MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: THE BIG GIVEAWAY

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Middle Grade FictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION

Saltwater Taffy’s middle grade fiction book giveaway now underway!  I have 2500 books loaded into an RV and close to 400 miles to go.  Oh, and did I tell you that it’s 17 degrees every single morning in the south.

On the middle grade fiction adventure, I was able to hit 4 Boys & Girls Clubs…the Headquarters for Big Brother/Big Sister of Middle Tennessee…mailed 2 boxes to Harlem Children’s Zone and SEED of Washington D.C.…Tennessee School for the Deaf…3 area Middle Schools…a Children’s Hospital…and the United Way of Tennessee (who are going to feature the book as their Education Program in January)….you can say that I’m about to drop, but many lives have been touched.  Here are some photos from the road and the wonderful experience of giving.

Saltwater Taffy Saltwater Taffy

MIDDLE GRADE READING: Bad Habit Thinking

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Bad habit thinkingMIDDLE GRADE READING: Bad Habit Thinking

Bad habit thinking can become a bad habit that follows us into our adult lives.  If allowed, a single middle grade thought can trip…you…out.  During the formidable years of middle school, life is stuck on hyper-speed and everything seems to be a matter of life or death.  IT…IS…NOT.  Middle grade years have the ability of becoming some of the best years of our lives if we keep the mental playground free of limiting thought patterns, otherwise known as

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MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Thought-Watching, Not Clock-Watching

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Middle Grade FictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Thought-watching, not Clock-watching

Middle Grade Fiction is one of my favorite posting headlines because sometimes, your thoughts as middle school students are simply fictional fantasies.  By fiction, I mean when you think about what you CAN’T do more than you think about what you CAN do.

Our MIDDLE GRADE years are filled with so many insecure thoughts about fitting in with the ‘in crowd,’ all we end up doing is wasting time by watching the clock, waiting for it to end.  The activity of watching the clock… Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: ‘I Got a New Pair of Shoes’

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middle grade fictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION: “I Got a New Pair of Shoes”

This middle grade fiction post is about that new pair of shoes you just bought.  I mean, what is it about a new pair of shoes that can make us feel so amazing?   

The minute you lace ‘em up, you feel as if you can run faster and you suddenly forget all about your middle grade fiction fantasies.  

Yes, that cushiony feeling wrapped around your foot even makes you feel taller somehow.  Oh yes, let’s face it…a new pair of shoes can make a person feel down right special.

If a new pair of shoes can make you feel this way, I would like to introduce you to an energy that is ten, twenty, thirty, perhaps one hundred times the power of a new pair of shoes. Read more

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Bang, Bang, YOU’RE DEAD

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middle grade fictionMIDDLE GRADE FICTION: Bang, Bang, YOU’RE DEAD

Middle grade fiction, middle grade students, and middle grade literacy is the reason I became a children’s book author in the first place.  The problem I have is all the violence we are feeding our middle grade children.

Over the weekend, my wife and I walked into a pizza joint to eat dinner and this was the first thing we saw; little boys holding guns while playing the arcade games.  There is nothing wrong with arcade games, don’t get me wrong, but the image of this Tween holding a gun was…

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