Read to Write Kidlit Podcast

Today’s episode is with middle grade author, Kate Albus. The Read to Write Kidlit book club read Nothing Else But Miracles this month. We read closely to notice what Kate Albus did to bring us in to her story and then asked her questions about writing craft. Our goal is to learn more about writing craft through discussions with each other, our reading, and our discussion with the author. We hope you also learn more about writing after this podcast.

We are also on Apple Podcasts.

Thank you for listening! If you are interested in joining our book club, complete this google form.

Music credits: Will Saulnier

About Kate

Kate Albus is the author of two historical fiction middle grade novels, A Place to Hang the Moon and Nothing Else but Miracles.

Visit her website, follow her Twitter and Instagram.

Nothing Else But Miracles

“Rich in New York City period detail and era-specific colloquialisms, the briskly moving telling succeeds in its well-executed combination of classic plot elements, sympathetic characters and community, and anxiety-provoking uncertainties, while parenthetical asides to readers create a deepening sense of engagement and intimacy with the Byrne family.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review“The story is both grounded in reality and embellished with entertaining exploits, keeping readers excited about Dory’s experiences as she holds her family together and they await their papa. . . . An absorbing tale about urban life on the World War II homefront.”—Kirkus Reviews

Margaret Ferguson Books at Holiday House

12-year-old Dory Byrne lives with her brothers on New York City’s Lower East Side, waiting impatiently through the darkest hours of World War II for her pop to come home from fighting Hitler. Legally speaking, Dory’s brother, Fish, isn’t old enough to be in charge of Dory and her younger brother, Pike, but the neighborhood knows the score and, like Pop always says, “the neighborhood will give you what you need.” There’s the lady from the bakery, who saves them leftover crullers. The kind landlord who checks in on them.  And every Thursday night, the Byrnes enjoy a free bowl of seafood stew at Mr. Caputo’s restaurant. Which is where Dory learns about the hand-pulled elevator that is the only way to get to Caputo’s upper floors. The elevator that’s so creaky and ancient, nobody’s been in it for decades. Until now.The Byrnes’ landlord dies unexpectedly and the new one is anything but kind. When he catches on about Pop being gone, he turns the Byrnes in, hoping they’ll be shipped off to an orphanage. Dory and her brothers need a hideout, and suddenly the elevator and the abandoned hotel it leads to provide just the solution they need.  Based on a very real place in old New York and steeped in the history of the last year of World War II, Nothing Else but Miracles shows how, when things get tough, the neighborhood really will give you what you need… and may even offer up a miracle or two in the process.A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Looking Ahead

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Today’s episode is with middle grade author, Mariama J Lockington. The Read to Write Kidlit book club read In the Key of Us this month. We read closely to notice what Mariama did to engage us in her book and then asked her questions about writing craft. Our goal is to learn more about writing craft through discussions with each other, our reading, and our discussion with the author. We hope you also learn more about writing after this podcast.

We are also on Apple Podcasts.

Thank you for listening! If you are interested in joining our book club, complete this google form.

Music credits: Will Saulnier

About Mariama

Mariama J Lockington is the author of 3 novels: For Black Girls Like Me, In the Key of Us, and Forever Is Now. She also wrote for an anthology, This is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories Her, Him, Them, Us.

Visit her website, follow her Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

In the Key of Us

Stonewall Book Awards—Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Honor Book From the author of the critically acclaimed novel For Black Girls Like Me, Mariama J. Lockington, comes a coming-of-age story surrounding the losses that threaten to break us and the friendships that make us whole again. Thirteen-year-old Andi feels stranded after the loss of her mother, the artist who swept color onto Andi’s blank canvas. When she is accepted to a music camp, Andi finds herself struggling to play her trumpet like she used to before her whole world changed. Meanwhile, Zora, a returning camper, is exhausted trying to please her parents, who are determined to make her a flute prodigy, even though she secretly has a dancer’s heart.At Harmony Music Camp, Zora and Andi are the only two Black girls in a sea of mostly white faces. In kayaks and creaky cabins, the two begin to connect, unraveling their loss, insecurities, and hopes for the future. And as they struggle to figure out who they really are, they may just come to realize who they really need: each other.In the Key of Us is a lyrical ode to music camp, the rush of first love, and the power of one life-changing summer.

Looking Ahead

Follow Us

Follow Alexis on all the places in her link tree.

Follow Brittany on her substack.

See you next month!

Thanks for reading Read to Write Kidlit Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.