amyarielfitz

Past Meets Present in YA and MG Fiction

By Editorial Director Amy Fitzgerald As a kid, I was obsessed with historical fiction. For me, it was an exciting escape from my generally comfortable but uneventful middle-class white life. Only later did I notice that it’s usually white people who fantasize about living in a different time.Read more

Middle Grade and YA Summer Reads

It’s been a rough school year, but summer is looming. And if ever there was a summer to keep kids well stocked with fun books to read . . . well, it was the summer of 2020, but 2021 has to be a close second. Here are some suggestions for middle-grade and young adult readers […]Read more

In Praise of Untidy Endings

By Amy Fitzgerald, Editorial Director, Carolrhoda One question I consider when I’m deciding whether I want to publish a book is “Does it have a satisfying resolution?” Satisfying can have many different meanings, but in general I want readers to walk away from a book feeling that they had a complete experience—that they weren’t left […]Read more

Q&A with Author Ginger Garrett

We spoke with Ginger Garrett about the inspiration for her new middle-grade novel, Name Tags and Other Sixth-Grade Disasters, which follows twelve-year-old Lizbeth’s quest to make friends, thwart nemeses, and figure out how to express herself through art in time to participate in a mandatory school talent show. Were you stuck with labels you hated […]Read more

How to Live on the Edge of Past, Present, and Future

I’m an anxious person. So are a lot of the teen characters in the novels I’ve edited. It makes sense; the teen years are fertile ground for anxiety. So much is beyond your control, even as you feel a pressure to take on greater responsibility. The present is a mess; the future is a terrifying […]Read more

Escapist Middle-Grade Reads

by Amy Fitzgerald, Editorial Director, Carolrhoda Books I always tell people that my mission is to publish stories that reflect the real world honestly for young readers, and that’s true. But sometimes, leaving the world as we know it has its upsides. Here are a few books that offer readers alternate universes to explore.Read more

Fly Back, Agnes and the Gift of an Imperfect Protagonist

by Amy Fitzgerald, Editorial Director, Carolrhoda Books I still see it all the time: What an unlikeable protagonist. The main character is so selfish. This girl makes terrible decisions! I’ve invented these particular statements, but they’re composites of opinions I frequently come across in discussions about books. I find them particularly amusing when they’re applied […]Read more

Elizabeth Wein and Amber Lough on Women Soldiers In World Wars I and II

by Amy Fitzgerald, Editorial Director, Carolrhoda Books Young adult authors Elizabeth Wein and Amber Lough are here to talk to you about their research trip to Russia and about the role of women soldiers in World War I and II. Read more

Red Menace and the Historical Fiction Sweet Spot

by Amy Fitzgerald, Editorial Director, Carolrhoda Books I love historical fiction. For a long time, though, I half-consciously regarded anything that was in the past but still within “living memory” as a sort of dead zone between history and the present.Read more

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