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It's true TCBR readers are fans of Star Wars! That's why, this month, Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary - The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga is The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.

It's true TCBR readers are fans of Greek myths! That's why, this month, the National Geographic Treasury of Greek Mythology is The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.

This month, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Book 1, by Jeff Kinney, is The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book.

February is African American History Month. Sharing these books with young readers comes with the responsibility to discuss ... progress towards equality.

In this conversation, we talked to Draper about the inspiration behind Stella by Starlight and the basic goodness in humanity.

Stella by Starlight, by esteemed storyteller Sharon M. Draper, is a poignant novel that beautifully captures the depth and complexities within individuals, a community, and society in 1932, an era when segregation and poverty is at the forefront.

What makes for an award winning book? Author/teacher Sharon M. Draper, the chair of committee of judges for the Young People’s Literature, says that it is all about “the language, the charters, the imagery, the history.”

We caught up with Draper at the National Book Awards ceremony where she let us in on how the committee went about selecting books for the category. Faced with 294 submissions, the team set out to find “books that were compelling, books that were lasting, books that young people would want to read over and over again,” Draper explains.

“It is almost indescribable what makes an excellent book, but you know it when you read it and you just say, ‘this one is something that is worthwhile,” concludes Draper. “I used to be a teacher, so I know what young people do, I write for young people so I kind of know what they are looking for and what they like and what they’ll reject.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This month we've seen some changes on the best selling middle grade books list due to the well timed releases of Jason Segel's Nightmares!—a great choice for the upcoming spooky season—and Mike Lupica's Fantasy League (Did somebody say football?).

This month, The Children's Book Review's best selling middle grade book is the imaginative and adventurous Copper from Kazu Kibushi.

Seriously, there are some VERY good books on this list of best selling middle grade books; including Kevin Henkes' The Year of Billy Miller and Sharon M. Draper's Out of My Mind.

Star Wars books were a hot commodity this month on The Children’s Book Review—even more than usual. LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary was our best selling middle grade book this month. Returning to our hand selected titles from the nationwide best selling middle grade books, as listed by The New York Times, is Sharon M. Draper's Out of My Mind.

The best selling middle grade books in this list were gathered from the New York Times Best Sellers list, which reflects the sales of books from books sold nationwide, including independent and chain stores.