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The Monsters at My School: The New Kid

Lisa Pelissier • January 22, 2025
Help me welcome author  Lisa Pelissier as she shares about her most recent release.

 
About The New Kid
The new kid is weird. He's skinny. He's short. He doesn't even like pizza. And he pokes people.
That's when the real weirdness starts, along with Grayson's suspicions that this new kid is not what he seems.

Will the second graders be able to figure out what's going on before anything scary happens?

Getting to know Lisa:
Lisa Pelissier lives in Oregon where she is a homeschool mother of four and self-published author of six middle-grade fiction novels, as well as two early-readers' chapter books and two YA fantasy novels. Lisa owns SneakerBlossom Books, offering Christian, classical homeschool study guides and curriculum. She also works as a freelance copy editor, copy writer, and virtual assistant. She blogs at Eleventh Willow (at the SneakerBlossom website), a site she and two friends started for Christians parenting the mentally ill. In her spare time Lisa enjoys making art, playing the piano, and singing.

Connecting Online:
Website: https://www.sneakerblossom.com/
Email: sneakerblossom (at) yahoo.com
Blog: https://www.sneakerblossom.com/eleventhwillow
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.pelissier.author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaedkela/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/edkela/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lisa-Pelissier/author/B08794GCR1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SneakerBlossom
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lisapelissier1


“You have to write another Monsters book!” She was insistent. And she had ideas.

That’s how book 3 of the Monsters at My School series, The New Kid, came about. My consultant was a demanding, creative eleven-year-old who loves the Monsters series. Sometimes inspiration comes naturally. Sometimes you have to look for it. And sometimes it’s forced upon you.

The New Kid sees Grayson, Kinsley, and the other second graders facing the hideous unknown—a new kid in the second grade. He’s not just new, he’s weird. He’s skinny. He’s short. He doesn’t even like pizza! And worse than that, he pokes people. When Grayson complains about Bruno at dinner, his parents tell him to be nice. “If you’re nice to him, he will be nice to you.” Grayson doesn’t think it works that way, but he’s willing to give it a try.

That’s when the real weirdness starts. Bruno only eats meat. He can jump higher than Grayson’s head. And (gulp) the second graders start to suspect he might be . . . a monster. When Mila finds a mysterious golden object on the playground, the kids are determined to figure out what’s going on.  Together with their slimy, furry, googly-eyed monster friends, a little kidnapping, a little danger, and a whole lot of heart, the second graders solve the mystery and, once again, save the day.

This series is lighthearted and quirky. The characters are usually nice kids who sometimes do the wrong thing—like bullying Bruno, stealing glue, and, well, kidnapping. This series strives to see the world from a second-grade perspective. While my characters do experience remorse over their misdeeds, I strive to avoid a preachy tone. What kid doesn’t understand that bullying, stealing, and kidnapping are wrong? The thing they need to hear is that they can get past the ways they’ve offended others. They can be granted grace. And they can forgive others. Everyone has their own gifts they bring to the group—from Kinsley’s love of baking to Riley’s ability to spit and Ollie’s nerdy brain. No one’s gifts are less valuable than anyone else’s. I guess a prominent theme might be something like this: Life will surprise you. You’re going to mess up, but if you keep trying to do the right thing, it’s going to turn out okay. Like Marcus Aurelius said in his Meditations, (and I’m paraphrasing), no one can harm you if you stay true to doing right.

The New Kid will be released on January 16, 2025. At the same time—from January 16 to 18—the e-book version of the first book in the series will be free.

The Monsters at My School (Book 1): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C51XDJ5D/
Monsters in Trouble (Book 2): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLH6PWYS/
The New Kid (Book 3): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSDX9FFX/
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