Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Team Lucy Pevensie
Members:
1. (CAPTAIN) Kadi - The Accidental Hero by Matt Myklusch
2. Tiffany - I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day
3. Ilsen - Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by
4. Michelle - Glitter Gets Everywhere by Yvette Clark
5. Lucy - The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
6. Dee - Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

*Please take note of your assigned numbers, they may be important for some of the tasks*
(Each person’s name is linked to their challenge bookshelf and the book listed beside their name is their mg book recommendation)

The spreadsheet containing all the tasks will be shared with every team member via email invite on August 1st: countdown
I understand that may make it a bit hard to plan your first few books if you need to borrow them from a library in advance, but the tasks are many and wide enough in criteria that you can read any book at first and easily apply it to a task.

3 important things to note:
1. POINTS
- There are now 100 tasks not 70. Remember, each task is worth 1 point.
- 5 tasks make up 1 category. Each completed category is worth 5 extra points.
- There are 5 extra extra points for each category completed by only 1 team member. This is a good way to earn extra points but it doesn’t have to be used, please discuss it with your fellow team members.
- Remember tasks can be completed in any order.

2. BONUS TASKS
- There are 12 bonus tasks that will be revealed on 15 August.
- The first 5 bonus tasks are worth 3 points each with 10 extra points for completing all 5.
- The remaining 7 bonus tasks are worth 5 points each with 15 extra points for completing all 7.

3. MAKE SURE YOUR BOOKS COUNT
It’ll be really sad if you spend the time reading a book and then end up realising it doesn’t even count towards the challenge so always check it counts before starting to read it!
Refer to the rules to remind yourself of what counts as an mg book for the challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

If you’re reading a book with a specific task in mind and you’re not sure if your book will count towards the challenge, please check the FAQ tab on your team spreadsheet. If it doesn’t help then ask your team captain who will either answer if they can or pass on the question to me on the Captain's Chat and they’ll let you know the answer.

Now that the admin is out of the way, I’d just like to take a quick moment to say thanks for taking part in the challenge! All competitiveness aside, please make sure you have fun and communicate well with your fellow team members. And above all, let’s read some awesome books!

Ice-breaker:
1. Introduce yourself! Tell your fellow team members what your favourite genres to read are and some things they like to do besides reading.
2. Decide on a team name! Choose the name of a protagonist (or main character) from a middle grade book/series. Last time I hosted this challenge the teams chose: Coraline, Alice Queensmeadow and Logan Sweet so please don’t choose those!

I'll go first!

Hi everyone! I'm Kadi😊 I'm a university student and creator of this lovely group! It's a given that I love middle grade, but my fave genres specifically are mystery and time travel. I also really love anything spy/superhero and action and adventure. I'm not at all a fan of fantasy or contemporary but I can stomach them every now and then.

Outside of reading I love comic colouring (check out my instagram linked in my profile *wink wink*) and recently I reeeeally got into anime. I'm hoping I can pause the anime obsession and read a lot of books in August.

As for the team name, I have no idea and I'm not fussy so I'll chip in and give my opinion on whatever you guys put forward as suggestions.

Ahhhh Kadi!! We are on the same team again!! This is going to be so much fun! I’m so excited!

Hello, my name is Ilsen. I’m an avid reader and I am open to all things reading. My whole life is basically surrounded by my love of reading. I am also a college student and hoping to work in publishing as a book editor. I mostly read the YA age group but I’ve been also dabbling in the other age groups as well, such as Middle Grade which I have been loving. My favorite genres are contemporary and fantasy but I am open to all genres. I also really like mystery as well as that is what I read when I was younger.

Other than reading, I don’t really do anything else interesting. I do sing but just for fun, although I used to be in a choir in high school. I also like baking when I’m not lazy but I love sweets, as I love all food. I occasionally journal to organize my reading or write when I have to do some deep reflection. If there isn’t anything I love more than reading, it’s Taylor Swift. She’s one of my favorite musicians and I love listening to her music. Other music I like is Little Mix, Blackpink, and Olivia Rodrigo. I also like watching musicals with my friends and playing video games with my boyfriend.

Well, that second introduction was longer than I thought. Whoops. As for the team name, I thought that the recommendation had to do with that so I suggest Sal and Gabi XD I also would not mind to go with another middle grade character for the other book I would recommend (The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night) and the main character is named Ivy Lovely. Let me know what you all think. I’m excited to start planning for the prompts together and get recommendations!

@Ilsen oh whaaaat a coincidence we’re on the same team again! Ok I lie it’s not a coincidence😂 you’re fun to be on a team with and I wanted each team to be a mix of people who’ve done the challenge before and those who haven’t.

I’ve never done journaling. I’ve kind of always wanted to because people make it look really cool but I can’t find the fun in it myself. But I do love writing! Writing total nonsense😂 currently working on a murder mystery, the plot is a hot mess!
Since you love music I have a question: can you listen to music and read at the same time? I have to have complete silence when I’m reading.

Sal and Gabi seems like a bit of a mouthful but I love Ivy Lovely. What a pretty name! I actually have an ARC of The Crowns of Croswald that I still need to read! Ivy Lovely is definitely a contender for the team name but I’m still interested to see what the rest of our team members bring to the table...

Hey team!

Well I am still flattered nonetheless even if it was planned in advance! XD I do like journaling because it can be relaxing but yea I have been lazy. I recently got a new desk in my room and I’m hoping to treat myself to a new bookish planner soon so hopefully I can get back into the habit soon. Also, I absolutely cannot listen to music and read at the same time. The most I can do is those cozy ASMR videos in the background but music, I just sing along and go into my own world.

See, I thought Ivy Lovely was a good name for a team! But I’m totally open to other suggestions as well from other books!

Hey Dee! How are you? Also, do you have any suggestions for our team name?

@Ilsen ooh hopefully a new planner reignites your journaling passion! I’m hoping this challenge can do the same for my reading. I HAVEN’T READ A BOOK IN 2 WEEKS! Manga and anime are killing me!! I do love them but I really miss reading. Now I keep thinking that the challenge is so close that I might as well wait until 1st August to start a new book.

I know people create playlists based on books to play whilst reading but I can’t even play those instrumental movie scores in the background whilst reading. I love to listen to them whilst colouring but when I’m reading I don’t want to get distracted. Also what if the song doesn’t match the mood of the scene? I have thought way too much about this😂

The graphic novel readathon really helped me get out of a reading slump so I’m in a big mood for reading so thank you Kadi! I have also seen those playlists but I like listening to them after the fact so I can get into the character’s head but I can’t listen to them while I’m reading. When I listen to a song, I really get into it so I can’t do it at the same time. Also I get you for wanting the background music to fit like a movie, but I just imagine everything in my head XD

Hi, team! My name is Tiffany. This is my first year participating in this challenge. I was a bit nervous to join because I'm not competitive at all, but I think it will be a fun way to meet more people who love middle grade.

I read a lot of different genres. A few of my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy and fairy tale retellings, and contemporary. Besides reading, I'm really artsy and do a lot of different crafts, mostly in fibre arts. I spin, weave, quilt, sew, embroider, etc.

Hiya Tiffany! I really love your colourful outfit in your profile picture! Did you make some of it yourself? It’s super cool that you weave!! I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who does so that’s really awesome. I love sewing! I started a cross stitching project last year. I’m still only 1/4 through it😂

Also don’t be nervous😊 we’re all friendly here, that’s what I love about the group. Great vibes all around! If you’re not very competitive then this is the best team for you😂 I’m not very competitive either. My goal for this challenge is to read 7 books and if I do that it’ll be good enough for me. I see some teams are already raring to go! Competitiveness pushes some people so I’m glad to see it. Surprisingly, my team (even last time I hosted this challenge) always seems to be very chill. I think it’s great because it’s like every member of our team can read as much as I can and I support that. I’m not here to win, just to read good books and meet some new people😊

Oh also do you have any ideas for our team name? So far we have the name Ivy Lovely, the protagonist from the The Crowns of Croswald series in the running...

@Ilsen omg I’m so happy to hear that the graphic novel readathon helped get you out of a reading slump! I think it actually helped get me INTO a reading slump. That and binge reading manga which has led to my goodreads shelves being really disorganised.

You know there’s a big divide amongst readers like some picture everything in their head as they read and some don’t. I don’t! Sometimes when the scene is like really technical and describes rooms and people coming from different directions etc like in a spy book where they’re infiltrating a building then I’ll try to picture it as I read it, otherwise I just comprehend the words, I never imagine what things look like.

Sooo I thought over some cool team names and I’ve come up with some more we could choose from:
Lucy Pevensie (from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Jack Blank (from The Accidental Hero)
Sherlock Holmes (from Death Cloud)

What do you guys think?

I would be cool with Lucy or Sherlock!!

Hi! I’m Michelle and this is my first challenge. I am and always have been an avid reader. In the past year, I have really enjoyed middle grade books as part of an ARC sharing group. I have become a bit obsessed and and have a TBR like that often seems ominous! When I’m not reading, I am mom to two wonderful girls and an instructional coach at an elementary school. I love to puzzle, spend time with family and exercise. Looking forward to August!

Thanks, Kadi!! I did! I crocheted the hat, mitts, and boot cuffs with my handspun yarn. I actually forgot that I had a profile pic on here 😂 And yeah, that happens sometimes with my projects too...

It's good to hear that this team tends to be more chill about the challenge! 😊

For a team name, I like the idea of picking a classic or iconic middle grade character like Lucy Pevensie or Anne Shirley. I haven't read the other books mentioned, but really I'm not picky and will go with whatever the rest of the team likes.

Hi, Im Lucy. I like reading most genres, though I'm not generally a fan of sci fi. Besides reading I like to knit.

Im awful at coming up with team names, but I like the suggestions of Lucy Pevensie and Anne Shirley.

@Michelle I'm with you on the ominous TBR! I'm hoping to read some books off of it instead of rereading books for this challenge but I know I'm not going to make a dent in my TBR😂 It's 2000+ books strong!

@Tiffany that's so cool to hear! And Lucy is a knitter too! I see we have some really creative arts and crafts people on our team!

So I think we've all converged on Lucy Pevensie as our team name. As a big Narnia fan that makes me happy! So are we all good with having her as our team name?

Hey my fellow team members,

I know some people are swamped with work etc, but still want to take part in the challenge. Well, fear not! Thankfully, middle grade books are the one age category where you can quite easily find some fantastic but short reads (200 pages or less) that you can read in just a few hours, such as:
- Everything on this list
- All the books in The Spiderwick Chronicles
- All the books in the A Series of Unfortunate Event series
- All the MG books by Vivian Vande Velde
- All the MG books by Roald Dahl
I’m sure there are even more particular authors and series with short books out there. If you want to recommend any to your fellow team members below then please go ahead!

If you want to find the shortest books on your TBR shelf you can filter it by page length and set it to ascending so that it’ll show all the short books on your shelf at the top. Make sure the books count towards the challenge before you start reading them!

To level the playing field, I’ve shared this message with all teams😊
But any short books you recommend to your fellow team members below I won’t share with other teams or even see myself. (I never really check other teams’ pages, that’s why I have captains bring queries to the captain’s chat)

Team Lucy Pevensie sounds perfect to me!

Re: short books
Lots of older middle grade books are pretty short. Most (maybe all?) of Beverly Cleary's books are short. I've actually been wanting to reread the Ralph S. Mouse books, so if they fit a challenge I might read them next month. Several by Dick King-Smith are short, too. Many of Andrew Clements books are under 200 pages.

A few more recent quick reads I liked are
Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey
Starfish (over 200 pages, but written in verse so it's quicker to read)
Ways to Make Sunshine

I have a whole bunch of The Worst Witch books on my kindle if they fit any prompts (they are fairly short I think), and lots of Jacqueline Wilson books that are around 200 pages too.

@Lucy oh yes Jacqueline Wilson books tend to be short. I own a few but to be honest I've grown past the point where I can reread her books now.
I've never read the Worst Witch, maybe I'll like it. I know they made a show based on it, have you watched it?

I have watched both versions of the tv show for worst witch, but I preferred the older series rather than the Netflix one.

@Lucy yeah I’ve heard that from others too. I never watched the show but it was made by the BBC so if it had come out like 10 years ago I’d probably have watched it. After all, I grew up watching BBC shows like The Story of Tracy Beaker (based off the Jacqueline Wilson books)!

So ladies, only 2 days left! I’m so impatient for August 1st because I’m not reading anything right now and I really want to. I just got copies of 11 Birthdays and Assassin? and I can’t decide which to read first!

What are you guys planning to read first? (Not asking as a captain, just making conversation)

I’m in between A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano, or the second book in the Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renee Russell. The Dork Diaries series is a quick read and I’ve been wanting to catch up and the other two are pretty short so we shall see. I haven’t made my TBR for the month because I’ve been pretty busy with getting ready for school so hopefully I will know soon

Can i not take part

I’m gonna reread some Jacqueline Wilson’s and I’m also going to read the worst witch

Hey Eden, please check the message I’ve sent you regarding your team!

I just started the second Lola Benko book yesterday.

@Ilsen I tried reading a monster calls a few years ago but I just never enjoy Patrick Ness’ books. I’ve never read Dork Diaries either but it will probably be a good quick short book to read!

@Michelle ooh do you think you’ll finish it before August 1st? The reason I haven’t started a new book even though I finished one yesterday is that I don’t think I’ll finish one in time before the challenge starts so now I’m going to wait and at least whatever I read will count towards the challenge.

I have no idea if I’ll finish it but I will try!

Hehe good luck! You got this👏🏻😊

I have no idea what Im starting with, but I have The Last Bear, and Shouting at the Rain planned for the end of the month for another readathon. Im not really a prepper, so I will figure the rest out as I go.

I'm very much a mood reader, so I have a ton of ideas from my TBR but no idea what I'll actually end up reading this month.

I actually have a question about the All-of-a-Kind Family series. I was thinking of reading it, but now I'm not sure if it would count or not. Only the first book is listed on AR, but it is listed as MG. Can the others count, too?

@Lucy aah so you can read these books and hit 2 birds with 1 stone! Because they’ll count for both your readathon and this challenge so that’s great👏🏻

@Tiffany I’m a mood reader too so I really relate to that. I’m feeling pretty positive towards the first few books I’ve got lined up so I’ll probably end up reading them. It always helps convince me when the books are short too, if it’s more than 350 pages I start to waver in my resolve to read it.

Also, yeah those books should be fine! AR doesn’t always have books on it (which is a pain) but the goodreads entry pages list them as children’s/mg so that’s good enough.

Hi Team Lucy Pevensie,

I’ve sent out email invites to all the team members so you can access your team’s spreadsheet.

If you didn’t receive an email invite first check your junk mail and then if you still haven’t received it please private message me to let me know and I can try sending it again. Or if you’d like to change your email address or add an additional email address please send me a private message.

All tasks are visible on your spreadsheet but the bonus tasks will be revealed on August 15th.

Remember that your team captain is in charge of the spreadsheet especially the official challenge sheet so please coordinate with her about who will fill in what parts of the spreadsheet.

Right well, that’s all from me for now...
Good luck and happy reading!😊

Hi Kadi! I saw the request but since my email is a hotmail, I can’t have access to it. I requested the access from my gmail account that is used for readathons. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Hey Ilsen, no problem I’ve granted access to your other email address. I can’t remember how we did it last time but I don’t remember it being so confusing to give people access to the spreadsheets😂 turns out only Google addresses can access/edit spreadsheets, who knew! Hopefully it’s working for you now.

Yeah guys so please check out the tasks on the spreadsheet. Also check out the Task Guidance sheet as it has some helpful clarifications for some tasks.

So here’s how we’ll fill in the spreadsheet:
Feel free to add books you’ve read and all other relevant data to the Tracking Sheet. I will handle the Official Challenge Sheet so please don’t touch that one.

If you don’t have time or you just don’t get the spreadsheet you can also just leave it to me and I’ll do it for you, don’t worry I love doing it!

So when you finish reading a book please tell me the following on the discussion page:
- the title and author’s name
- the dates you started and finished reading it
- ALL tasks the book applies to (and how it applies to them if it’s not obvious). Even if you read it for one specific task please tell me all the other tasks it could apply to so I can move it around later if needs be.
And then please add the book to your challenge shelf!

If you tell me all in one go it saves me having to ask you and you having to respond if you’re busy!

Ok perfect! I’ll put it in the tracking sheet and I’m currently working out my TBR! So excited!!

@Ilsen Ok great! Ahaha I’m literally starting my first book now. Not even an hour into 1st August and I’m so ready for this😂

Im figuring out my books, but I still have 7.5 hours until August 1st.

I know for sure I'm starting with Tracy Beaker though (kids in a care home)

@Lucy aah the pain of waiting. Not long now! Also yes Tracy Beaker would work perfectly for that task! It could probably work for a few others too like the humour genre task (just thinking of the top of my head).

Totally newbie…how do we determine which challenges we are doing?

@Michelle you can either pick any task that interests you and try a find a book for it
OR
read any book you like and as you read it try and find tasks it applies to.

For example: I just really wanted to read 11 Birthdays so I’ve started it.
I’m almost halfway through and I’ve already noticed it fulfils task 15. A book that is part of a trilogy, task 25. A book with a character who has a bad birthday, task 23. A book that belongs to the contemporary genre and task 55. A book in which time travel is used. So I could apply it to any of those tasks.

Some books will probably apply to multiple tasks, some won’t so either method for choosing books will work but it’s up to you!