Rick Riordan Presents: Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents best-selling author Stacey Lee’s modern-day reimagining of a classic Chinese folktale--replete with magic, boba, and lots of trash talking. Now in paperback!

Twelve-year-old Winston Chu is supposed to learn impulse control at the cooking academy his mom enrolled him in. But learning to think before he acts won’t happen overnight.

While skateboarding home with a pie in hand, Winston inadvertently stops a robbery at Mr. Pang’s Whimsies, an oddities shop in Chinatown. As a reward, Mr. Pang invites Winston to choose any item in the store. But the strange old man warns Winston to browse carefully, for the first thing Winston touches will be the thing he gets. Before Winston can decide, a magpie flies under a shelf, and he impulsively grabs an old broom to sweep it out.

Mr. Pang hands him the broom, along with a dustpan. ＂Two for one. Congratulations.＂

Deflated, Winston returns home, determined to put the broom incident behind him. Or at least in the closet. But when some of his most beloved possessions go missing, all Winston can think about are the broom and dustpan. Did they somehow take his stuff? And what--or who--will they dispose of next?

It’s time to break into Mr. Pang’s Whimsies, where clearly there’s more going on than meets the far-seeing eyeball. It’s time to fight magic with magic. And this time, Winston better have a plan.

Endorsed by Rick Riordan, author of the Disney+ hit series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Stacey Lee is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of historical and contemporary young adult fiction, including The Downstairs Girl, a Reese’s Book Club Late Summer 2021 YA pick. A native of southern California and fourth-generation Chinese American, she is a co-founder of the We Need Diverse Books movement and writes stories for all kids. Find her online at www.staceyhlee.com and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @staceyleeauthor.