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The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities book cover
The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities
New Stories about Mythic Heroes
2021
First Published
3.85
Average Rating
464
Number of Pages

Part of Series

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents ten new stories—including one of his own—about beloved heroes that sprang from the imaginations of some of the best middle grade authors working today. A cave monster . . . an abandoned demon . . . a ghost who wants to erase history . . . a killer commandant . . . These are just some of the challenges confronting the young heroes in this highly entertaining anthology. All but one of the heroes previously starred in a popular book from Rick Riordan Presents. You''ll be reunited with Aru Shah, Zane Obispo, Min the fox spirit, Sal and Gabi, Tristan Strong, Nizhoni Begay, Paola Santiago, Sikander Aziz, and Riley Oh. Who is the new hero? Read Rick Riordan''s short story to find out! Ten bestselling and award-winning middle grade authors contributed to this collection: Roshani Chokshi, J.C. Cervantes, Yoon Ha Lee, Carlos Hernandez, Kwame Mbalia, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Sarwat Chadda, Graci Kim, and Rick Riordan, who also served as the editor. The cultures represented by these own-voices stories are: Indian, Mesoamerican, Korean, Cuban, Black American, African, Navajo, Mexican, Mesopotamian, and Celtic. There''s something for everyone in this collection of fast-paced and funny adventure stories that show what it takes to be a hero in any time, setting, and universe. Read more about the heroes in these best-selling books: Rick Riordan Presents: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi Rick Riordan Presents: The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes Rick Riordan Presents: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee Rick Riordan Presents: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia Rick Riordan Presents: Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse Rick Riordan Presents: Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia Rick Riordan Presents: City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda Rick Riordan Presents: The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim

Avg Rating
3.85
Number of Ratings
1,858
5 STARS
30%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
28%
2 STARS
6%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads

Authors

Carlos Hernandez
Author · 1 books
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
J. C. Cervantes
J. C. Cervantes
Author · 14 books

J.C. is a New York Times best-selling author. Her books have been published in more than twelve countries and have appeared on national lists, including the American Booksellers Association New Voices, Barnes and Noble’s Best Young Reader Books, and Amazon’s Best Books of the Month. She has earned multiple awards and recognitions, including the New Mexico Book Award and the Zia Book Award. She currently resides in the Land of Enchantment with her family and spoiled pups, but keeps part of her heart in Southern California, where she was born and raised. When she isn’t writing, she is haunting bookstores and searching for magic in all corners of the world. Author also writes under Jennifer Cervantes

Graci Kim
Graci Kim
Author · 5 books

Graci Kim is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Fallen Star, The Last Fallen Moon, and The Last Fallen Realm. Called a “sparkling yarn” by Entertainment Weekly and featured in TIME Magazine for Kids, the Korean mythology-inspired trilogy has been optioned by the Disney Channel, and is being translated into multiple languages. It was named a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Children’s Book, an Amazon Best Book, a Barnes & Noble Young Reader Pick, and a Whitcoulls Kids Top 50. In 2022, Graci was awarded the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent. In a previous life, Graci was a New Zealand diplomat, a cooking show host, and once ran a business that turned children’s drawings into cuddly toys. She lives in Aotearoa New Zealand with her husband and daughter. You can find her on Twitter (@gracikim), Tiktok (@gracikim), Instagram (@gracikimwrites), and via her website (gracikim.com).

Sarwat Chadda
Sarwat Chadda
Author · 17 books

Sarwat Chadda has lived and traveled throughout the world, from China to Guatemala. He’s been lost in Mongolia, abandoned at a volcano in Nicaragua and hidden up a tree from a rhino in Nepal. Not to mention being detained by Homeland Security in the US and chased around Tibet by the Chinese police. Maybe he just has that sort of face. Anyway, now he’s trying to settle in one place and stay out of trouble. Hence his new career as a writer. It’s safe, indoors and avoids any form of physical danger. Throughout his travels, Sarwat has soaked up the myths, legends and cultures of far away places. Now, with the Ash Mistry series, he aims to bring these unfamiliar tales of ten-headed demons and blue-skinned heroes back home and put them beside the exploits of Achilles and Thor. His heroes are Prince Rama and the demon-slaying Kali. Isn't it about time you met them too?

Roshani Chokshi
Roshani Chokshi
Author · 23 books
Roshani Chokshi is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestselling series The Star-Touched Queen, The Gilded Wolves and Aru Shah and The End of Time, which Time Magazine named one of the Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time. Her adult debut, The Last Tale of The Flower Bride, was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and often draw upon world mythology and folklore. Chokshi is a member of the National Leadership Board for the Michael C. Carlos Museum and lives in Georgia with her husband and their cat whose diabolical plans must regularly be thwarted.
Tehlor Kay Mejia
Author · 17 books

TEHLOR KAY MEJIA is a bestselling and award winning author of young adult and middle grade fiction. Her debut young adult novel, WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE, received six starred reviews, as well as the Oregon Spirit Book Award for debut fiction, and the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award runner up honor for debut speculative fiction. It has been featured on Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s best books lists, and was a 2019 book of the year selection by Kirkus and School Library Journal. Its sequel, WE UNLEASH THE MERCILESS STORM, followed to continuing acclaim, while MISS METEOR (co-written with National Book Award Nominee Anna-Marie McLemore) was named to the American Library Association’s 2021 Rainbow List, honoring outstanding contributions in LGBTQIA teen fiction. Tehlor’s debut middle grade novel, PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS, was published by the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney/Hyperion. It received four starred reviews, and was named Amazon’s best book of 2020 in the 9-12 age range. It is currently in development at Disney as a television series to be produced by Eva Longoria. Tehlor lives with her daughter, partner, and two small dogs in Oregon, where she grows heirloom corn and continues her quest to perfect the vegan tamale. She is active on Twitter and Instagram @tehlorkay.

Yoon Ha Lee
Yoon Ha Lee
Author · 39 books
Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction writer born on January 26, 1979 in Houston, Texas. His first published story, “The Hundredth Question,” appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1999; since then, over two dozen further stories have appeared. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Rebecca Roanhorse
Rebecca Roanhorse
Author · 28 books

Rebecca Roanhorse is a NYTimes Bestseller and a Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Astounding (formerly Campbell) Award for Best New Writer. Her novels include TRAIL OF LIGHTNING, STORM OF LOCUSTS, STAR WARS: RESISTANCE REBORN, and RACE TO THE SUN. Her upcoming novel BLACK SUN is set to release 10/13/2020. She lives in Northern New Mexico with her husband, daughter, and pug. Find more at https://rebeccaroanhorse.com/ and on Twitter at @RoanhorseBex..

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