Welcome to The Weirn Books, Vol. 2 Blog Tour!
To celebrate the release of The Weirn Books, Vol. 2: The Ghost and the Stolen Dragon by Svetlana Chmakova on October 15th, blogs across the web are featuring Q&As with Svetlana, plus a chance to win one of 5 sets of Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of The Weirn Books!
Q&A with Svetlana Chmakova
Q: Given the chance, would you attend the Nightschool? Why or why not?
A: I would absolutely want to attend Nightschool, whether it be as a weirn or as a human (…though, if as a human, I would want to make sure I had a well-meaning Night creature friend who’d watch out for me and not let me get eaten… Definitely would want a host Nightfolk family that would explain things to me). I would want to meet everyone and see everything, to see magic be part of regular life. If I were a weirn there, I would absolutely get into trouble and shenanigans with Na’ya, Ailis, and everyone, I would not be able to stay away. It’s everything I ever dreamed of while in real-life school, so of course I’d be in it 1000%.
Q: Your novels are frequently described as “relatable”, “believable”, and “authentic”. How do you stay in tune with the middle school experience and voice as an adult?
A: I have no idea, honestly… I joke to my family and friends that I am not a true adult, but essentially a 12-year-old cleverly disguised as one, in the way that I navigate the world (it’s hard!! Nothing makes sense!! People don’t make sense, still, and I’m 45 now!!), but sometimes I wonder if many of us are quietly like that, just bigger kids making our way in a complicated system of expectations and responsibilities, sometimes with very limited information/frame of reference. I remember middle grade years very well, the challenges were different, but weirdly the magnitude of the effort to struggle through it felt the same. Soooo… Maybe that baseline I write from is what people connect to, when they read my work.
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Blog Tour Schedule
October 28 — Book-Keeping Blog
October 29 — Shooting Stars Mag
October 30 — Jill’s Book Blog
October 31 — Twirling Book Princess
November 1 — Dana Loves Books
About the Book
Website | Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
In the Night Realm, shifters, vampires, weirns (a particular kind of witch), and other night things passing for human may prowl the streets, but school is still in session—and you still have to do your homework!
In The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods (released June 2020), Ailis and Na’ya are pretty average students, but when a shadow starts looming and a classmate gets all weird, they’re the first to notice. It gets personal, though, when Na’ya’s little brother D’esh disappears. To get him back, she has no choice but to confront the secrets of the forbidden mansion in the Silent Woods!
Just in time for Halloween, The Weirn Books, Vol. 2: The Ghost and the Stolen Dragon (released October 15, 2024) takes readers back to Chmakova’s supernatural world full of magic, adventure, and… dragons! After her terrible adventures in the Silent Woods, Na’ya’s world seems to have returned to normal… that is, except for the nightmares that keep haunting her. What she needs is the power to protect everyone, and she has the perfect solution—she’ll turn into a dragon, once and for all! With help from Ailis and Jasper, everything seems to be going according to plan. But what’s that dark shadow slithering around the spell-casting range?
“Chmakova maintains her signature anime-influenced style, as seen in the “Berrybrook Middle School” series, and adds a touch of whimsy through visual worldbuilding around the eerie, desolate woods… VERDICT Relationships take center stage in this sweet, not-too-scary coming-of-age story that feels like a young read-alike to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
—School Library Journal (The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods)
“Classic manga visuals enrich Chmakova’s charming, full-color art: sweeping magic amid serene concentration, shadows accentuating fear-inspiring retorts from authority figures, and facial contortions add humor to life-and-death stakes… Chmakova smartly keeps the focus on family, friendship, and the relatable struggles of fitting in.”
—Publishers Weekly (The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods)
About the Author
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Svetlana Chmakova was born and raised in Russia until the age of 16, when her family emigrated to Canada. She is an internationally published, award-winning author and illustrator, with more than 10 published books and her work translated into over 13 languages. Svetlana has drawn and written for animation, how-to-draw books, toy designs, and most of all, comics and manga. Her full-length manga/comics series include the fan-favorite romantic comedy Dramacon, the award-winning urban fantasy Nightschool: The Weirn Books, and the hit Berrybrook Middle School series, as well as the manga adaptation of the New York Times bestselling Witch & Wizard by James Patterson. She graduated from Sheridan College with a three-year Classical Animation Diploma, and was a Master Comics Artist-in-Residence at Atlantic Center for The Arts.
Grand Prize Giveaway
- Five (5) winners will receive a paperback set of The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods and The Weirn Books, Vol. 2: The Ghost and the Stolen Dragon!
- US only
- Ends November 10, 2024 at 11:59pm ET
This sounds like a cool series! I feel like I still act like a really big kid so I can def relate to Svetlana in that aspect, haha. Thanks for sharing this series! Book tours are so much fun! :]
This is right at the age level for my oldest daughter. They sound interesting! I will have to show them to her!
This looks like a fun series! The covers are done so well, def. makes you want to dive into the story!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com