Bank Square Books presents a Middle Grade Panel with authors Nancy Tandon (The Ghost of Spruce Point), Luisana Duarte Armendáriz (Julieta and the Diamond Enigma), Janae Marks (On Air With Zoe Washington), and Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo (Each of Us a Universe)
About The Ghost of Spruce Point
Twelve-year-old Parker has grown up in his family's Home Away Inn, nestled on a wooded peninsula in Maine called Spruce Point. His best friend, Frankie, has been staying at the inn every summer for years with her family. Together, they've had epic adventures based out of a nearby old treehouse that serves as their official headquarters for Kids Confidential Meetings.
But lately, business at the inn hasn't been great, and Parker is pretty sure he knows why. It's long been rumored that Mrs. Gruvlig, one of the few year-rounders on Spruce Point, has unique abilities of the supernatural kind. And Frankie is absolutely sure she saw a ghost on Mrs. Gruvlig's property! As more and more spooky happenings occur around the Point, Parker and Frankie are convinced Spruce Point has been officially cursed.
About Nancy Tandon
Nancy Tandon is a former speech/language pathologist and author of two middle grade novels, The Way I Say It (Charlesbridge) and The Ghost of Spruce Point (Aladdin). Nancy lives in Connecticut with her family and is a fan of popcorn, reading, and literacy outreach programs of all kinds.
About Julieta and the Diamond Enigma
Nine-year-old Julieta is finally about to put a purple pin in her family's world traveling map! She's off to Paris to help her art-handler dad collect pieces for a new exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Sadly, they must leave Julieta's very pregnant mother behind, but they're sure they'll be back before the baby is born.
Julieta sees the best of Paris: the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré-Coeur, and plenty of great art. But things go awry when she and Dad walk in on a thief stealing the Louvre's most prized piece, the Regent Diamond--a priceless cursed diamond with a shady history.
When Julieta runs for help, she accidentally frees the thief instead! Now Dad's job is in danger and he's become a suspect. Can Julieta determine who the thief really is before it's too late?
About Luisana Duarte Armendáriz
Luisana Duarte Armendáriz is a children’s book author who loves learning. She’s currently an English Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut. Her debut novel JULIETA AND THE DIAMOND ENIGMA (Lee & Low, 2020) won the 2018 Lee & Low New Visions Award. She writes picturebooks, middle grade, and young adult novels and has been recently working in translations. Her first published translated book is USHA AND THE BIG DIGGER by Amitha Jagannath Knight (Charlesdbridge, 2022). She wonders what she did with her time before she had her very energetic Australian Shepherd puppy, Thalia, who now owns her heart and time.
About On Air With Zoe Washington
Two years ago, Zoe Washington helped clear Marcus' name for a crime he didn't commit. Now her birth father has finally been released from prison and to an outpouring of community support, so everything should be perfect.
When Marcus reveals his dream of opening his own restaurant, Zoe becomes determined to help him achieve it--with her as his pastry chef of course. However, starting a new place is much more difficult than it looks, and Marcus is having a harder time re-entering society than anyone expected.
Set on finding a solution, Zoe starts a podcast to bring light to the exonerees' experiences and fundraise for their restaurant. After all, Zoe knows full well the power of using her voice. But with waning public interest in their story, will anyone still be listening?
About Janae Marks
Janae Marks is the New York Times bestselling author of middle grade novels From the Desk of Zoe Washington, A Soft Place to Land, and On Air with Zoe Washington. She has an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School, and lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughter and miniature schnauzer named Cookie.
About Each of Us a Universe
What do you do when you're facing the impossible? Ever since the day when everything changed, Cal Scott's answer has been to run--run from her mother who's fighting cancer, run from her father whom she can't forgive, and run from classmates who've never seemed to "get" her anyway. The only thing Cal runs toward is nearby Mt. Meteorite, named for the magical meteorite some say crashed there fifty years ago. Cal spends her afternoons plotting to summit the mountain, so she can find the magic she believes will make the impossible possible and heal her mother. But no one has successfully reached its peak--no one who's lived to tell about it, anyway. Then Cal meets Rosine Kanambe, a girl who's faced more impossibles than anyone should have to. Rosine has her own secret plan for the mountain and its magic, and convinces Cal they can summit its peak if they work together. As the girls climb high and dig deep to face the mountain's challenges, Cal learns from Rosine what real courage looks like, and begins to wonder if the magic she's been looking for is really the kind she needs. Each of Us a Universe by Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo is a glowing story of friendship, inner strength, and what happens when the impossible becomes possible.
About Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo
Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo writes books for Middle Grade readers. She is the author of Each of Us a Universe, A Galaxy of Sea Stars – a 2022-23 Nutmeg nominee -- and Ruby in the Sky, which earned two starred reviews and which Booklist called “quietly magical.” She is also a volunteer with IRIS-Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services in New Haven, Connecticut. She lives in Ellington, Connecticut with her family.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JZulFerr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
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A young boy must unravel a curse to save his family’s beloved Maine motel in this spooky, “tightly paced” (Publishers Weekly) middle grade novel sure to delight fans of Whispering Pines and The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street!
Twelve-year-old Parker has grown up in his family’s Home Away Inn, nestled on a wooded peninsula in Maine
New Visions Award Winner, Tu Books
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets Merci Suarez in this smart young middle-grade mystery about a diamond gone missing from the Louvre and the sweet and spunky girl who cracks the case.
* An instant New York Times bestseller *
An empowering and big-hearted sequel to the bestselling and critically acclaimed From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks!
A heartfelt middle grade from Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo and Ndengo Gladys Mwilelo about two girls who go on an adventure to the top of a mountain, and learn about each other, themselves, and the magic friendship can bring, perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Barbara O'Connor.
What do you do when you’re facing the impossible?