Middle Grade Author Interview with James Ponti
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Who else loves author James Ponti’s books? City Spies is one of my favorite book series to recommend to readers because EVERY KID loves it. What’s not to love? Cool kids with amazing skills who SAVE THE WORLD!?
Of course, the Framed series is another of my top picks for readers who like action, mystery, and supersmart kids as is the Dead City zombie series. I love how zippy the writing is and how much agency his characters have.
But hold on to your deerstalker hats because James Ponti’s newest middle grade book series arrives in the world next month (September 3, 2024, Alladin). You won’t want to miss it!
Introducing…THE SHERLOCK SOCIETY!
I’m going to let you hear directly from James about the new book, the first in the series. But I will say this — WOW. This adventure-mystery story with humor and heart does not disappoint!
But let’s hear from James, one of my favorite middle grade authors. I was lucky enough to interview him over email. (Which is always good because then I have less embarrassing fan girl moments!)
Middle Grade Author Interview with James Ponti
Melissa: I’m always excited when you start a new series. The Sherlock Society is your forthcoming book series. Can you tell readers a little more about it?
James: First of all, that’s incredibly kind of you to say. I’m glad you’re excited because I am too. The series is about a brother and a sister whose last name is Sherlock, which inspires them to make a bold choice for the summer. They decide to open a detective agency because it sounds like a much more fun way to earn money than babysitting and lawnmowing. They enlist the help of their two friends and their grandfather, who was a long-time investigative reporter with the Miami Herald. At first, they’re disappointed to discover that there isn’t much demand for tween private investigators, but things take a decided turn for the better when Grandpa takes him to “the vault.” It’s a self-storage unit teeming with four and a half decades of notes, interviews, transcripts, articles, research materials and other mementos from his career, including many files for unsolved cases and unfinished story ideas just begging for fresh eyes.
Melissa: I love the storyline of a somewhat estranged older sister who becomes friendly again with her little brother. Was this aspirational for families like mine?l How did these characters come about?
James: I don’t know if they’re estranged so much as their differences put them on non-intersecting social tracks at school. Zoe is older and very popular, while Alex is nerdy and has only a small group of friends. I think a key, though, is that Alex has no aspiration to run in the popular crowd. He just misses hanging out with his sister.
I love writing sibling dynamics, especially in situations like this when the siblings seem outwardly different but actually have a lot of common ground just beneath the surface. I grew up the youngest of three boys and I wanted to write from the perspective I knew best, so Alex is our narrator. And while they don’t interact much at school, during summer they are forced to spend time together, which is what sparks all of the adventure and the ultimate realization that they’re more alike than different.
Melissa: You bring Miami to life with so many details from the swamps to the food to the landscape like the former zoo. What was your research process like before and/or during writing this book?
James: I’ve lived in Florida since I was two years old, so I had a working knowledge of Miami when I started. While I was writing The Sherlock Society, I went there on a research trip and visited every location from the book to get a feel for it and to look for inspiration to add little twists and accents.
The book opens with a rescue by the Marine Patrol in Biscayne Bay, so I convinced the Marine Patrol to take me (and my writer friend and Miami-local Christina Diaz Gonzalez) on a ride-along in the bay. Alex and Zoe’s father is a marine biologist at the University of Miami, so I interviewed and hung out with one in his lab and incorporated his real-world research into corals into the story. The lowlight of the research was when I went to see Al Capone’s mansion, which featured prominently in the book, only to watch it being torn down that very day. (It was more than a hundred years old!) I had to go and rewrite parts that included it. I even went so far as reaching out to a realtor, who helped me find likely homes for the characters based on their history and economic status. Every bit of research helps me.
Melissa: The Sherlock Society begins with an escape room library and turns into a giant puzzle with many layers. Are you a fan of escape rooms? Do you recommend them for critical thinking skills?
James: Confession time. I’ve never done an escape room. (You can imagine how scared I was to write one.) I think they’re probably great and plan to do one, but I worry that I’ll pick one that isn’t good. That said, I think activities like this are great to develop critical thinking skills. I start every morning and end every day doing various crossword puzzles, word puzzles, and trivia quizzes as kind of pre-game stretch and post exercise cool down for my brain.
Melissa: How did your interests or research lead you to write this new series?
James: I decided to lean into some of my favorite things for this series. I love mysteries of all kinds – books, movies, television shows, you name it. (But I’m not at all a fan of true crime.) I grew up in a Florida beach town and love the ocean, my home state, and many of the quirky things about its inhabitants. (Although, I’ll admit the quirkiness has gotten out of control as of late.) And I am lucky to have really great friends, many of whom also happen to be amazing middle grade fiction writers. I mixed all of these elements together and the Sherlock Society is the result.
A fun aspect of that, is the fact that many of those writer friends (including me) were on the nerdy side growing up and our tween awkwardness has gone from a liability to a strength, so I’m able to write with that knowledge in hand. One twist is that I grew up in northern Florida near Jacksonville, but set the series in Miami because it offers more options for characters and storylines.
Melissa: Can we expect to see more books in The Sherlock Society series? And if so, do you know when/how many?
James: I am currently writing the second book, which involves Grandpa when he was twelve and includes two hurricanes – one in 1965 and one in present day – the are essential to solving a mystery. The characters and the plots are so much fun to write and I hope I get to write many more in the series; but the reality is always that we’ll have to see how well-received it is before I have any idea of how many there will be.
Melissa: What comes first, the characters or the plot? Or is it a combination?
James: Both came on the same walk. I was determined to come up with a new series and went for a walk around the lake down the street from my house. There are benches around the lake and I gave myself a challenge. I decided that I would sit at each bench and ask myself a question. The rule was that I couldn’t get up until I had an answer and then I had to ask an even harder question at the next bench. It took me two trips around the lake to come up with what I needed. I think the order was – mystery – Florida – siblings – grandfather – friends. But don’t hold me to that. The one big change from that session to now is that initially I called it the Sherlock Sisters and it was about two sisters. It took a few weeks to decide that it would be more fun to have a brother and sister.
Melissa: What advice do you have for grownups who want to encourage their growing readers to read more?
James: Every kid is so different that it’s hard to have specific advice that’s universal. I think it’s essential for kids to have freedom to choose and that reading for fun rather than as a task should be encouraged. I say that as both a parent and as a reader. I was a very reluctant reader growing up and only started reading for fun as an adult. (I truly regret what I missed out on.) My son showed signs of following in my footsteps, which broke my wife’s heart because she reads non-stop.
What turned the tide was that we encouraged deep dives into things he loved, even if we didn’t. He loved mythology so we got him every mythology book and guide we could find. We talked about it at dinner and bedtime. It was all mythology. Then he discovered Percy Jackson and suddenly reading books interested him. I think an important development was that my wife read every book he did so that she could discuss them with him. (She continued this through high school with all of his assigned readings too.)
Percy Jackson opened him up to fiction, but he found it something of a slog and had difficulty developing pace. I think it had to do with understanding and pronouncing some words, which was also a hurdle for me. We started checking out physical books and audio books together so he could listen while he read. He loved that and after five or six months of this, he stopped wanting to listen. He ended up getting an English degree in college, so it must’ve worked!
Melissa: What advice do you have for young writers who are fans of your stories?
James: It sounds pat but it’s essential to write what you love and to do it in your voice. By that I mean, don’t try to write what’s popular or what you think people want to read. Write something you’re passionate about. Not only does that make the writing process so much richer and more enjoyable, but your passion is evident on the page.
As to voice, I think we’re sometimes taught to use big words that sound important, and to write in a formal manner that feels official. A great vocabulary is great. Wonderful structure is awesome. But it still needs to sound like YOU are telling the story. That’s what makes it yours. It may be a remnant of my life writing television scripts, but I highly recommend reading what you write out loud. When I do, I can hear the grammar mistakes and false notes. I read it over and over and over listening for words I don’t like. Friends I grew up with have read my books and told me, it sounds just like you did when we were kids. I like that very much.
Melissa: What is a recent book you’ve read that you’d recommend to others?
James: I am in love with The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. It’s historical fiction about a teenage girl at Bletchley Park, which was the British codebreaking center during World War II. It’s clever and twisty and knocked my socks off. I think everyone should read it. Although, you can feel free to read The Sherlock Society first.
Melissa: WOW– Thank you for your time, for writing wonderful books that keep kids reading, and for sharing your insights with Imagination Soup readers!
Readers, are you excited for this book?
More About The Sherlock Society
Siblings Alex and Zoe Sherlock take their last name as inspiration when choosing a summer job. After all, starting a detective agency has to be better than babysitting, (boring), lawn mowing (sweaty), or cleaning out the attic (boring and sweaty). Together with their friends Lina, an avid bookworm, and Yadi, an aspiring cinematographer, siblings Alex and Zoe Sherlock use their retired reporter grandfather’s cold cases to get started.
The group starts out investigating the missing treasure of gangster Al Capone. But when they start searching a hard-to-find island in the middle of the Everglades, they find some alarming evidence that hints at corporate corruption. Together with Gramps’ know-how and the kids’ intelligence–plus some really slick gadgets–the group sets about who is at the root of the conspiracy, and why.
More About James Ponti
JAMES PONTI (he/him/his) is the New York Times bestselling author of four middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society follows a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award–winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan. His books have appeared on more than fifteen different state award lists, and he is the founder of a writers’ group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida.
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