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Join us for a SPECIAL MIDDLE-GRADE Author Showcase! Featuring:
Jen Calonita, author of ISLE OF EVER
Carina Finn, author of FEAST AND FAMINE: THE LAST GREAT HEIR
Victor Piñeiro, author of ISLAND OF FORGOTTEN GODS
We've got a FANTASTIC line-up of middle-grade fantasy and adventure authors for you on StoryMakers. Whether cursed treasure, pirates, and puzzle solving float your boat; dueling heirs, delicious pastries, and demon cats do it for you; or you fancy a can't-put-downable adventure in Puerto Rico filled with ancient legends, mythological mysteries, and an encounter with the infamous Chupacabra — we've got a book for you!
Join Jen Calonita, author of FEAST AND FAMINE: THE LAST GREAT HEIR, Carina Finn, author of ISLE OF EVER, and Victor Pineiro, author of ISLAND OF FORGOTTEN GODS for a romp through their books, insight into their writing process, and Rocco's Rapid-Fire Q&A!
Viewers:
Share your question and ideas in the comment section below!
About the Books
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ISLE OF EVER
Two hundred years ago, an island disappeared. Benny has just two weeks to find it.
Everly “Benny” Benedict and her mom have always managed to get by, though they're broke most of the time. But all that could change. Benny's just learned she's the sole heir to the vast fortune of Evelyn Terry, a mysterious ancestor from the 1800s!
There's a catch, though. First Benny needs to play—and win—a game: following clues that are more than a century old, she must find her way to the tiny island Evelyn wrote about in her diary. It was somewhere off the shoreline of Evelyn's home town, but according to legend, it vanished long ago and hasn't appeared on maps for hundreds of years. Yet Benny has only a couple weeks to locate it. If she's successful, she'll collect the inheritance. But what if there's more than a fortune at stake in this game? What if Benny has to break an ancient curse to win?
FEAST AND FAMINE: THE LAST GREAT HEIR
The female heirs of two opposing families must duel for guardianship of the land in this stunning fantasy adventure debut!
Merriment Feast's life is one constant party, complete with dazzling gowns and delicious pastries. Everything is perfect…except for her aunt's physically grueling training. Merri believes it's her responsibility to protect her family's traditions and the power they've held for generations.
Rue Famine knows that only Feasts benefit from Feast rule. As the heir of House Famine, she spends her days studying potion-making in an enormous, dusty library and learning how to use her magic to help others. Custom dictates that the heirs of Feast and Famine must duel on their thirteenth birthday. Only one family can rule the land of Fauret, and Merri and Rue have been raised as rivals.
But as the contest draws near and dangers escalate, their true enemy may be a shared one…
ISLAND OF FORGOTTEN GODS
From the author of Time Villains comes a new fantastical adventure about family, tradition, and seeing things for what they truly are.
Nico wants to be a famous film director. He's pretty sure if he can make the right movie, and soon, his life will completely change. The catch? His parents are sending him to Puerto Rico for the summer to stay with his iconic, but old-school, Abuela Luciana, and his awesome, but unpredictable cousins. Still, the show must go on.
Until Nico and his cousins awaken a monster. A monster that looks an awful lot like the infamous Chupacabra. And it turns out this isn't a chance encounter. The creature begins stalking them all over Puerto Rico, turning up on every dark corner, sandy beach, and moonlit night. To make matters worse, a shadowy cult enters the chase, intent on capturing them before the Chupacabra can.
Soon they are thrown into an adventure that brings them face-to-face with the ancient Taino people, even more ancient Taino gods, and the mysterious Chupacabra, who is somehow linked to everything. Nico keeps his camera rolling, hoping the epic documentary will catapult him to stardom. But in the end, it's the island's fate that hangs in the balance, as they face down the very gods that created Puerto Rico.
WATCH StoryMakers with Jen Calonita, Carina Finn, and Victor Piñeiro
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About Jen Calonita
Jen Calonita is the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling author who has written over forty books for teens and middle grade readers. Her books have sold more than a million copies and have been translated into 15 languages.
A graduate of Boston College, Jen began her career as an entertainment journalist at Teen People magazine where she interviewed everyone from Dwayne Johnson to Reese Witherspoon. It was this job that inspired her first book, Secrets of My Hollywood Life, which was the winner of the Louisiana Young Readers Award. Jen went on to write six books in the best-selling series. She went on to write several series including the best-selling Fairy Tale Reform School and books in Disney’s New York Times best-selling A Twisted Tale series. A Twisted Tale’s Mirror Mirror was the winner of the 2020 Teen Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where winners are selected by children and teens. Her new series, Isle of Ever, is an instant New York Times bestseller, a 2025 Good Housekeeping Kids’ Book Award winner, and a Read with Jenna Jr. Summer Reading pick. Jen’s writing also has appeared in Glamour, Marie Claire, Self, TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly.
Jen can be found in New York with her husband, two boys and a feisty chihuahua named Ben Kenobi. When she isn’t writing, she can be found traveling or dreaming about visiting Disney Parks.
Connect with Jen Calonita!
Website | Instagram
About Carina Finn
Carina Finn is a Brooklyn-born, Brooklyn-based writer who owns entirely too many vintage cookbooks. After earning an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame, she moved back to NYC and worked as a cook before eventually finding her way back to writing. She was previously a staff writer for The Infatuation and an editor at Food Network Magazine and Bustle. When she's not cooking and writing about food, she writes books for young readers. Her debut middle grade novel, Feast and Famine: The Last Great Heir, will be published by Sourcebooks in 2025.
Connect with Carina Finn!
Website | Instagram
About Victor Piñeiro
I'm Director of Digital Innovation at HBO Max, leading the digital innovation and creators teams on the brand marketing team. We launched the Raise Your Banners AI Poster Generator, Dracarys App and Recommended By initiatives, among a dozen creator and influencer campaigns.
I'm a writer & filmmaker turned content/creative marketer. I’m obsessed with culture and the way it’s expressed online. I'm fascinated by modern fandom, the dynamics of communities, the way ideas shift and mutate as they leap between social channels, and behaviors that emerge on new and evolving platforms. I'm also an author – I love words and stories.
I wrote, produced and marketed a documentary about the culture of the metaverse in ‘08, and when those communities moved to early social networks, I went to Big Spaceship as their first content/social hire. I spent a decade there, studying culture and behavior in a hybrid creative, strategic, innovation-focused role.
Connect with Victor Piñeiro!
Website | Instagram
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