Middle Grade Magic 2019 | Event Wrap Up!

Hey! Remember a blog post I did a few months ago about LibraryConLIVE 2018? Well now I’m about to share another virtual bookish event and it is… *drumroll*

Middle Grade Magic!

A few weeks ago, I dropped a bomb on Twitter regarding School Library Journal’s new event, Middle Grade Magic. Some of you may have seen it and if you had, I hope you were able to attend! The experience was magical indeed and it’s not something you would want to miss.

ABOUT MIDDLE GRADE MAGIC

Wednesday, March 27, 2019 | 10 AM – 4 AM

Middle Grade Magic is a free virtual conference celebrating and exploring one of the burgeoning and most important areas of publishing for young readers: literature for children ages eight through 12—and beyond!

You will get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at some of the most anticipated new titles for kids and tweens, from laugh-out-loud tales to eye-popping graphic novels to enveloping fantasy. You will also be able to chat directly with the exciting line-up of authors below.

AUTHORS

KEYNOTES

Ali Benjamin
The Next Great Paulie Fink
(Little, Brown)

Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Shouting at the Rain
(Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Bks.)

Kekla Magoon
The Season of Styx Malone
(Random/Wendy Lamb Bks.)

SPEAKERS

Tony Abbott
The Great Jeff
(Little, Brown)

Alane Adams
The Blue Witch
(Sparkpoint Studio)

David Bowles
The Unicorn Rescue Society: The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande
(Dutton)

Don Brown
Rocket to the Moon
(Abrams)

Georgia Dunn
Breaking Cats News and Lupin Leaps In
(Andrews McMeel)

Lamar Giles
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer
(HMH/Versify)

Shannon Hale
Best Friends
(Macmillan Children’s)

Carlos Hernandez
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe
(Disney/Rick Riordan Presents)

Veera Hiranandani
The Night Diary
(Penguin/Kokila)

Kelly Jones
Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken?
(Knopf)

Kim Long
Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament
(Running Pr.)

Dylan Meconis
Queen of the Sea
(Candlewick)

BOOTHS

Andrews McMeel Publishing
Annick Press
Candlewick Press
Diamond Book Distributors
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Junior Library Guild
Little, Brown Books for Yound Readers
Oni Press
Planeyt Lyttyrboks
PYR’s Chapter Book Central
PYR’s Middle Grade Mainstage
Random House Children’s Books
Running Press Kids
School Library Journal

EXPERIENCE

Me and my brother did an impatient countdown a couple of hours before the event. We kept glancing at the clock every five minutes! We were probably one of the first to log in to the virtual environment the moment it came live.

We browsed the booths and kept track of the schedule, we didn’t want to miss our favorite authors and anticipated sessions! While waiting, we browsed various booths from lots of different publishers. We also checked out the Resource Center and oggled at the free downloadable + printable bookmarks, activities, and reading guides. We also downloaded ARCs of interesting Middle Grade books and Graphic Novels. My brother is especially excited to dive into them! Apart from this juicy digital ARCs, we also got our hands on a dozen samplers and comic strips.

Apart from the author events, we also got to chat with some of the staff behind each booth. Each booth has a chat where you can interact with the staff as well as fellow visitors of MGM. I had lovely conversations with fellow bloggers and readers in different booth chats.

With my younger brother in tow, I had so much fun yet again in a virtual bookish event. I have to admit, I love the fact that there are even more freebies this time around compared to LibraryConLIVE 2018–more rewards to reap!

I look forward to more virtual shows in the coming months and years. Stay tuned!