Jennifer Chambliss Bertman's Blog

My forthcoming novel, Back to Wonder, is set in 1985. To celebrate, I decided to lean into my ‘80s nostalgia and start a snail mail club for the 2026-2027 school year. Every month, I’ll mail a letter to the people who are signed up. These letters will be a fun window into my life as a children’s book author and will always include a dash of Wonder. There might be other fun bonuses too, like stickers, puzzles, or other activities. (And in case this is a question you have, there’s no obligation for you to write back. But of course you’re more than welcome to!)… Read the rest

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I am so excited to share that my next middle-grade mystery will be published next year (March 2027), and it’s available for preorder right now! Here is a bit about the book:

Stranger Things meets Erin Entrada Kelly’s The First State of Being in this captivating mystery by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chambliss Bertman.
The year is 1985 and three kids are brought together unexpectedly after discovering an abandoned hot air balloon in an overgrown field―Elizabeth, who is tired of abiding by her parents’ strict rules and craves an exciting adventure; Lily, who cares deeply about the natural world and wishes she had the ability to make things better; and Jacob, who loves art and recently relocated to the area to live with his grandparents.… Read the rest

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I read some great books in 2025. Here are ten of my favorites:
The Carpool Detectives by Chuck Hogan. Nonfiction about 4 moms who work together during the pandemic to solve a cold case murder. Suspenseful and fascinating. I listened on audio and thought it was great in that format.
James by Percival Everett. This book was WOW. If I could only recommend one of these ten books, it would be this one. Page-turning retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of James, the runaway slave Huck traveled with. You don’t need to have read Huckleberry Finn to enjoy this—it stands on its own without the original.… Read the rest

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In my latest newsletter, I share an update on lots of things including my next book, my writing prompts, upcoming events, and a whole lot more. Plus I’m giving away a copy of my favorite book that I read over the summer!… Read the rest

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September 19, 2025: I’m presenting a workshop on “Crafting Stellar Scenes for the Middle-Grade Audience” for the Writing & Illustrating for Young Readers Virtual Conference. The conference is a 3-day intensive and the line-up is fantastic! Learn more and sign up here.
October 18-19, 2025: I’m presenting two breakout sessions at the RMC-SCBWI Letters & Lines conference! I’ll be doing a variation of my “Crafting Stellar Scenes” talk as well as a plot workshop on weaving together internal and external narratives. Register for the conference here.
October 28, 7pm MST: Sisterhood of Sleuths is the October selection for the Writing & Illustrating for Younger Readers (WIFYR) Book Club.… Read the rest

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Did you remember when I did the Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo game last year? I had so much fun with that, and several people said they hoped I’d do it again, and so I am! Like last year, I’ve collected a diverse mix of books from a variety of authors: some new releases and some backlist, graphic novels, a verse novel, nonfiction, funny, suspenseful, romance, historical fiction . . . Hopefully, there’s something here for every reader. I put Book Scavenger in the center “free” space to celebrate its 10-year anniversary this year. (Confetti throw, hooray!) If you’re here on my website, then I figure there’s a good chance you’ve already read it, so it likely is a free square for you.… Read the rest

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This year I have a personal goal to do more writing “play,” so I’m creating weekly prompts for myself and sharing online, in case you’d like to join me too. I hope you will! Teachers, you’re welcome to use these with your students. I’ll be posting these every week on my website, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Substack.
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I love using a picture as a prompt, especially one that suggests a setting with hints of a character, but no actual character. It feels like an invitation to my imagination to fill in the blanks. Who lives in this little cabin in the woods?… Read the rest

The post Writing Prompt #15: Who lives here? appeared first on Jennifer Chambliss Bertman.

This year I have a personal goal to do more writing “play,” so I’m creating weekly prompts for myself and sharing online, in case you’d like to join me too. I hope you will! Teachers, you’re welcome to use these with your students. I’ll be posting these every week on my website, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Substack.
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I loved this essay from Ali Edwards, about the big brown couch that has been with her through multiple stages of life.
“The BBC [big brown couch] has seen Star Wars at least twenty times (probably even more). So many movies and shows.… Read the rest

The post Writing Prompt #14: It’s Giving Main Character Energy appeared first on Jennifer Chambliss Bertman.

This year I have a personal goal to do more writing “play,” so I’m creating weekly prompts for myself and sharing online, in case you’d like to join me too. I hope you will! Teachers, you’re welcome to use these with your students. I’ll be posting these every Wednesday on my website, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Substack.
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You can find previous prompts and my responses here.
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If you want to receive all my weekly writing prompts in your email, subscribe to my newsletter/Substack and click on the link to manage your subscription. There you should see a Notifications section and you can turn on/off which emails you’d like to get from me.… Read the rest

The post Writing Prompt #13: Pick Three Things appeared first on Jennifer Chambliss Bertman.

This year I have a personal goal to do more writing “play,” so I’m creating weekly prompts for myself and sharing online, in case you’d like to join me too. I hope you will! Teachers, you’re welcome to use these with your students. I’ll be posting these every Wednesday on my website, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Substack.
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Whenever I share my picture book A Good Deed Can Grow, I always encourage readers to sit with the book and explore Holly Hatam’s charming illustrations. I swear, every time I look through this book I notice details I hadn’t seen before—and I’ve looked through this book A LOT.… Read the rest

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