Hey guys, guess what.

My very first book comes out this year!

You know who else is debuting fun, new middle grade fiction this year?

Lots of people! Hooray for readers everywhere!

I thought you might like a chance to get to know some of these authors and their fabulous books, so I’m starting a new feature: In the Middle with {Insert Amazing Middle Grade Author Here}.

Watch this space—I’ll be posting short interviews with fellow debut authors and details about their books as they release.

Our first victim guest is Michelle Schusterman with her simultaneous release of
I Heart Band and I Heart Band 2: Friends, Fugues, and Fortune Cookies.

Holly Mead’s first day of seventh grade isn’t going as planned. Her brother ruins her carefully chosen outfit, she’s almost late, and her new band director has some surprisingly strict rules. Worst of all, it seems like her best friend, Julia, has replaced her with Natasha, the pretty, smart, new French horn player! Holly is determined to get first chair, but Natasha is turning out to be some pretty stiff competition—and not just in band. Band might be a competition, but friendship isn’t—and Holly needs to figure it out before she loses Julia for good.

Both books are available on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Indiebound, and bookstores near you.

Q&A with Michelle:

What draws you into writing for a middle grade audience?

I know this is by no means an original answer, but while I’ve always read books in all sorts of genres and at all age levels, it’s the books I read in elementary and middle school—Matilda, The Witches, Sideways Stories from Wayside School—that really made me a lifelong reader. Those are the stories that have stuck with me the most, and they’re the stories I want to tell.

If you had a time machine and could visit middle grade you, what would you tell her?

“Everybody else is just as insecure as you.” Honestly, I was so painfully shy and withdrawn at that age, and I just assumed the other kids were all brimming with confidence. Being a teacher definitely taught me otherwise!

Choose your own adventure: Is there an interview question you’d love to answer, but haven’t been asked?

Honestly, I’ve been asked some pretty great questions! But one thing I’ve never gotten to talk about is Warlock, a card game Holly and her friend Owen are addicted to that’s sort of a mix of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. It was really fun to create the characters and rules as I wrote. And my awesome illustrator, Genevieve Kote, drew a pretty adorable set of Warlock cards which very sadly did not make it onto the cover of book three, so I’d love to share it with you here!

Image credit: Genevieve Kote

Thanks for dropping in, Michelle, and congratulations on your releases!
 

Michelle Schusterman is a former band director and forever band geek, starting back in the sixth grade when she first picked up a pair of drumsticks. Now she writes books, screenplays, and music in New York City, where she lives with her husband (and band mate) and their chocolate lab (who is more of a vocalist). Connect with Michelle on her website or on twitter.