Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Team Annabeth Chase
1. (CAPTAIN) Kadi - Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer - 58
2. Capn - Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba - 9
3. Firefly Reid - The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer - 1
4. Ilsen - Measuring Up: A Graphic Novel by Lily LaMotte - 50
5. Bhavya - Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston - 3
6. Jos Stormblessed - Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi - 85
7. Rachael Reshma - Gloam by Jack Mackay - 20
8. Audrey Hammer - The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull - 42
9. Sahari - The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan - 12

(Each person’s name is linked to their challenge bookshelf. The book listed beside their name is their mg book recommendation and the number is their personal task)

The spreadsheet containing all the tasks will be shared with every team member via email invite on 1st September: (countdown: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...)

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 questions, 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
Please always check your book counts towards our challenge before starting to read it!
Refer to the rules below to remind yourself of what counts as an mg book for the challenge:

WHAT COUNTS AS A MIDDLE GRADE BOOK:
- Must be more than 100 pages long.
*For audio books*: The print edition must be more than 100 pages long.
*For graphic novels*: must be more than 150 pages long.
- Must be categorised as MG+ or MG on this website: https://www.arbookfind.com/
If it says LG or UG on the website it DOESN’T COUNT.
OR
Must be categorised as MY+ or MY on this website: https://www.arbookfind.co.uk/
If it says LY or UY on the website it DOESN’T COUNT.
- Only books started on/after 1st August count!

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. Also talk about your recommended book and why you recommended it.

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 four times in the past and here are what past teams have chosen: Coraline, Alice Queensmeadow, Logan Sweet, Lucy Pevensie, Sirius Black, Merlin, Charlotte, Morrigan Crow, Mary Poppins, Amari Peters, Matilda Wormwood, Wolf, Zenobia, Diana Barry, Remus Lupin, Anthony Lockwood, Cimorene, Sophie Foster, Percy Jackson, Ivy Lovely, Moose Flanagan and Alcatraz Smedry so please don’t choose those!

Hi guys I'm Kadi, you all know me I like to read, I like to host this challenge, I love a good spreadsheet, I can't wait to dig into all my MG books!

I don't have a preference for the team name. Last year I suggested Arthur Spiderwick, I still think that's a good option, but I'm interested to hear others' suggestions...

Rachael and Sahari, please can you both make shelves for the challenge so I can add your challenge shelf links to the comment at the top of the page, that will make things easier once the challenge starts, thanks😊

I'm Audrey and excited to be back.

I'm a mom of five, and the oldest is getting married in 3 weeks. I'm making the cake because that's one thing I do. I'm also a musician, and I've been working really hard this year to get better at violin. (I teach band and orchestra during the school year to elementary school kids.) I'm also a freelance editor and have edited about 20 published books.

I mostly like fantasy and science fiction; mysteries, thrillers, and horror are also fun. I don't like romance and nothing too cozy or too dark. The Candy Shop War is by a local author, and I've had the third in the series waiting to be read for a while now, and it's getting embarrassing.

Hi, I’m Firefly!

I love reading fantasy books and sci-fi. My favourite kind of book is hard to describe. I love books that give off the vibes that they were written somewhere between the years 2012-2013. If you know, you know, if you don’t, you don’t 😅.

I recently got a kitten and have really been enjoying hanging out with him and watching have the zoomies. I also love writing and am working on writing a second book!

I recommended The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer because my mom read that book series to me when I was little and it’s the series that got me not only into reading, but writing as well. It was written well enough that I know even now I would enjoy reading it all over again.

Group name…. Bellatrix Lestrange??? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also quick question! I’ve never joined one of these challenges before because I’ve always chickened out, but unfortunately that also means I don’t quite understand all the rules… the number next to our names, I know it says it’s the number of our personal task. Does that mean we have to read the number of books beside our name? For example, my number is number 1. Do I only read 1 book for this challenge? Or is there somewhere I go to see what task one is and after I finish task 1, do I get to do more tasks??

Also does this challenge start in August or September?? I’ve seen some things say September because that’s when we get to look at the list of tasks, but this challenge is called the August reading challenge. I’m just a little confused 😅 sorry

Firefly wrote: "Also does this challenge start in August or September?? I’ve seen some things say September because that’s when we get to look at the list of tasks, but this challenge is called the August reading ..."

I think the September is a typo. It should begin August 1.
The tasks are numbered, so the number refers to a specific task. I assume it will make more sense once that's released.

Mary Lennox
Luna Lovegood
Alice Liddle (Alice in Wonderland)
Bastille

Hey Firefly (should I call you Firefly or Reid or Firefly Reid?)!
Ugh sorry for the confusion the Challenge starts on 1st August. Every reference to a September start is because last year we started in September and a lot of stuff is copy pasted from last year and I’ve not amended that on this Team page but I did on the other Team page🤦🏻‍♀️ It was late when I was doing it sorry!

Also the number next to your name is your Personal Task number. On 1st August I will share the Challenge Spreadsheet with you by email and it will have a list of 100 tasks! Task 1 is your Personal Task so if you read a book that fits Task 1 then you can get extra 10 points for the team wahoo!
But you don’t have to! You can read any book you like for any Task you like😊 as long as it fits the rules above for what counts as an mg book.
If someone else in our Team reads a book for Task 1 instead then we can get extra 5 points because it’s your Personal Task.
This is a new rule that I introduced yesterday because I didn’t want to reveal too soon why I made everyone pick a number lol

@Firefly Reid ooh Bellatrix Lestrange is a good team name suggestion!

But I also like Luna Lovegood as a team name Audrey. I’m going to wait to see what everyone else suggests before I cast my vote.

@Audrey congratulations on the wedding🎉 5 kids wow you must be crazy busy!
Also it’s so cool when a popular book is written by a local author. You know the Spooks Apprentice author is from my hometown. He came to do a talk at my school when I was a kid and some of the places in the book are named after nearby towns it’s so cool. Great mg book series!

I would like to be called Firefly :)

Thanks for asking Kadi!

Hi everyone! My name is Ilsen and I am so excited to be participating again this year! I have also been participating since the very beginning and even though I don’t do readathons as much anymore, I always like to do this one to catch up on my middle grade. (Also I am so excited to be in a Team again with Kadi, yay!!)

I like reading most genres but my favorite genres are contemporary, mystery, and fantasy! I picked my book because I’ve mostly been reading middle grade graphic novels but I thought Measuring Up was one of the best middle grade graphic novels that I read last year! I thought it tackled important thoughts about identity and using food to celebrate your culture. I hope everyone gets to make time to read it at some point!

As for the name, I like Luna Lovegood! My suggestions for the name would be Jasmine Garza from Jasmine Is Haunted or Princess Nouna from Meesh the Bad Demon Let me know what everyone thinks! I’m so excited for the challenge, I already saved some graphic novels and books to start with!

Hi I am Bhavya (she/they) from India. My first time participating in this challenge. I like reading all genres/books, some of my fav MG are Amari and the Night Brothers, Aru Shah and the End of Time series, and the classics like Hiedie, Little Women etc.

I am down in a bad illness flare-up and not anticipating feeling better until mid Aug, so no idea how much i wld end up reading or how online i wld be, but i will try my best!

As for the name if possible wld prefer not to have a HP char due to all the anti-trans stuff the author has said over the years, is a sore spot for me..

@kadi
As we discussed i wld need help of someone "logging" my read books in the sheet as i can't really do it easily due to my vision :)

(Also ques is everyone here 18+? Just asking so will accordingly know how to keep the convos! /genq)

Hi Bhavya sorry to hear about your illness flare up, I hope you can rest up. Give it a go and take part when you can and of course send a message on here once you’ve read a book and I will handle the spreadsheet for you.
f anyone has any technical issues or wants to have a private conversation about a Challenge related problem anyone can email me at kadithereader@gmail.com

Also I’m not sure of anyone’s ages, no one needs to disclose any personal information that they don’t want to. Please everyone remember this is a public group just for reading so no politics, please keep it PG, no swearing, etc

All tasks can be read with any books anyone would like to read as long as they fit the rules, I like to think books are their own entity and can be removed from any dislike or difficulty you have with an author, so any team name we have a general consensus on I am happy to go with😊

Oh yea @Bhavya I totally understand. Honestly after all the things that came out, I also keep my distance and try not to endorse Harry Potter in any way that’s profitable.

I just know it’s a very popular choice but if we can do another character name that is better and not as problematic.. We still have any Percy Jackson or a popular middle grade series. The important thing is to make everyone comfortable.

Ooh yes Ilsen what about Annabeth Chase or Leo Valdez? Everyone weigh in!😊

I vote for Annabeth Chase, I’m surprised it has not been used. Leo is also a great one or maybe we can also do Nico as well. I’m good with any!

I know I had to check and was surprised no Annabeth yet! I wouldn’t mind Nico Di Angelo either, all great characters.

Oh also! Alex Rider! Don’t know if anyone here has watched the show, totally love it and the books👏🏻

Oh! Annabeth Chase good!!

Or Magnus Chase, Jason Grace
Though the classics also appeal to me.

I never really liked Jason. I mean I know he’s one of the heroes and it’s not a competition but I was always Team Percy🤭

I still haven’t finished Heroes of Olympus but yes I am ok with Jason because we don’t seem to know him as well. Maybe I’ll finally read Mark of Athena (but only if my fiance finally finished The Son of Neptune).

Kadi wrote: "I never really liked Jason. I mean I know he’s one of the heroes and it’s not a competition but I was always Team Percy🤭"

That's okay; I don't like Nico. I know he's a favorite, but he just annoys me.

Mark of Athena is probably the best of that series.

I can’t say I really liked any of the Heroes of Olympus books to be honest. They were too long and often I found them boring. I think the fact that I loved the Percy Jackson books so much probably got in the way because I kept comparing them and even if they were good, they weren’t as good as the Percy Jackson books in my opinion

Yes anything pjo is fine with me! Annabeth, Jayso, Nico is all ok with me.

I personally somewhat liked heros of olympus, but i hated the last book in particular

So we’re just waiting for Capn, Jos, Rachael, and Sahari but I think the general consensus for a team name so far is Annabeth Chase.

Guys I can’t believe the Challenge starts this weekend! The days always fly by on the weekdays because of work so I’m going to blink and the time will be upon us!

Question @kadi is there a time zone restriction or aug 1st frm my timezone counts? (I hope it does?)

Hey Bhavya, there’s no time zone restriction, you can start as soon as it’s midnight in your time zone wherever you are!
The countdown in the first comment is just a standard UK time for a general idea of how many days to go before we start

Ok ty!
Also when will we get all of the prompts. And the ones in the sneek peak are also the prompts right, so if theres a gap between aug 1st for me and when they are released can i plan my reading acc to those meanwhile? /genq

Yeah the sneak peek tasks are the real tasks so absolutely you can plan your reads based on those, that’s actually why some people asked last year for the sneak peek tasks to be revealed early so you can place library holds

The rest of the tasks will be revealed at UK midnight on 1st August. I’ll share the spreadsheet with all the tasks on them directly to your email address, so you’ll get an email with the link to open the spreadsheet which has the tasks on them

Are the sneak peak tasks open? Where is that?

Here Audrey:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

I posted it on the info discussion page for the Challenge a week or two ago

Ok thanks!

I was looking and couldn't see it. Thanks.

Hi guys, sorry I'm late!! :O

I'm Capn (NOT the team Captain - it's an issue every year, ha!). Kadi and others from previous years will know that I like dusty, faded, secondhand middle grade books published from before I was born (I'm weird that way... also cheap. Love cheap books!), but am trying to be a little more current this year, I promise!

Favourite genre is definitely mid-century or vintage low-fantasy (books like The Dark Is Rising, Astercote, Carrigmore Castle, for example).
<- absolutely slaps. Love it.

This year I recommended Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba, an author I recommend generally (she also wrote The Village Beyond the Mist which allegedly was the inspiration behind Spirited Away, but I warn you now - it bears almost no similarity to the film!). I read Temple Alley Summer during the last MG Madness Reading challenge and I think it was my favourite read of the challenge. :)


I was going to change my recommendation to Boy in the Tower (because I thought I had already used Temple Alley Summer last year), because it was by far the most intense and frightening middle grade read I've ever come across.


Happy to be here, sorry to be late (am trying to speed through the last 250 pages of Ptolemy's Gate before the 1st!), happy with any team name! :)

I think I can start the reading challenge with An Older Kind of Magic - it's definitely set in Australia. :)
Task 11, Cat. 3 "Time Flies" - A Book Set in Australia

I've got many options for Task 37, Cat. 8 "Go Green" - A Book with a Green Cover:


And I have to ask the perennial irksome question: IS there a master list of all books read by previous challengers? :) And if NOT, can we make one?

Suggestion: each of us veterans participating this year can vote our previous books onto a shared Listopia list, so we can all reference it. One caveat - it'll only be possible to vote on 100 books per user, though if someone's already voted for a book you don't have to add it and can save a vote.
OR, GoogleSheet, and we just add them on that way (or I guess Kadi could copy and paste all the listed books into a new sheet, heh).
I can start off if needed - will wait to hear back!

Omg Capn yes I literally got a buzz thinking about the tasks that fit my first reads. You’ve got me in the zone I can’t wait!

Also the Capn not team captain joke cracked me up😂

I went shopping at the supermarket the other day and I bought Skandar and the Unicorn Thief for £2!!!! It was on sale so that’s a bargain (although the original price was also cheap, only £4 when the recommended sale price on the back of the book is £7.99.

I don’t know if I’ll enjoy it and it’s kind of long for the challenge and I’ve not bought a physical book in years but I couldn’t pass up a book at that price!

#6 is going to be hard as opening a book with the character looking in a mirror is a big writing no-no. Maybe an older book?

Capn wrote: "I think I can start the reading challenge with An Older Kind of Magic - it's definitely set in Australia. :)
Task 11, Cat. 3 "Time Flies" - A Book Set in Australia

I've got many opt..."

Ooh I like the idea of everyone contributing to a master list of what they read in the past. I can contribute as much as I know because I definitely think we need it!

I’m sure I have read a book before that starts with the protagonist looking in the mirror, Audrey. Sadly I can’t remember it now😂🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m going to do some research now because I need to know!

Kadi wrote: "I went shopping at the supermarket the other day and I bought Skandar and the Unicorn Thief for £2!!!! It was on sale so that’s a bargain (although the original price was also cheap..."

Ah, the allure of cheap reads! The thing is, if you love it, it's going to make it hard to justify paying full price for something you didn't! XD

I fully intend to actually make use of my local library this year as well. :)

Kadi wrote: "I’m sure I have read a book before that starts with the protagonist looking in the mirror, Audrey. Sadly I can’t remember it now😂🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m going to do some research now because I need to know!"

I couldn't find anything very easily with a quick search, so am going to offer a back-up suggestion if your research also comes up dry: "..or mirror or reflection on the cover" :)

(I'm sure I've also read a book that starts this way, but clearly it wasn't very memorable!)

Relevant Listopia lists:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag?id...

@Capn yes library! I’m going to be travelling halfway through the challenge so I don’t think I’ll be using the library. But I realised last year I only read graphic novels so this year I plan to actually read some books