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Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Yay! For Middle Grade Books 2023: Interview With Sarah Henning!


Hi, everyone! Today I'm happy to present an interview with Sarah Henning, the author of Monster Camp, which releases today! She is also the author of multiple YA novels, including It's All In How You Fall, which is out now.

Would you please tell us a little about your book, Monster Camp?

The pitch for Monster Camp is that it’s a fish-out-of-water mash-up of Ghost Squad and Hotel Transylvania about a human girl who must put on the performance of her life when she realizes what she thought was a LARPing summer camp is full of real monsters!
A little more unofficially, it’s a super fun spooky summer camp book about being yourself and finding belonging. With monsters:) Sylvie, the main character, struggles with bullying and anxiety in addition to general pushback about her favorite pastime, LARPing. There's a mouthy werewolf named Chad, ghosts who are total sugar freaks, and more than one hike with a very friendly (and very huge) Yeti.

You’ve written a bunch of YA novels, however this is your first MG book. How did you decide to write Monster Camp?

Honestly, I really like the energy of middle grade and had been trying to find the right project. My son is in middle school (at least for the next two weeks before he’s a rising ninth-grader) and it’s such a fun and interesting time in a person’s life. That’s really what draws me to YA too, but I wanted the challenge of writing for a new, younger audience.

Random Question! What’s your favorite color?

Blue! It’s just calming, and I think my eye is always drawn to it. I own a lot of blue clothing, have entire rooms in my house that are blue, and my school (the University of Kansas) has it as one of its main colors.

If you’re able to talk about it, what are you currently working on?

I’m not able to talk about it yet! I feel like I’ve been talking around this book for a year. LOL. Hopefully I’ll be able to say something more descriptive soon but at the moment I can say I have another young adult coming out in Fall 2024 with Tor Teen and that it’s a contemporary fantasy. I’m anxiously awaiting my first edit letter on it—perhaps after that arrives I’ll be able to talk about it. Fingers crossed.

What are some of your favorite MG books you've read recently? And what are some that you're looking forward to reading?

I loved Sarah Cannon’s Oddity from a few years ago—the voice is just amazing. Recently, I got a chance to read Ciera Burch’s middle grade debut, Finch House (out in September), and it was just fantastic. She also writes YA and I’m stoked to get to read her across genres. Speaking of YA authors, I’ve really loved reading middle grades from Emily Lloyd-Jones, Roseanne A. Brown, Dhonielle Clayton, Natalie C. Parker, and so many others who also write YA. 

Thank you so much to Sarah Henning for participating in this event!


Author BioSarah Henning is a recovering journalist who has worked for the Palm Beach PostKansas City Star and Associated Press, among others. When not writing, she runs ultramarathons, hits the playground with her two kids, and hangs out with her husband Justin, who doubles as her long-suffering IT department. Sarah lives in Lawrence, Kansas, hometown of Langston Hughes, William S. Burroughs, and a really good basketball team. 

Here Are A Few Links:

Her Website

Her Twitter

Her Instagram

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