Author Spotlight: Lisa McMann!

Map of Flames (The Forgotten Five, Book 1) by Lisa McMann
Age Group: Children, Middle Grade
Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy
Release Date: February 22, 2022
Pre Order Links:

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Book Description:

Thirteen years ago, eight supernatural criminals fled the city of Estero to make a new life in an isolated tropical hideout. Off the grid, the missing criminals were presumed dead--but that wasn't really the case. Until recently, when the last one died.

Left behind alone on the island are their children:

There's Birdie, who can communicate with animals.

Brix has athletic and healing abilities.

Cabot is super-smart, but there's no sign yet of her special ability.

Seven's skin camouflages to match whatever is around him.

Tenner can swim like a fish and has heightened senses, including the ability to see in the dark.

When Birdie finds a map with a set of instructions directing her to a stash of treasure that's secret from everyone--including their missing parents--she knows it holds the power to change everything, for better or worse.

♥ ♥ ♥

What was the plot of your very first piece of unpublished fiction you ever wrote?

The first one I can remember: Baby May the elephant was having her 4^th birthday. She ran around the jungle (don’t ask me how she got between the trees) telling all her friends it was her birthday. Then they had a party by a pond. The end. I tell students now that I should have had a lion jump out at the party to give it a bit more action. But alas. I did not like putting my beloved characters in danger back then.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated or did you always just know you wanted to be a writer?

It was through the above story, believe it or not. I wrote it in 4^th grade for an assignment, knowing that my teacher, Mr. Avink, would choose the best story in the class and send the writer to the Young Authors Conference—a one-day writing conference for kids. I won with Baby May’s Birthday despite the lack of conflict or antagonist. I remember the moment Mr. Avink told me the news. And I remember how I felt afterward as I went floating down the hallway, thinking, “I’m going to be… (dramatic pause) A WRITER.”

Do you have a favorite fictional character, male and female? Why?

Map of Flames (The Forgotten Five, Book 1)

Map of Flames (The Forgotten Five, Book 1) by Lisa McMann
Age Group: Children, Middle Grade
Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy
Release Date: February 22, 2022
Pre Order Links:

Amazon  ♥ Barnes & Noble ♥ Books a Million ♥ Walmart ♥ Target

Book Description:

Thirteen years ago, eight supernatural criminals fled the city of Estero to make a new life in an isolated tropical hideout. Off the grid, the missing criminals were presumed dead--but that wasn't really the case. Until recently, when the last one died.

Left behind alone on the island are their children:

There's Birdie, who can communicate with animals.

Brix has athletic and healing abilities.

Cabot is super-smart, but there's no sign yet of her special ability.

Seven's skin camouflages to match whatever is around him.

Tenner can swim like a fish and has heightened senses, including the ability to see in the dark.

When Birdie finds a map with a set of instructions directing her to a stash of treasure that's secret from everyone--including their missing parents--she knows it holds the power to change everything, for better or worse.

♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt:

Tradition

Tenner Cordoba scraped the last serving of fish from the skillet onto his plate as the other four ate around the tree-­stump table. The wind picked up, rustling the thick trees, and the surf pounded the shore at high tide. An animal howled far away. Tenner turned sharply toward the noise, narrowing his eyes.

Puerco, Birdie’s pig, stirred uneasily. Shh, Birdie said with her mind, and Puerco settled down.

At the far end of the table was Seven Palacio. He was thirteen like Tenner and Birdie and sat camouflaged by shadows and the black parachute-­fabric clothes he wore. Next to him, Cabot Stone, eleven-­going-­on-­thirty, ran a hand over her buzz-­cut hair and cast a worried glance at Brix to see how he was holding up. He’d stopped crying.

Tenner dropped into the log chair next to Birdie. “Are you doing okay?” he asked her. He looked at his food, then pushed it around with his fork. For once he had little appetite.

“Better,” she said. “Thanks.” She caught his eye and smiled sadly.'

Review: Coraline (Book vs. Movie)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Age Group: Childrens/Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Release Date:August 29, 2006
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. 

And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.

Coraline

Rating: PG

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: February 6, 2009

Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Best Buy

♥ ♥ ♥

I'm not going to lie; I actually saw the movie "Coraline" before I read the book. Normally this isn't my way of doing things, but that's just how it happened. I hadn't even heard of the story before the movie was released, so I went out to the theater without doing the usual pre-reading I like to do before seeing a movie that's based on a book.

And as long as we're telling the truth, I'll let you know that the movie gave me nightmares. The people had buttons for eyes, people! That's creepy! CREEPY! Maybe it was especially bad for me because I have this weird phobia about anything happening to eyes, so the idea of sewing buttons onto them didn't sit well with my subconscious. Or my conscious, for that matter.

Neil Gaiman, who wrote the book, said himself that his story is seen one of two ways. It was written as a children's story, but in true Gaiman fashion, it involved themes of horror some might protest in a work made for children. However, Gaiman has said that although adults read "Coraline" as a creepy horror tale, children just see it as an adventure story.

Book Blast: Hades and the Helm of Darkness (Heroes in Training #3)

Hades and the Helm of Darkness (Heroes in Training #3) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Age Group: Children
Genre:
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

The Heroes in Training are entering the Underworld—if Hades can conquer his canine fears, that is.

The Underworld usually isn’t really meant to be a fun place—but tell that to Hades! He loves the dark and the stinky smell of sulfur. However, there is one thing that Hades is not a fan of: dogs. And when Zeus and his fellow Olympians encounter Cerberus—a snarling, three-headed dog—Hades must conquer his fears and tame the hound so everyone can continue into the Underworld and deposit their Titan prisoner, Oceanus, back where he belongs!

But with magical water that causes forgetfulness, hot beds of lava, and another epic battle with two more Titans standing in their way, will Zeus and his heroes make it out of the Underworld with everyone intact?

♥ ♥ ♥

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom (Book 1)

After pulling a magical thunderbolt from a stone, ten-year-old Zeus goes on the adventure of a lifetime in this thrilling start to a brand-new series! The terrible Titans–merciless giants who enjoy snacking on humans–have dominated the earth and put the world into chaos. But their rule is about to be put to the test as a group of young Olympians discover their powers and prepare to righteously rule the universe….

Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super-annoyed) by the fact that he keeps getting hit by lightening. Every. Single. Year. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up.