Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the Masked Medalist by Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani, and Michelle Schusterman Comes Out Today, Sept. 8, 2020

VGThuy

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The Shibs with veteran children's author Michelle Shusterman, have written a middle school-aged mystery book titled Kudo Kids: the Mystery of the Masked Medalist. It was originally set to come out in May of this year before the summer Olympics, but with the worldwide health issue, the schedule shifted somewhat.

From BN.com:

Andy and Mika are going to Tokyo!

The Kudo Kids have never been to Japan before, so they can't believe they get to attend the Summer Olympics there. The siblings plan to eat tons of delicious Japanese food, watch every event they can, and win a super-popular new game called OlympiFan.

Developed by a mysterious former medalist, OlympiFan brings players together from all over the world to search Tokyo for virtual medals and clues to the secretive creator's identity. Andy loves puzzles, and he's determined to crack this one, especially since the winning team will get to be beta testers for the Masked Medalist's future games!

Mika wants to find as many clues as she can, but she also has a secret goal of her own—one that could get her into big trouble. But when someone sabotages the game, the Kudo Kids have an even bigger mystery to solve than the Masked Medalist's identity. If they want to capture the gold, Mika and Andy have to figure out who's trying to stop their team before someone beats them to the grand prize!

An excerpt is available here:


Trailer:


I think if this one is successful, it'll be a start of a new series.

I'm picking this up later today under the guise that it's for my son even though he's like 10-11 years too young for this book. Whatever.
 
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VGThuy

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In case anyone was wondering, this book is 263 pages. For some reason l, I wasn’t paying attention to the book details, I thought it’d be a slighter read.

Shae-Lynn Bourne posted some congratulatory messages on Maia’s IG account and said she was going to read it with her son. Now I wish they had a program choreographed by her.
 

Garden Kitty

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Smart of them to team with a co-writer who has done this before. I'm sure they learned a lot during this experience and if there are other books, they'll likely be even more involved in the process. It seems harder for pro skaters to make a living these days, so exploring other avenues like this to reach their young fans is a good idea. They may even be able to attract fans who don't know much about skating, but who enjoy the book. Good luck to them with this project.
 

Sylvia

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They were fun on Today show this morning.
Their segment can be watched here:

SHIBUTANI SIBLINGS ADD “PUBLISHED AUTHORS” TO EXTENSIVE RESUME (Sept. 9, 2020): https://www.teamusa.org/News/2020/S...ngs-Add-published-Authors-To-Extensive-Resume

The publisher's page for their book:

More about Razorbill (imprint of Penguin Randon House): https://www.penguin.com/publishers/razorbill/
 
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Rukia

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I bought it for my 10 year old. I may borrow it...for reasons...haha.
 

VGThuy

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On Instagram Live, Alex inadvertently and was later confirmed by Maia that the second installment was originally planned to be released in May of 2021. That probably will get pushed back as the first one was just published.
 

Sylvia

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Catch up with @MaiaShibutani and @AlexShibutani ❗

Join a Zoom chat next Thursday [11/19/20] for a Q&A session that includes a copy of their book 𝙆𝙪𝙙𝙤 𝙆𝙞𝙙𝙨! All proceeds to benefit the Memorial Fund.
Link to register: https://fs12.formsite.com/USFSAIT/jpxibcqudt/index.html

ETA that there is a free virtual event tomorrow with Maia & Alex (Portland Book Festival on Nov. 14) that requires online registration: https://literary-arts.org/event/pbf-chhibber-shibutani/
 
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starbucks

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I read it, didn't love it. Michelle Shusterman is a competent writer for middle grade, but the book is very thin. Instead, I'd recommend E. L. Shen's The Comeback for young skaters on your gift list - it has real heart.
 

VGThuy

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I read it, didn't love it. Michelle Shusterman is a competent writer for middle grade, but the book is very thin. Instead, I'd recommend E. L. Shen's The Comeback for young skaters on your gift list - it has real heart.
They seem like totally different books and genres so I’d think those books wouldn’t be a substitute for the other. But thanks for the recommendation. I’ll add it to the collection.
 

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