Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Team Mary Poppins
Members:
1. (CAPTAIN) Aeriell - Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
2. Debby - Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
3. Kelly - The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
4. Audrey - Janitors by Tyler Whitesides
5. Jos - Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi

*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: https://www.timeanddate.com/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.

2 important things to note:
1. REFER TO THE RULES
- You can find them here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
- They list every detail from how the points are calculated to information on the bonus tasks.
- If you have a question please check it against the rules and if you’re still looking for an answer please put it to your team captain who will ask me in the Captain's Chat and refer back to you.

2. 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/...
Remember you can now check books against the US website: https://www.arbookfind.com/ AND UK website: https://www.arbookfind.co.uk/

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 Task Guidance 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.

Ice-breaker:
1. Introduce yourself! Tell your fellow team members what your favourite genres to read are and some things you 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. This challenge has been hosted twice now and here are what past teams have chosen: Coraline, Alice Queensmeadow, Logan Sweet, Lucy Pevensie, Sirius Black, Merlin, and Charlotte, so please don’t choose those!

Hello Team! I'm Aeriell your Team Capitain

I took part in this last year and was Capitain for the Team Merlin. I predominately read mostly fantasy and scifi. I'm a huge nerd: Dungeons and Dragons (I'm a Dungeons Master and Player), Warhammer 40k, Magic the Gathering. I'm here for any questions you may have and always down to discuss/ reccomendations for books!

Also don't forget be thinking on those name ideas!!

Hi all! Thanks for being our fearless leader, Aeriell. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to embark on this competition. It's my first time and it sounds like it is right up my alley.

My favorite genres are historical fiction and contemporary fiction with a little fantasy thrown in. I work for the Cuyahoga County Public Library system here in Ohio as a children's librarian, middle grade being my fave reading niche and kids to work with! I hosted a cool program yesterday in which the kids were challenged to make a pool for their Lego figurine. I love my job!

Besides that, I enjoy being outdoors, traveling when I can, and animals. I love exploring historical and/or natural places with my family.

Some team name ideas: Hermione, Auggie, Meg (A Wrinkle in Time), Astrid (Roller Girl), Melody (Out of My Mind and Out of My Heart)...

Hi!! Nice to meet you

My favorite genres are fantasy, romance and thriller, recently I've been reading a lot of contemporary romance but I've been trying to reconnect with middle-grade books since many of my favorite reads were MG and I want to read more

Besides reading I enjoy learning new languages (actually, English isn't my mother tongue) and watching anime, I also like to hang out with my friends and I love being in the company of little kids. I also like animals, especially cats

Hi Jos!! Cats are my favorite animals, along with lions, sea turtles, and otters. :)

Hi fellow teammates,
I have never done this before, but I love reading and writing middle-grade stories and look for the Wow factor in any book!. I enjoy disappearing into a historical fiction including westerns or great murder mysteries like those by Dick Francis. I am always up for an author I haven't read yet. I'm in Liberty Lake, WA

Hi all, it's my first time and I love reading this genre. Can't wait to see where it takes me. I enjoy good historical fiction including westerns and murder mysteries. And I am the caretaker of family heirlooms and family trees. Can't wait to see where this takes us!

And...I have to get used to this type of messaging, haha! Looking forward to it all.

Hey it's all good! Nice to meet ya'll! This is going to be interesting seeing so far the difference in generes! I can't wait to see what we are all going to start reading for this and see what fits where.

My favoirte animal is Sharks, well finish in general but mostly Sharks.. I'm a bit obessed with them.

I am Audrey. I read mostly sci fi and fantasy but also enjoy mysteries and thrillers -- anything but romance. I have five kids (two are technically adults) and three cats (one is feral and doesn't really count).

I also play Magic the Gathering but my decks are from the 90s. I grew up near San Francisco and now live in Salt Lake City.

I play six instruments, am a freelance editor, and can make wedding cakes. I am a big nerd -- I love everything physics and Red Dwarf and Doctor Who and Babylon 5 and Firefly and Blackadder.

I will be out of town next week, so don't worry when I disappear.

Team Evil Librarians? Michael Vey and the Electroclan? Skyward Flight?

So the Team name has to be the name of a character from middle grade books:
I have some sugesstions from some books:
Sophie or Fitz-Keeper of the Lost City series
Percy Jackson(Or many others)-Rick Riordan
Artemis Fowl-From my all time fav middle grade series of the same name
Morrigan Crow-Nevermoor series
Finn Whitman(or others)-Disney after Dark series

D. A. wrote: "Hi fellow teammates,
I have never done this before, but I love reading and writing middle-grade stories and look for the Wow factor in any book!. I enjoy disappearing into a historical fiction inc..."

Hi D.A. How cool that you write middle grade stories!

"Disappearing into a historical fiction..." Yes! One of my favorite things to do ;) <3

Aeriell wrote: "Hey it's all good! Nice to meet ya'll! This is going to be interesting seeing so far the difference in generes! I can't wait to see what we are all going to start reading for this and see what fits..."

Are you planning on watching any Shark Week? We just turned it on and will probably be tuning in quite a bit this week ;)

Audrey wrote: "I am Audrey. I read mostly sci fi and fantasy but also enjoy mysteries and thrillers -- anything but romance. I have five kids (two are technically adults) and three cats (one is feral and doesn't ..."

Hi Audrey! Love hearing about all of your interests. We have quite an eclectic group!

Kelly wrote: "Aeriell wrote: "Hey it's all good! Nice to meet ya'll! This is going to be interesting seeing so far the difference in generes! I can't wait to see what we are all going to start reading for this a..."

I tottally forgot that it was this week! Thank you for reminding me! I've been dealing with other things with life.

Question: do we put up books we are stockpiling on our shelves so you can see and say this one will work for this challenge? Or not until you see what the topics are and then we put them up on our shelf? Found some goodies in my stash. Debby

group titles: Sherlocks or
Enola Holmes

Sandlot team or 'Smalls' as ...you're killing me Smalls?

I like Arthur or Arthurites

Debby wrote: "Question: do we put up books we are stockpiling on our shelves so you can see and say this one will work for this challenge? Or not until you see what the topics are and then we put them up on our ..."

I just put all the one I own on my shelf at first, then wait till the beginning of the month due to we won't know fully the prompts until the start of the month when we get the spreadsheets.

Ok, I'll start loading my shelf as soon as time permits! Looking forward to what we have all found. What a great way to find new authors.

Anyone else come up with any names? They have to be characters from middle grade books:
Sophie or Fitz-Keeper of the Lost City series
Percy Jackson(Or many others)-Rick Riordan
Artemis Fowl-From my all time fav middle grade series of the same name
Morrigan Crow-Nevermoor series
Finn Whitman(or others)-Disney after Dark series

Here's some more from books I own:
David Rain,, Lucy Pennykettle, Gadzooks-From The Fire within series
Meggie- Inkheart series
Septimus Heap-Magyk series
Nicholas Flamel,Sophie and Josh Newman- The Alchemyst Series

I vote Nicholas Flamel as it sounds magical

How about Luigi Lemoncello? or Pippi Longstocking or Mary Poppins, Myrtle Hardcastle ... Enola Holmes!
Fun!

Debby wrote: "How about Luigi Lemoncello? or Pippi Longstocking or Mary Poppins, Myrtle Hardcastle ... Enola Holmes!
Fun!"

Mary Poppins sounds good, another team already has Morrigan Crow.

I'm down with Mary Poppins!!

That’s so far three for Mary Poppins. I know one of our team is out of town, but it’s still the majority so far. So if that’s what we decide I’ll let Kadi know.

Mary Poppins would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious !

Debby wrote: "Mary Poppins would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious !"

Kelly wrote: "Debby wrote: "Mary Poppins would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious !"

FUN!
"

I am back in town. I have been pulling out MG books from my shelves to get ready.

The first week we can probably fill in our books anywhere -- they'll likely all fit somewhere -- then we can offer suggestions (books I've already read I know will fit that someone else may want to read, for instance) or start hunting down harder ones.

Audrey wrote: "I am back in town. I have been pulling out MG books from my shelves to get ready.

The first week we can probably fill in our books anywhere -- they'll likely all fit somewhere -- then we can offer..."

Welcome back!
Sounds like a plan.

Hi Team Mary Poppins!
Your team spreadsheet has been sent to all of you via email invite, so please check your junk mail. If you don’t see the invite soon then please let your captain know or message me privately and I can send you an invite again or we can try with another email if you want.

The spreadsheet has 4 tabs at the bottom:
1. MG Challenge – The official challenge sheet. Points calculate themselves here so please don’t change any of the points coding!
2. Tracking Sheet – An informal tracking sheet for everyone’s book details.
3. Task Guidance – Specific and helpful guidance for individual tasks. Please check this first before asking your captain or me questions.
4. Example of MG Challenge – An example to show you how to fill in the first tab.

Your team captain is in charge of the MG Challenge sheet (the first tab) so please leave it to them to fill in the official challenge sheet unless they’re fine with you doing it too. The tracking sheet is for everyone, fill it in as you please!

For page numbers please either:
1. Use the number in the goodreads’ book entry OR
2. Use the number in your own copy
(They shouldn’t be too wildly different anyway)

Please wait for August 1st in your time zone before you start reading books for the challenge!
The bonus tasks will be added to your spreadsheet on August 15th.
And happy reading!😊

Yay!! I'll be looking at the prompts tonight and tomorrow morning and will be giving my ideas for what I'd like to read for what!

I see it! Does the captain get an official sheet in addition to this one? Or are they the same?

Captain Aeriell, are you fine with us adding in books ourselves?

Audrey wrote: "I see it! Does the captain get an official sheet in addition to this one? Or are they the same?

Captain Aeriell, are you fine with us adding in books ourselves?"

I'm completely fine with that! It got sent to ya'll as well so you can put them in yourselves.

And I assume we follow our respective time zones. (It's the 1st in Australia now but not the U.S.)

Audrey wrote: "And I assume we follow our respective time zones. (It's the 1st in Australia now but not the U.S.)"

It's only 9:34pm for me and I'm in the USA It's also still the 31st of July. Also Magyck I need to reread at somepoint.. I also own the whole series and the novella thing with it too :)

You're an hour ahead of me.

I have a book that fits three categories (13, 37, 47) so I can wait to see which one is hardest to fill.

Audrey wrote: "You're an hour ahead of me.

I have a book that fits three categories (13, 37, 47) so I can wait to see which one is hardest to fill."

I put down three for me, though if anyone finishes a book for those before me, let me know and I'll remove my stuff.

I am on the west coast in the state of Washington. I have a book that fits (27, 30) So I too will start and remove if someone else has something.
Audrey, you have one for (26) as well right? So if you and I can fill in the missing two books, we can add 5 more points to our team total. 2 people fill in one category.
___
For first (1 or 2 or 4) Pippi Longstocking stories are short but qualify if someone wants to read another
____
for (41) does Enola Holmes qualify as a 'teen agent'? she is 14.

Fun! Debby

Debby wrote: "I am on the west coast in the state of Washington. I have a book that fits (27, 30) So I too will start and remove if someone else has something.
Audrey, you have one for (26) as well right? So if ..."

I live in Ohio, near Cleveland!

I'd love to read another Pippi Longstocking book. I can count it as 1 or 2? Pippi Goes on Board is available at my library.

So far I have a book for:

#6 (cover with more than 4 colors) - The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street.
#35 (alien invasion) - Stowaway
#94 (blue and red/orange cover) - (this is a book in verse; is there a rule for this? I have to look...)

Hi Team Mary Poppins,
Quick update:
- I've changed the wording of task 37.
- I've added task guidance for task 36 & 37.

- Rereads count!
- Protagonists and main character are NOT the same thing. All protagonists are main characters but not all main characters are protagonists.
For example: in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry is the protagonist. Harry, Ron & Hermione are main characters. Seamus, Dean, and Neville are minor characters.
Some tasks say protagonist, some say main character so make sure to check!

I found the book A Small Zombie Problem for the zombie category (#60) but then discovered the MC's name is August (#86)!! I can use it for either category, depending on what y'all might have for those.

Kelly wrote: "I found the book A Small Zombie Problem for the zombie category (#60) but then discovered the MC's name is August (#86)!! I can use it for either category, depending on what y'all m..."

I suspect #86 will be harder to find, but we can move stuff around as needed, right?

Debby, I'm sure that will count as a teen agent.

The Michael Vey books seem to always fit a lot of categories. A main character is adopted, and in a couple of books they travel to three or four countries for the first time.

The Sword of Summer has a sign language speaker as a character.

Debby wrote: "I am on the west coast in the state of Washington. I have a book that fits (27, 30) So I too will start and remove if someone else has something.
Audrey, you have one for (26) as well right? So if ..."

Yes, I have one for 26. The remaining categories shouldn't be too hard.

Ella Enchanted would work for #53.
Michael Vey would also fill #45.

for #28 - Deltora Series: Secrets of Deltora main guy is
Doran the Dragonslayer does that count as his surname starting with the same 1st letter of my name Debby?

Has anyone else read the Keeper of the Lost Cities books? I'm currently reading Exile and don't know if it would fit in 21,13,38 or any other.

Audrey wrote: "Kelly wrote: "I found the book A Small Zombie Problem for the zombie category (#60) but then discovered the MC's name is August (#86)!! I can use it for either category, depending o..."

Audrey wrote: "Kelly wrote: "I found the book A Small Zombie Problem for the zombie category (#60) but then discovered the MC's name is August (#86)!! I can use it for either category, depending o..."

thanks, I will use Enola Holmes for 41