THE CHARMING LIFE OF IZZY MALONE by Jenny Lundquist
I met Jenny Lundquist at a few local events, and I immediately fell in love with Izzy Malone and her scrappy personality and spunk. This is a great book for any middle grader.
Izzy Malone isn’t your typical middle schooler. She wears camouflage combat boots, the stars are her only friends, and after a month she’s set a new record for the most trips to her principal’s office.
But Izzy’s life isn’t so charming these days. The kids at school think she’s a mouthy misfit, her musical prodigy sister gets all the attention at home, and no one takes Izzy’s determination to compete in her small town’s Great Pumpkin Race seriously.
When Izzy’s antics land her in hot water, her parents enroll her in Mrs. Whippie’s Earn Your Charm School. At first Izzy thinks it sounds stupid—her manners are just fine, thanks—but Mrs. Whippie’s first assignment proves intriguing. Tucked inside a letter is a shiny charm bracelet and instructions telling her she will “Earn Her Charm” by performing a series of tasks. For each task Izzy completes, she’ll receive a charm to place on her bracelet. “Complete them all,” the letter says, “and you will have earned a prize unlike any other.”
Soon Izzy’s adding charms to her bracelet. But when a task goes seriously awry and threatens to derail her mother’s budding political career, Izzy has her hands full proving she’s not an emerging juvenile delinquent. Add in some middle school mean girls, a giant pumpkin that could be the answer to all her problems, and discovering she might have a crush on the boy she accidentally punched in the face, and Izzy may just pull it all together and Earn Her Charm. And she’s about to find out the best kind of friends are just like stars: Bright and beautiful, appearing just when you need them, to shine a little bit of light on a dark night.
Especially with that new dog you told me about! I love how unique Izzy is, especially her “Camohemian” look. How did Izzy come
to you, and what do you want readers to take away from her story?
Yes indeed! I also love the premise of your book SEEING CINDERELLA. Where did the “magic glasses” come from?
Ugh, that boy sounds awful, but I’m glad you found a way to turn that drab experience into magic! The second installment in Izzy’s story is supposed to come out this coming December. Is there anything you can tell us about it yet?
I can, actually! The book has been moved up, so it will be coming out in September now. It’s titled: The Wondrous World of Violet Barnaby. It’s set in the same small town as Izzy’s story, with the same characters, but told from her friend Violet’s perspective. Violet is still grieving the death of her mother, especially now that her dad has just gotten remarried. Right as the holidays are approaching, Violet finds a letter that her mother wrote to her right before she died, including a Christmas Wish List—things her mother wanted Violet to do to enjoy the holidays again. Violet would like to ignore the holidays, but she wants to honor her mother’s wishes, so she enlists the help of The Charm Girls—her friends in her charm club, to help her accomplish everything on the list before Christmas.
Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ IndieBound
Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ IndieBound