These superstar middle-grade writers are giving indie bookstores a summer boost.

Five years ago, I didn’t even know there was a literary category called “middle-grade,” but now that my 11-year-old devours at least one giant book a week, I have become something of an expert.*

So I was happy to see there’s a collective of writers called the “Renegades of Middle Grade” (which includes my son’s recent favorite, Lisa McMann, along with MY favorite writer as an 11-year-old, the great Canadian author Gordon Korman), and they’re using their collective influence to promote the hell out of independent bookstores with their “Indie 500” social media campaign.

As Indie 500 mastermind James Ponti, author of the “City Spies” series (among others), told Publishers Weekly.

Bookstores are doing great, but we need to support them. People need to be reminded that it’s worth it to go to your local indie and find some books you might not find otherwise.

Ponti also stressed the importance of reminding people they don’t need to buy their books from Amazon, and that local stores make their communities better—to which I can only say amen. And while bookstores—being small businesses owned and run by actual people—are locations for all the usual problems inherent in the owner/worker relationship, they remain a net good for the world, and we’d all be worse off without them.

*Not even remotely, but still.