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Today we are chatting with middle grade mystery and adventure author Tom Phillips.
- Tom Phillips debuts his first middle-grade novel, THE CURIOUS LEAGUE OF DETECTIVES AND THIEVES: EGYPT’S FIRE, in June 2022. An artist, optimist, writer, philosopher and retired superhero, Tom mischievously brings the power of the written word by assimilating everyday lessons into witty and humorous stories of heroism and bravery.
- Tom really loves Em’s introduction for him, which she did not steal from his website at all.
- Em has to start by sharing that of all the blurbs she’s ever seen, the one on Tom’s debut is her favorite.
- A “blurb” is when an author gets other authors or celebrities to share a short quote about their book to put on the cover.
- Tom’s blurb is from LeVar Burton, of Star Trek and Reading Rainbow fame. Talk about nostalgia, right?
- Tom shares that LeVar is a personal hero of his. As a kid he loved Reading Rainbow, and LeVar and his now-wife visited their area with friends regularly and rented a boat from Tom’s parents’ marina.
- Tom’s mother used to tell him, “Call LeVar, he’ll give you a job!” And Tom kept telling her, that’s not how this works. Then he moved to LA and was job hunting when Reading Rainbow was rebooted. Tom got a job on the team because they needed an editor – see? His mom told him to call LeVar.
- Tom says LeVar is exactly who you see – such an amazing man.
- Em agrees he seems very genuine.
- LeVar has a podcast now: LeVar Burton Reads. If you love books and you aren’t listening to it, Tom is sad for you.
- Em reminisces that the 90s nostalgia brings her back to that whole era: Bill Nye and Scholastic Book Fairs and the Book It! Pizza Hut program.
- Tom says they should bring Book It! back, and also do one for adults where you get wine.
- Em and EJ agree they would do it for the pizza regardless.
- Pizza Hut! With the booths and the dusty chandeliers and the video games. Good times. Pac-Man. Mario. Choice-Ten.
- Tom feels most of his curiosity as a child came from Reading Rainbow.
- Tom grew up in a small town in the mountains, so there wasn’t much culture around other than nature, and reading was a cool escape.
- They’d drive down the mountain and go into Denver and he and his siblings thought they were the coolest when they got a Happy Meal.
- Flashback for Em to when Happy Meals came with the Land of the Lost dinosaur puppets.
- Speaking of books as an escape for kids, writing for kids is so important, especially now. Books can offer a comforting escape. Em asks Tom where the CURIOUS LEAGUE books help kids escape to.
- Here’s the thing about Tom’s book: It’s insane.
- It’s about a kid who lives in a museum and is framed for stealing an invaluable ruby. He joins a Willy Wonka-ish detective to catch the Mauve Moth. Kids escape into an old school middle grade zany adventure book–think THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E FRANKWEILER or THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH.
- But today’s kids have different needs. One of Tom’s biggest issues with the world now is how we handle toxic masculinity.
- He’s a huge advocate for people being happy, whatever that means for them. As long as you aren’t taking away someone else’s happiness, you’re okay, and have a right to live your life as you see fit.
- But while we’re pushing for equality we’re leaving young boys behind. In today’s world, the old role for boys is gone, everyone has new roles, but no one is telling boys how to take their role and fit into this new world and change with the times.
- In CURIOUS LEAGUE, the boy learns the 37 Rules of Being a Good Detective-which are also the 37 rules of being a good man.
- Example: The first rule is that you learn the most in an interrogation in the silence, not when you’re talking. The message being, you have to listen to the other person, and not spend that time thinking about what you will say next. If you listen, you can understand the other person’s needs and find a solution.
- You can’t force lessons down kids’ throats. You have to introduce it and let them decide on their own. This book is about John making his choices, and learning that no matter what, he’s responsible for his own happiness.
- E.J. observes that a kid living in a museum feels like a science nerd spin on ELOISE, who lived in the Plaza Hotel. (Please ignore the dog barks in the background, nothing to see here, we are very professional.)
- Tom elaborates on his inspiration, THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E FRANKWEILER, in which the kids run away and go live in a museum. That always stuck with him, because he wished he could live in a museum. When he lived in New York City, he went to the American Museum of Natural History maybe three times a week to hang out and draw.
- His friend pointed out that when you have kids in cities, you designate a landmark so that if a kid gets lost, they have an easy place they can get to so you can reunite–like the Empire State Building. Which is basically what happens in the book: something happens to John’s mother and she never comes to get him, so he just stays there.
- EJ calls out the big trope of children’s fiction: Where are the parents?
- Em points out how necessary it is–parents don’t let adventures happen.
- Tom adds that if a child has parents, they can’t be lost, and if a child isn’t lost, they can’t be found. And then, what’s the point?
- A good example: In A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, all the adults are so dumb, and the kids are really smart. Which is totally how middle grade kids think about adults.
- Shout out for the Netflix show with Neil Patrick Harris. And the film with Jim Carrey while we’re at it.
- Em wants to know what Tom’s favorite book was as a kid.
- THE NEVER ENDING STORY! Tom is dyslexic, so most of his stories were from his sister reading out loud, and she read that one over and over and over. Also THE PRINCESS BRIDE and PETER PAN.
- Em shares that PETER PAN was the first book she read that she felt was a “real” book, the first thick adult book, as a kid. (Side note, ALL books are real books!)
- E.J. never read the book but has the ‘80s TV adaptation burned into her brain for all eternity, VHS recorded with all the commercials. As the ‘80s kid does.
- Tom has the PETER PAN trivia: Did you know it’s tr...
