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. The Middle Sheep (Ernie and Maud) By Frances Watt Judy Watson, illustrator Eerdmans Books for Young Readers 4 Star . Back Cover:  The Adventures of Extraordinary Ernie and Marvelous Maud continue . . . but what—or who—is making the usually cheerful and dependable Maud so grumpy? And why are she and Ernie arguing all …

I'm a middle child. That can't be why I write middle-grade fiction, can it? That would be illogical. But then again, some say birth order plays a role in career choice. (Rebuttal: here.) Has anyone ever surveyed writers to find out if birth order correlates to what they write?

Meantime, while all of you are researching that (and if you want, posting your birth order and writing/reading preferences in the comments) check out these posts about middle school and middle-grade readers. And yes, it's confusing that middle school is usually 6-8th grade students (ages 11-13) who are reading both up and down in grade level, while middle-grade books are often labeled for grades 4-6 (ages 8-12.)

First: Here's a YouTube soundtrack of Stuck in the Middle With You (set to X-Files clips!) for you to listen to while you peruse. (Also: Stuck in the Middle with You: Wikipedia entry) Wow! I'd forgotten that I really LIKE this song.

Links:

Interview with three sixth-grade girls (Courtesy of Danette Haworth's blog)

Uncensored answers to "Im going into middle school I want to know whats going on there?"

Middle Grade is a Muddy Name (ShelfTalker at Publishers Weekly)

How To Impress Middle School Boys (WikiHow)

Betsy Bird's definition of middle-grade fiction for the Cybils Awards

The Difference Between Middle-Grade and Young Adult Fiction (from Children's Book Insider)

Books for the Ages: Or Why I Don't Use the Term MG (Little Willow, and be sure to read the awesome comments section)

Is a Sixth-Grader a Young Adult? (Mitali Perkins. Keep pressing for more middle school lists, BTW. VOYA's got one: TopShelf Fiction for Middle School Readers.)

Middle Children Get the Worst Deal (I don't agree. I liked being a middle child. Except when my older sister got to sit in the front seat and I was forced to sit in the back seat between my two younger brothers while they poked and generally annoyed the crap out of each other. Thus, a peace-maker and a "maybe I'll imagine I'm really somewhere else" writer was born.)

***Don't forget to leave your birth order and writing/reading preferences in the comments, if you want to participate in this most unscientific survey.

Folks in this part of the world are half excited and half terrified as we peer at the Weather Channel and watch the freezing sleet and temperatures creeping towards us. No one can say we haven't been warned. Two of my entlings are in a region of Texas that is already in the grip of black ice and frozen overpasses and as a parent I just pray they are holed up and not needing to venture out onto the roads.

Tucked in by the fire today, with the MOST WONDERFUL BOOK, I was musing about the children, as parents are wont to do.

First Born, making her way in her chosen profession is still helping us understand what it means to be a parent. Her motto: The pioneers take the arrows.

Youngest Child, hacking and slashing and zapping her way though the new Zelda game, at the moment, is author of the "never a dull moment" syndrome in our lives.

Middle Child is the one we used to call "Stealth Child" because of her ability to move about the homestead undetected. She is the get-it-done kid. Returning home for the holidays she found me in the midst of Christmas decoration, tinsel hanging from one ear and hands full of un-deployed Sinterklasses. Before I knew it wreaths were on doors, empty boxes were being stowed and snowmen were displayed. How did she do that? Middle children are often the quiet force that keeps all the parts of the family working together.

All this reflection led me to ponder about the middle child in children's literature. Are there any characters in children's literature that are famously or infamously the middle child?
Are they so low key that they don't get noticed there either?

I can think of Indigo in Indigo's Star by Hilary McKay, Jo and Beth March were in the middle in Little Women. Any others?