Today I'm happy to present an interview with Lauren Magaziner! Lauren is the author of multiple Middle Grade books, including Wizardmatch, and the upcoming Case Closed: Mystery in the Mansion, which releases August 14th.
The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.
1. Would you please tell us a little about Wizardmatch?
Wizardmatch is like Which Witch meets The Incredibles.
Twelve-year-old Lennie Mercado loves magic. She practices her invisibility powers all the time (she can now stay invisible for fifteen seconds!), and she dreams of the day she can visit her grandfather, the Prime Wizard de Pomporromp, at his magical estate.
Now Lennie has her chance. Poppop has decided to retire, and his grandchildren are coming from all over to compete in Wizardmatch. The winner inherits his title, his castle, and every single one of his unlimited magical powers. The losers get nothing. Lennie is desperate to win, but when Poppop creates a new rule to quelch any sibling rivalry, her thoughts turn from winning Wizardmatch to sabotaging it… even if it means betraying her family.
2. Your next book, Case Closed: Mystery in the Mansion, releases in August! Would you like to tell us all a little about it?
Case Closed is a “pick your path” mystery series, in which the reader chooses which clues to follow up on, whom to interview, and what questions to ask each suspect. There are also puzzles embedded into the story, and it’s up to you to solve them in order to advance. There are countless combinations of choices and endings—and it’s really like getting five books in one!
The first book, Mystery in the Mansion, is about Carlos Serrano, whose mom gets sick the morning she’s supposed to be investigating a case that could save her failing detective agency. So Carlos decides, with the help of his best friend Eliza and her little brother Frank, to solve the case for her. The case involves an eccentric millionaire named Guinevere LeCavalier who has been receiving death threats. Someone is demanding her late husband’s secret treasure… or else. Only, Guinevere doesn’t know where or what the treasure is. Can you find the treasure and stop whoever is sending the death threats before it’s too late, or will it be case closed? You pick the path, you crack the case!
I'm really looking forward to reading this book! :)
3. Random question! In Wizardmatch, every member of the family has a magical power that lasts for a limited amount of time. What would you want your power to be?
Oh, I would definitely want to be able to turn vegetables into cookies. Even if it’s just for 10 seconds at a time!
That would be a pretty great power! :)
4. If you're able to talk about it, what are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on the second Case Closed book, which is called Case Closed: Stolen From the Studio. Same three young detectives from book one (Carlos, Eliza, and Frank), but a totally different mystery. This one is about a teenage TV starlet who mysteriously vanishes from the set. And some of the people around her may have had motives to make her disappear. It’s up to Carlos—and YOU—to investigate the suspicious cast and crew of the show and figure out what truly happened to Layla.
5. What are some of your favorite MG books you've read? And what are some that you're looking forward to reading?
Some middle grade books I’ve adored recently have been:
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
The War I Finally Won by Kim Brubaker Bradley
The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller
Frazzled series by Booki Vivat
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Some middle grade books releasing this summer that I’m looking forward to reading:
Spell & Spindle by Michelle Schusterman
Takedown by Laura Shovan
The Mona Lisa Key by Liesl Shurtliff
Babysitting Nightmares by Kat Shepherd
Nightbooks by J.A. White
Estranged by Ethan Aldridge
And, of course, catching up on a bunch of 2017 and 2018 middle grades that have already come out… but I haven’t had a chance to read yet. My TBR pile is out of control!
I haven't heard of all these books before, I need to look them up! :)
Thank you to Lauren for participating in this event! :)
Author bio: Lauren Magaziner grew up in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and is a proud graduate of Hamilton College. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her humorous middle grade books, Wizardmatch, Pilfer Academy and The Only Thing Worse Than Witches, are available now. Her next: the first book in the Case Closed series, a "pick your path" mystery series for middle grade, releases on August 14, 2018 from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books.
Here are a few links:
These all sound like fun books!
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