Winston Chu vs The Whimsies by Stacey Lee

A Rick Riordan Presents

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It was so much fun to talk to Stacey Lee about Winston Chu vs The Whimsies—from the Rick Riordan Presents collection. The book is delightful. I love Winston, who tends to be a little bit impulsive and disorganized. Just the kid you want send to a cooking class—which is what is mother does in the hopes he will learn to be more careful and think about what he is doing. Breaking eggs is a talent. Of course, for Winston it leads to lots of fun and heartwarming complications. It all starts with a shoofly pie! I won’t tell you more, but it is fun and a perfect Middle Grade book that every parents and teen will love as well.

Stacey is a New York Times bestselling author. Her first book, Under a Painted Sky, received a Publishers Weekly starred review. It had been rejected by 29 publishers!

Her recent novel, Luck of the Titanic received five starred reviews.

She is also the co-founder of the We Need Diverse Books movement. Special thanks to Rick Riordan for all he does to promote multi-cultural reading experiences for children.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents best-selling author Stacey Lee’s modern reimagining of a classic Chinese folktale―replete with magic, boba, and lots of trash talking.

Twelve-year-old Winston Chu is supposed to learn impulse control at the cooking academy his mom enrolled him in. But learning to think before he acts won’t happen overnight.

While skateboarding home with a pie in hand, Winston inadvertently stops a robbery at Mr. Pang’s Whimsies, an oddities shop in Chinatown. As a reward, Mr. Pang invites Winston to choose any item in the store. But the strange old man warns Winston to browse carefully, for the first thing Winston touches will be the thing he gets. Before Winston can decide, a magpie flies under a shelf, and he impulsively grabs an old broom to sweep it out.

Mr. Pang hands him the broom, along with a dustpan. “Two for one. Congratulations.”