336: Realistic Middle Grade: Balancing the Light and Dark— Interview with Marcella Pixley

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Marcella Pixley, the author of four acclaimed books for young people.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her novel</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Freak</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year for 2007,</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Without Tess</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">was a Junior Library Guild Selection, and</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Ready to Fall</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">was a Bank Street of Education Best Book for 2017. Her most recent novel</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Trowbridge Road</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">was just recently named as one of ten books for children for the National Book Awards 2020.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Marcella first began her writing career as a poet and has published in several literary journals including Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner and Poet Lore, plus she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her fiction has a lyric quality, which makes sense given her roots in poetry, and teaches 8th grade Language Arts at the Carlisle Public Schools.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today we’ll be discussing Marcella’s most recent book,</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Trowbridge Road</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode Marcella and I discuss:</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How her personal childhood experiences and her diagnosis of OCD inspired her book</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Trowbridge Road</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why she believes that MG should be written authentically to reflect realistic, traumatic, and difficult childhood experiences.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 40