We welcome Minh Lê to the show! His newest book (a collaboration with Dan Santat), Lift, is a charming, escapist book about the power of imagination… and the compelling urge to press elevator buttons! Honestly, who can't relate to that? Minh al

Episode 230: Kevin Kiner

Mar 23rd, 2020 48m 35s

Composer Kevin Kiner is back to give Star Wars: The Clone Wars the continuity of sound and music that fans have come to expect from the franchise. Having composed the first six seasons of The Clone Wars, along with all of Star Wars Rebels, Kine

Episode 229: Mallory O'Meara

Mar 11th, 2020 46m

Every so often, I like to read a book for pleasure. With no expectation of a review or author interview. With no pressure on my back. Just for the enjoyment of the book. Mallory O'Meara's The Lady from the Black Lagoon was supposed to be one of

Episode 228: Mira Bartók

Feb 19th, 2020 53m 25s

This time, we're joined by author Mira Bartók, author of The Memory Palace and The Wonderling. And the two books couldn't be more different. Where The Memory Palace is an intensely personal and emotional memoir about mental illness, The Wonderl

Episode 227: Kwame Mbalia

Jan 23rd, 2020 53m 14s

Surprise! We're back! And surprise! We're joined by another author from the stellar Rick Riordan Presents line: Kwame Mbalia, author of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. What's most incredible about Tristan Strong is not its powerful ch

Episode 226: Jeff Kinney

Dec 5th, 2019 36m 1s

This week, we're joined by a middle grade superstar: Jeff Kinney, the evil genius behind the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The fourteenth book in the series - Wrecking Ball - recently released, and it finds our hapless hero, Greg Heffley, at the

Episode 225: K. Eason

Nov 7th, 2019 52m 48s

K. Eason has written one of our favorite books of 2019. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a book that cohost Shiri is on record as calling "joyfully, delightfully amazing." Because it is. And in this episode of the show, we're joined

Episode 224: Zoraida Córdova

Oct 9th, 2019 50m 31s

If you're a Star Wars fan, you know Zoraida Córdova from the new book set in Galaxy's Edge, A Crash of Fate (or perhaps from her short story "You Owe Me a Ride" in the stellar From a Certain Point of View). If you're a fantasy reader, you likel

Episode 223: Rick Riordan

Sep 23rd, 2019 1h 1m

Rick Riordan is a middle grade superstar. Seriously, authors don't rank more A-list than him. When it comes to name recognition and reader obsession, you've got your J.K. Rowling, your Raina Telgemeier, and your Rick Riordan. That's the triumvi

Episode 222: J. Michael Straczynski

Jul 30th, 2019 1h 1m

This week, we welcome the legendary J. Michael Straczynski to the show. For many fans, Straczynski is the author of several seminal runs in both the DC and Marvel universes. For other fans, he's the genius behind Babylon 5. For still others, he

Episode 221: Preeti Chhibber

Jun 25th, 2019 56m 4s

This week, we celebrate the theatrical release of Spider-Man: Far From Home with Preeti Chhibber, author of the utterly charming Peter and Ned's Ultimate Travel Journal. The book is a snarky view of the MCU in general and Far From Home in parti

Episode 220: Kate Mulgrew

May 23rd, 2019 57m 33s

You might know her as Mrs. Columbo. Or maybe Mary Ryan from Ryan's Hope. Batman: The Animated Series fans remember her as Red Claw. If you've watched Orange Is the New Black, you know her from her chilling portrayal of Galina "Red" Reznikov. An

Episode 219: Michael Moreci

May 16th, 2019 1h 6m

This week, Michael Moreci joins me for a fantastic conversation about all things geeky. Moreci is the author of Black Star Renegades and its sequel We Are Mayhem, which just came out last month. In a nutshell, the story dares to ask the age-old

Episode 218: Evangeline Lilly

May 7th, 2019 1h

Talk to Evangeline Lilly for more than three minutes, and one thing become remarkably clear. She's positively overflowing with stories she wants to tell, and Hollywood isn't necessarily where she wants to tell them. So when you sit down with h

Episode 217: Lamar Giles

Apr 24th, 2019 1h 5m

Welcome back! This week, we're chatting with author Lamar Giles about his newest book, The Last Last Day of Summer, and the brand-new Versify imprint it's helping launch. Giles has written several YA books (Fake ID, Overturned, Spin), and The L

Episode 216: Alan Oppenheimer

Mar 20th, 2019 46m 54s

I know I say this a lot, but this one was a real thrill for me. This week, my conversation with Skeletor himself: the one and only Alan Oppenheimer! If Alan's career only included his work on He-Man and She-Ra (where he also played Man-at-Arms,

Episode 215: Ronald L. Smith

Mar 14th, 2019 43m 9s

This week, things are gettin' creepy as we talk to author Ronald L. Smith. Smith has a knack for imbuing his middle grade fiction with a little bit of that "X-Files vibe." And that dark, mysterious sensibility is certainly on display in his new

Episode 214: Tom Angleberger

Mar 5th, 2019 1h

This week, we welcome back one of our favorite guests: Tom Angleberger! Tom was actually one of our very first guests, WAY BACK on Episode 23. He was also the first guest to come back for a second appearance (with fellow Star Wars authors Alexa

Episode 213: Skottie Young

Feb 21st, 2019 1h 1m

This week, we're geeking out with one of our very favorite artists working in comics/graphic novels today: Skottie Young! If you're familiar with Young, you're familiar with his unique, recognizable-at-once style. For 15 years, he's been at the

Episode 212: Hena Khan

Feb 14th, 2019 59m 4s

This week, we're talking to author Hena Khan, whose book Amina's Voice was one of the launch titles for Simon & Schuster's Salaam Reads imprint. She's also written a series of middle grade books about Zayd Saleem - "Chasing the Dream" - a 4th g

Episode 211: Rhett Miller

Feb 7th, 2019 57m 34s

This week, we're talking children's poetry through the lens of rock and roll, baby! We welcome Rhett Miller, lead singer of the Old 97s, to the show to talk about his new book of, yep, children's poetry! On this episode, we talk about Miller's

Episode 210: Robin Cook

Jan 29th, 2019 52m 7s

We're gettin' nerdy this week, people! We're donning our lab coats and venturing into a scientific conversation we have no business discussing: CRISPR/Cas9. Which is why we brought in the brain trust - i.e., Kishore Hari, science guru over at T

Episode 209: Gary Whitta & Darick Robertson

Jan 24th, 2019 57m 47s

This week, we're marking the release of Oliver #1 with the creative team responsible for bringing this hopeful dystopia to life. Gary Whitta first wrote the story as a screenplay nearly a decade ago, and together with artist Darick Robertson, t

Episode 208: J.C. Cervantes

Jan 17th, 2019 41m 53s

This week, we're entering the world of myth. The mythological world of the Maya gods, to be exact. J.C. Cervantes is the author of The Storm Runner, which is one of the debut titles in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint of books that explore the

Episode 207: Chuck Wendig

Jan 8th, 2019 56m 20s

Happy New Year! Welcome back to the podcast, and welcome to 2019! We're ringing in the new year the best way we know how: with awesome conversations. And one of the most awesome I've had recently with none other than Chuck Wendig. Star Wars fan