COOL not CUTE!: Another commentator who seems to think they know m...

COOL not CUTE!: Another commentator who seems to think they know m...: I wrote a post back in April in response to some of the articles and blog posts I’d seen rejecting my call for more gender-balance in the ...

Flying Solo Press: 10 year old journalist at the Denver Post pens the...

Zooooom. Thirteen year old Lucas Benes rides down the streets of Paris, France. However, this isn’t a vacation for him. This is a mission to stop the so-called Good Company from brainwashing another group of innocent children and selling them for child labor. “Brainwashed” by Paul Aertker is a fast paced novel that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Still, through all the excitement there are some life lessons hidden within.

The Good Company plays the role of the villain in this book, despite having most of the public tricked into believing their name. “If someone tells you something enough times, you will eventually believe them,” Aertker says.

What’s riveting in this novel is that the people trying to stop the Good Company aren’t grownups, but kids. In this case, it’s the children’s problem not the adults’. Therefore the kids must solve it. “Adults can’t solve all the problems in the world,” Aertker says, who seems very confident in our generation’s ability to clean up adult messes.

What originally started out as a travel-themed book like the “Magic Treehouse” became a realistic fiction novel, fun for boys and girls to read. Though I recommend this book for 9-13 year olds, older kids will also enjoy this quick read. Once you’re finished, you’ve only just begun because in the next book “Lucas finds who he really is,” Aertker says. So I suggest you set out on your summer vacation with this unforgettable page turner.

Flying Solo Press: 10 year old journalist at the Denver Post pens the...: This is an article by a 10-year-old journalist with the Denver Post. Check it out: http://nextgen.yourhub.com/article/parisian-page-tur...

www.crimetravelers.com

10 year old journalist at the Denver Post pens the best review ever

Zooooom. Thirteen year old Lucas Benes rides down the streets of Paris, France.

However, this isn’t a vacation for him. This is a mission to stop the so-called Good Company from brainwashing another group of innocent children and selling them for child labor. “Brainwashed” by Paul Aertker is a fast paced novel that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Still, through all the excitement there are some life lessons hidden within.

The Good Company plays the role of the villain in this book, despite having most of the public tricked into believing their name. “If someone tells you something enough times, you will eventually believe them,” Aertker says.

What’s riveting in this novel is that the people trying to stop the Good Company aren’t grownups, but kids. In this case, it’s the children’s problem not the adults’. Therefore the kids must solve it. “Adults can’t solve all the problems in the world,” Aertker says, who seems very confident in our generation’s ability to clean up adult messes.

What originally started out as a travel-themed book like the “Magic Treehouse” became a realistic fiction novel, fun for boys and girls to read. Though I recommend this book for 9-13 year olds, older kids will also enjoy this quick read. Once you’re finished, you’ve only just begun because in the next book “Lucas finds who he really is,” Aertker says.

So I suggest you set out on your vacation with this unforgettable page turner. (The Crime Travelers Series is available at Amazon and at physical bookstores everywhere.

About the Author

Vivian Weigel

This is an article by a 10-year-old journalist with the Denver Post. Check it out: http://nextgen.yourhub.com/article/parisian-page-turner

Top 5 list for MG/YA Diversity (via Yahoo)

This is a partial reblog of an article on Yahoo

According to the Huffington Post, libraries are working to bridge the cultural divide in readers because a "child's lack of exposure to other cultures, [can fuel] intolerance and cultural invisibility."

Diversity in Young Adult and Middle Grade books got a huge boost this week from a group of authors, publishers, and bloggers who declared that it is "the time to raise our voices into a roar."

The Tumblr movement dubbed #WeNeedDiverseBooks was aimed at raising awareness around diversity in children's literature. The campaign garnered support from ... 

(please click through here to see the full article) Thank you.

#WePromoteDiverseBooks

#WeNeedDiverseBooks.

I agree. We need diverse books. 

I’ve always been concerned about diversity in literature. For me, diversity can mean more than race, gender, or ethnicity; it can mean socio-economic, geographic, or cultural diversity.

This diverse book campaign reminds me of Mike McQueen’s hugely successful #GettingBoysToRead movement. In Mike’s new book, he gives educators tips on helping and encouraging boys to … well… um … read.

Still, boys have to have something to read. They need an actual book, a novel, they want to read. But those books exist! We just have to put them in the boys’ hands. Equally, we need diverse books. But at the same time, I would say that we actually have them. We may not have enough, but they are there.

We have to promote the books that address these needs. Let’s take this “We Need” to a higher level. If we want those books, if we need those books then let’s start by showcasing the books that we already have.

Let’s raise up these diverse books and boy books by promoting them. I’ll start by showing two of my all-time favorite books that satisfy both categories: diverse and boys. 

1) Sherman Alexie's awesome novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian which tells the story of growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. 

2) And a new 2014 book called Brainwashed (Crime Travelers #1) which is about international teenagers who race through Paris to sabotage the Good Company’s profitable kidnapping business. 

Both diverse. Both boy books.

 #WePromoteDiverseBooks  #WePromoteBoyBooks

Please share your favorite diverse book or your favorite book for boys in the comments!

Author Q&A

Q&A 

1.                  Why do you write what you do?

I’ve always been drawn to international stories—spy novels and thrillers in particular. But when I was a kid there were no international children’s stories available. So now I write stories that I would have wanted to read when I was ten, eleven, and twelve. My novels are set in international locales because travel has made me feel alive and given me an insatiable curiosity to learn.

2.                  How does your work differ from others of its genre?

In three big ways. One, it’s realistic fiction. There are no dragons, no magic; it’s just kids solving problems created by adults. Two, with more than 100 geographic terms, the book has a strong travel theme. “It’s like a quick trip to Paris.” Thirdly, the book is kid appropriate—“no sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll,” or guns. It works well for adults reading to kids. #WeNeedDiverseBooks

3.                  How do you promote your work to the middle grade audience?

Middle grade is challenging since the sales pitch is twofold. Your customers (children) are not necessarily the buyers (parents). So in essence, you have to sell the book twice. To this end, I teach, speak, and read at schools, bookstores, and libraries all over. I also use the usual social media suspects: Twitter: Crime Travelers @paulaertker, Google+ PaulAertker, the website: crimetravelers.com, and of course, Amazon and local bookstores. The full Q&A interview can be found online here.

Promote Your Book by Meeting Twitter Friends Face to Face

This is a partial re-posting of a blog by my Twitter friend, Leisa Greene at Indie It Press.

Brainwashed – Crime Travelers Series by Paul Aertker: teacher, author, and world traveler.  

I met Paul through twitter over a year ago.  While vacationing in Missoula, Montana, Paul took the extra effort to meet me last summer.  We met at a local coffee shop, Liquid Planet, face to face.  Paul helped me to realize that the twitter supporters out there are real, and constant.  He is an avid indie supporter and believes in what I am doing here at Indie It Press.  It is an honor to help promote his book Brainwashed written for kids ages 10-14, and I am proud to call him a friend.

Book one of Paul’s Brainwashed (Crime Travelers)is a realistic middle-grade action-adventure novel about international teenagers who race through Paris to sabotage the Good Company’s profitable kidnapping business.

LG:  What was your creative process and timeline working on Crime Travelers?

PA: I stopped counting the rejections at one hundred. Then I boldly quit by Read the full post here:

Thanks to Leisa Greene for doing this interview.