us wanted so badly to just feel normal. To fit in with friends. To be understood by our families. To like what we saw when we glanced in the mirror.

The pre-Pandemic, contemporary world of my upcoming MG debut THE DREAM WEAVER is very different than the current one we suddenly find ourselves in. Yet twelve-year-old main character Zoey still longs for normal there too.

Zoey wants to put down roots. But her dad keeps dragging his kids around the country in pursuit of impulsive, often irresponsible career changes. Zoey wishes she had a solid group of friends. But constantly moving around makes it hard to build and maintain friendships. Zoey longs to dress like other girls her age. But she isn’t sure how to go about figuring out fashion yet. Typical junior high worries mixed with heavier ones. Then, at the beginning of the story, Zoey’s dad dumps her indefinitely at grandpa’s house while her big brother prepares to head off for college, and Zoey’s future is abruptly more uncertain than ever as those she loves most slip away.

But Zoey adapts. She grows closer to grandpa. She makes friends, has fun hanging out at the beach, and resourcefully plots to save grandpa’s boardwalk bowling alley. She finds her backbone and where she belongs. By the end of the story, Zoey is living a ‘new normal’ too—one in which she’s thriving, despite not having everything she wanted at the beginning of the book. Some things are better, others worse, a few remain to be seen. And that’s life. Adjusting to new normals all the time. Doing our best. G-d Willing, when we’re finally able to do all the fun summer stuff Zoey does in THE DREAM WEAVER—normal things like going to the beach or hanging out with loved ones in person—I bet it will all feel extraordinary.

But, for now, happy reading!

Reina Luz Alegre lives in the Miami area with her family. She’s dreamed of becoming an author since the second grade, and grew up to work on various other professional dreams—including as a freelance journalist and lawyer—before debuting her first novel, The Dream Weaver, which comes out June 23, 2020 from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. When she’s not writing, Reina loves to read, sing, and salivate over baking shows. Follow her on Twitter at @ReinaLuzAlegre and read more about The Dream Weaver at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Dream-Weaver/Reina-Luz-Alegre/9781534462311.

When I was ten years old, I lived in a neighborhood that seemed perfect from the outside. The grown-ups came and went in their cars. The kids walked to school. We rode our bikes around the block. In the summer, we caught toads and fireflies, and in the winter, we built forts. Everyone seemed happy and well-adjusted. If you look at pictures of me from back then, you would think I was happy too. There was one of me as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz with the ruby slippers we dipped in red glitter. (I remember there was glitter on the kitchen table for weeks). There was one of me sitting on the lawn with my dog. Just a goofy neighborhood kid you thought you knew. No different than any other ten-year-old.

You never would have guessed that I was suffering in secret. For as long as I can remember, I have suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  OCD takes many different forms. Some people who have it experience a fear of germs or feel a compulsion to wash or disinfect. Other people have rituals that stave off the feeling of disaster. My OCD mainly expressed itself in the repetition of intense and constant worries about ideas that disgusted or terrified me. Once a bad thought entered my head, I became consumed by it. I was completely unable to stop focusing on it for months at a time, and the thought would grow bigger and bigger until it became very difficult to do anything else besides worry. Most of my obsessive thoughts had to do with death, probably because my father was very ill when I was a child. I would think about AIDS or heart disease or terminal cancer or senility. Sometimes I would think about what would happen if one or the other of my parents were dying. Sometimes I would worry that I myself was dying. I would imagine my death bed, I would imagine being buried alive. I would imagine murder scenes.

Each of these worries would cycle continuously through my mind every moment of the day, growing in intensity from the time I woke in the morning, until I went to bed in the evening. It was a kind of constant existential pain. No matter how I tried to distract myself, I could still feel the worry clawing in my chest and my belly. When my obsessing was at its most desperate, and I became physically unable to keep the thoughts a secret any longer, I would begin to ask people around me if the things I worried about could possibly be true. But no matter what the person said in their attempts to soothe me, I would always doubt. Asking for reassurance doubled or tripled my anxiety, inspiring new questions that could never be answered. “Are you sure I can’t catch AIDS from a water fountain? Completely sure or just a little sure? Are you just saying this to make me stop asking, or do you really mean it? Will you always tell me the truth? How can I know you are telling the truth now?” I would ask and ask until my poor friend or family member would become so exhausted from my questions that they would eventually find a way to escape and I would turn inward, disgusted with myself, but still completely unable to stop.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness asserts that today, one in five adolescents suffers from some sort of serious mental health issue (NAMI, 2018) but because of the stigma surrounding mental illness, many teens suffer in silence as I did.  When I was a child, I didn’t know there was such a thing as OCD. I didn’t know there was a name for what was going on inside my head. I didn’t know that there were other people whose brains got stuck in the way mine did, or that a careful combination of therapy and medication would one day, finally, help me live a normal life. It was not until I was in my twenties that I finally became brave enough to seek help.

I wrote Trowbridge Road, so that children living in families with mental illness might see a reflection of their own experience and realize that they are not alone. In Trowbridge Road, June Bug discovers how harmful and exhausting it can be to keep secrets. She forges an unusual, imaginative and powerful friendship with a strange neighborhood boy named Ziggy, and discovers that she is not the only child in this neighborhood whose life is imperfect. She is not the only one who keeps secrets. She is not the only one who has been suffering in silence. Little by little, as trust grows between them, both children eventually feel safe enough to tell each other the truth for the first time, and in telling, they realize that sometimes when your own family is shaking you can find someone from the outside who can feed your spirit and even save your life. I wish that when I was eleven years old, someone had put a book like Trowbridge Road into my hands so that I could see that there was no such thing as a perfect neighborhood. Maybe I would not have waited so long to get help. There are many reasons why Middle Grade literature is powerful, but I think one of the most important is the ability to provide mirrors for children who have never seen themselves in literature before and windows for children who are the perfect age for empathy and connection. I hope Trowbridge Road finds its way into the hands of someone like me, who needs to know that what she is feeling can be put into words. I hope it gives some young person courage to find help if she needs it or to find hope in the promise that there are people out there who will feed your spirit and hold you until you are no longer afraid.

Marcella Pixley teaches eighth grade Language Arts at the Carlisle (MA) Public Schools. Her poetry has been published in literary journals such as Prairie Schooner, Feminist Studies, Sow’s Ear Poetry Review and Poet Lore, and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Ms. Pixley has written three acclaimed novels for children: Freak, Without Tess, and, Ready To Fall. Freak received four starred reviews and was named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year; Without Tess was a School Library Journal selection, and Ready To Fall was named a best books of 2018 by Bank Street Society of Children’s Literature. Ms. Pixley lives in an antique farmhouse in Westford, Massachusetts with her husband, two sons, and a ridiculous shaggy dog named Mango. She is a graduate of Vassar College and Bread Loaf School of English.

How did you become a children’s book writer?

I made up my mind to become a writer in high school, a playwright.  A Broadway playwright. That sure didn’t work, though there were flickers of interest. Reluctantly (believe or not) I took up cartooning. By then I had a son. He liked to climb on my lap and ask for a story. I’d always tell him to choose the subject. “A garbage truck.” “Rain.” With such prompts I invented stories.

Around the same time a picture book editor saw my art work, and urged me to write a book. “I’m an artist, not a writer.” She said “Then write a book and illustrate it.” I did. In quick time the art was ditched but the stories remained.  My first book, Things That Sometimes Happen—consist of those stories I told my son. It was published in 1970.  A rewritten version of it is still in print. Writing that book reminded me how much I loved kids’ books. There’s your beginning.

When did you start writing novels?

By the time I had my own kids I needed a stable income. I became a librarian, working first at the NY Public Library.  Then I became a librarian at what has become the State College of New Jersey.  When there, my son—the same one mentioned above—had a costume party: super hero stuff.  (One kid came dressed as Snoopy!) The third book I wrote was No More Magic loosely based on what happened at that party and the town in New Jersey where we lived. It was nominated for the Mystery Writers’ annual award. By then there was no turning back. I was a writer of children’s books.

And the historical fiction?

In 1947 Simon and Schuster published A History of the United States, the first truly pictorial history of the USA. I must have read it a thousand times.  I still own that very book. It made history vivid and utterly absorbing for me.  At the University of Wisconsin, I had two majors: Theatre and History.  My early plays were historical dramas. I still read history for fun.

After I wrote No More Magic, I wrote Captain Gray, a novel set in the post-Revolutionary war period.

People often reference your historical knowledge and detail. Where does that come from?

That’s the librarian in me.  At the college where I worked I taught students how to do research.  I find it wonderfully exciting, endlessly fascinating. Recently, writing about a famous event, I learned (when doing research) that there was an almost full moon that night two hundred years ago. No wonder it happened at that time! Serendipity is candy for writers.

Writing the just published Gold Rush Girl there is a vast library about San Francisco at that time.  People lived in tents. But I learned they also lived in Bamboo house imported from China, and iron house shipped in from New York City.  Best of all there was this vast fleet of abandoned ships—abandoned because the crews went off to search for gold—with this wonderful name “Rotten Row.” How could I resist such stuff? Rotten Row became the core of the book.  But of course, the story comes first. Still all that detail enabled me to invent a wonderful rich—as in detail—tale about people who came alive.

But–shortly after it was published I came upon a collection of Daguerreotypes (an early form of photography) of gold rush San Francisco people. And there she was: my heroine, Tory Blaisdell, looking and dressing exactly as I described her in the book, even to a Bowie knife in her belt! It was a wonderful confirmation of my research, my exploring Tory’s character, and the story I had written. Except as I looked at the picture, I had this eerie thought: maybe I was not writing fiction.  Maybe it was channeled–a true story!  Tory’s tale!

What is your writing process?

In two words: endless rewriting.  Endless. That includes reading it aloud to my wife, and to kids in a favorite local school. There is no such thing as a perfect book—not by me anyway—but I do try.  A story has to flow from start to finish with no speed bumps.  In one sense a novel is a logical revelation, logical in the sense that is must all be linked, cause and effect.  Or, as I like to say, I can’t write a good opening line of a book until I’ve written a good last line.

What is the role of an editor for you?

A good editor helps you discover (and deliver) the book you are writing.  Working with an editor who is smart, who challenges me, who has wit, who has a sense of fun, of whom you grow fond —is one of the great joys of my writing life.

What advice would you give would-be writers?

Read. Read. Read. And read some more. And more.  And more. In time—hopefully—your thinking will be like writing.  Thus my mantra: “Writers don’t write writing. They write reading.”

NOTE: This is a difficult time to introduce a new book series to the world. Kathie MacIsaac, an administrator of MG Book Village, recognized this and reached out on Twitter to authors with soon-to-be-released books with a gracious invitation to contact her. Gratefully, I did. Ms. MacIsaac offered me this chance to share my news and insights here on the MG Book Village blog. I couldn’t be more appreciative. So here goes…

Adventures in Writing a Chapter Book Series:
The Making of A DOG’S DAY

A phone conversation with my editor ultimately led to the project I am proudly announcing today…

Introducing the new A DOG’S DAY chapter book series, debuting with two titles, illustrated by the amazing Francesca Rosa. Each book highlights a dog that performs an incredible job or service (and loves the work, to boot):

• Jax, a dog that fends off wild predators to protect his flock!
• Ava, a dog that rescues people from avalanches!

As I observe the April 1st release, I’m sharing here a bit about choices made, things learned, and joyful discoveries that came to light while bringing these stories to the page.

Why Dogs? Why Me? Why Dogs and Me?

Going to the Dogs
It’s pretty obvious that lots of kids adore chapter books about dogs. Detective dogs, time travelling dogs, famous dogs – there are series for young readers featuring all kinds of set ups with canines. The dog-themed chapter books I’ve spotted in the library are often dog-eared (yes, I said it) and appear well circulated and well loved.

I’m drawn to these lovable, loyal creatures, too. So as I began to embark (yep, did it again) on writing a dog series, I set out to present a new take on this favorite subject within the boundaries of a fresh framework. As discussed with my editor, each A DOG’S DAY book will:

• Star a fictional dog with a job that canines perform in real life
• Be presented from the dog’s point of view
• In keeping with the series’ name, will cover only one day in that dog’s life. As in, just 24 hours or less.

That last bit – that perhaps has proven the most challenging.

Pups and Past Works
Most of my previous published works have been picture books. Still, some aspects of this new series fall into somewhat familiar territory. I had earlier published a middle grade chapter book, THE TERRIBLE SECRETS OF THE TELL-ALL CLUB, that was named a Scholastic Instructor magazine “Teacher’s Pick.” Working on that book taught me much about this format.

And then there was Barnaby. He was the sweet, whiskered hero of my earlier picture book, BARNABY THE BEDBUG DETECTIVE, about a dog with the power to sniff out a sneaky pest. While writing the Barnaby book, I witnessed a special performance, courtesy of a local exterminator – I had the chance to see an adorable and determined little dog enthusiastically do this detecting job.

Through that experience, I gained new insights and bits of information that became a part of the story. So as I began this new series, I made it my mission to meet every kind of working dog I write about.

Bringing Pups to the Page

Ruff (But Not Rough) Research
What I found to be true with the Barnaby picture book proved true as I researched my other dog books – people who work with dogs (like the exterminator) are the kindest, friendliest, BEST people in the world. I guess that’s not a big surprise. And they love to talk about and show off their amazing dogs!

My research led me on excursions around the country to meet with working dogs and their people. A livestock guardian dog expert I contacted invited me to visit the great Pyrenees on patrol at his parents’ Texas ranch. I witnessed an avalanche rescue dog demonstrate her scenting skills at a snowy Utah ski resort. For upcoming books, I have met an actor dog in Atlanta, and taken part in a search and rescue canine training session in the California desert.

My advice to anyone conducting research for any kind of project is this – don’t hesitate to contact the experts about your subject matter. Visit settings if you can, too.

While experiencing a location, one may notice rich details that can add something special to a story. In Utah, I saw a sign stuck in the snow inviting guests to that day’s avalanche dog demonstration. This sign, along with other details I observed, became part of the book.

Writing With Rules
Before setting out to write this series, I considered length, number of chapters and something else – the rules of my fictional dogs’ world. For example, in some books, dogs can speak to each other or other animals or even humans. They can sing Happy Birthday or grumble to the cat. Since this new series realistically portrays many aspects of a working dog’s day, I am sticking with the rule that my canine characters can’t talk to humans, except through the usual doggy methods – tail wags, snuggles, etc. And they cannot speak directly with other animals, but can respond to and interpret the meaning of another animal’s actions.

Presenting a story within the confines of a 24 hour or less time period is another rule. Featuring flashbacks in which dogs recall their puppyhoods, however, offers a way to include scenes of past training and other experiences that shaped my canine heroes.

Relating to the Reader
In a realistic story about dogs with big jobs, there will usually be an adult handler involved. Still, I try to be sure the dog has at least one encounter with a child character that is similar in age to the young reader. This, I hope, brings the protagonist a little closer to the reader and provides an opening for children to imagine themselves interacting with the dog in the story.

Something to Ponder
Finally, while aiming to tell an exciting story, I look for ways to illuminate ideas young readers may not have considered before. For example, what does it mean to coyotes and other wildlife when livestock guardian dogs, rather than other possible safeguarding methods, are used to prevent predation of sheep? (Hint: it may ultimately
save the predators’ lives.)

I’m excited about these new titles, and wish to all the experience of creating something that brings true happiness. I am indebted to my editor and designer at Albert Whitman, as well as illustrator Rosa Francesca. And I want to express my appreciation to all the dogs and the dog people I’ve met who’ve enriched my journey with memories that will last fur-ever (sorry, had to leave you with just one more).

Catherine Stier is the author of the new A DOG’s DAY chapter book series, which received a starred review from Kirkus and debuts April 1, 2020. She is also the author of several honor-winning children’s books, including IF I WERE PRESIDENT.  Stier holds an MA in Reading and Literacy and has served as a magazine writer, newspaper columnist, writing instructor and a children’s literature researcher.  Born in Michigan, she now resides in San Antonio, Texas