Intrigue, Mystery and Misfits: A Guest Post from Lisa Yee
Congratulations to our Overall Winner of the 2024 B&N Children’s and YA Book Awards! From Maizy Chen’s Last Chance to Millicent Min, Lisa Yee has been one of our favorite authors for years, and Dan Santat’s illustrations (The Little Engine That Could and The Adventures of Beekle) have brought joy to so many stories. The Misfits is an epic tale of creative outcasts and Lisa explains the process of creating these lovable characters and their unique world, down below.
Hardcover $14.99
A Royal Conundrum (B&N Exclusive Edition) (The Misfits)
A Royal Conundrum (B&N Exclusive Edition) (The Misfits)
By
Lisa Yee
Illustrator
Dan Santat
In Stock Online
Hardcover $14.99
If you are one of the multitudes who has ever felt like an outsider, then let industry pros Lisa Yee and Dan Santat bring that experience to life. Turning the misfits into kid superheroes, this ragtag ensemble cast is impossible not to fall in love with. And it’s only the first in the series!
If you are one of the multitudes who has ever felt like an outsider, then let industry pros Lisa Yee and Dan Santat bring that experience to life. Turning the misfits into kid superheroes, this ragtag ensemble cast is impossible not to fall in love with. And it’s only the first in the series!
Oof?
It wasn’t that I wanted to write THE MISFITS—it’s that I needed to. I had just finished MAIZY CHEN’S LAST CHANCE, a contemporary and historical novel about a Chinese American family. Writing the book had consumed me, bringing me down and lifting me up at the same time, and I was ready for something decidedly different.
The challenge of penning a fast-paced mystery that was quirky, outlandish, and full of laughs sounded intriguing. But what would it be about? That’s when I was hit hard by two words that nearly knocked me over . . . Ballerina Battalion. I could just picture crime-fighting ballerinas. Imagine the kicks! Ideas began pirouetting in my head, but soon the graceful dancers exited and in their place five awkward outcasts showed up. To my surprise, and theirs, these kids would become elite undercover secret agents.
Was THE MISFITS based on my life? Well, I did take a private investigator class, had ninja lessons in Japan, and spent time learning kickboxing—things the Misfits do too. However, it was what I didn’t do that was the inspiration for the book. I was a timid kid with an overactive imagination, and like the Misfits, I felt invisible. But in the world of crime fighters, being ignored is a stellar skill. You don’t want to be seen.
So, I begin with Olive, a girl whose lackluster life was deadly dull. We are both bookish introverted extroverts who never break the rules—except for sometimes. When I was her age, I fell on my head doing a handstand and ended up in the hospital. Instead of being a klutz like me, I wrote Olive as a world-class acrobat, whose talents are rivaled only by her insecurities.
Now that I had my main character, she needed worthy cohorts. The other Misfits were totally ignored, or worse, at their prior schools. Yet at RASCH (Reforming Arts School for the “artistically adventurous”), these eclectic loners fit together like puzzle pieces. Plus, their previously unappreciated skills, including high-risk gymnastics, breaking and entering, and creating 007-worthy gadgets, make them unlike any underdogs you’ve ever met.
I’ve always been enamored with superheroes. I even wrote the DC Super Hero Girls novel series. Yet this was different. These kids didn’t have superpowers. Instead, their burdens of rejection, fear, and foibles, coupled with curiosity, talent, and camaraderie, made them perfect for NOCK, aka No One Can Know, their secret crime-fighting organization.
It was especially exciting to have my good friend Dan Santat create the art. When writing, my brain was all, “I can’t wait to see Dan’s illustrations for this scene!” I had the best time creating this offbeat mystery. To echo what the Misfits say when they’re happy: OOF!
