Erin Dealey

We’re switching genres today to celebrate the Book Birthday of a wonderful new middle grade historical-comedy-mystery who-dunnit, THE TONTINE CAPER, written by Dianne K. Salerni, with equally clever illustrations by Matt Schu (Holiday House).

About the book:

Clue meets Knives Out for the younger set in this twisty-turny middle grade mystery-comedy with dry humor, impeccable plotting, and fun interactive bonus content. —Holiday House

Mysteries abound in this tale set at a fully booked inn at the beginning of the 20th century….everyone has secrets, and it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out. This fast-paced, humorous caper features witty, descriptive chapter titles and spot art, including character profiles sprinkled in, making for an accessible, entertaining tale… Charming, droll, and widely appealing.
—Kirkus Starred Review

A meditation on what makes up both a home and a generous spirit.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A JLG Gold Standard Selection

About the author:

Dianne K. Salerni has written many books for children and young adults, including the acclaimed The Carrefour Curse, (a Kirkus Best Book of the Year), and JLG Gold Standard Selections: Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts and Jadie in Five Dimensions.

She has always loved fantasy, science fiction, and mystery, and has read the novelized version of Star Wars” a thousand times” since she was in middle school. She also devoured mysteries written by Mary Stewart and Agatha Christie and science fiction and fantasy by Roger Zelazny, CJ Cherryh, and Douglas Adams.

A former fourth and fifth grade teacher, Dianne now spends her time hanging around creepy cemeteries, climbing 2,000-year-old pyramids for book research, and volunteering at her local rescue animal shelter.

Let’s ask some questions!

Piranhas, Quicksand, and other Inspiration

Q 1. What was the inspiration for The Tontine Caper?

DKS: When I was a kid in the 70s, television was very clear about the dangers that awaited us in adulthood. We knew that the best way to escape quicksand was to float on your back. We knew to throw a hunk of meat into an unknown body of water to check for piranhas and to never fly through the Bermuda Triangle. Additionally, one should never bury a treasure with friends and establish a tontine, whereby the last living member of the group was entitled to come back and claim the treasure—unless you wanted to eventually be murdered by your so-called friends.

Surprise!

Imagine our surprise when we reached adulthood and never once encountered quicksand. No one we knew had been devoured by piranhas. Planes no longer vanished near Bermuda. Likewise, it turned out that tontines were a rather common investment plan up until the 20^th century, and hardly anyone got murdered over them.

But where’s the fun in that? With The Tontine Caper, I hoped to bring back a bit of the exciting television adventures of my childhood.

Hmmm…

Process and the Pocanos

Q 2. Which came first as you wrote this historical comedy mystery:

      a.       The main character (11-year old orphan Nico Lombardi)

      b.      The setting (The Precipice Inn)

      c.      The tontine (An investment scheme where a cash prize is awarded to whomever lives the longest –“fashionable among the mine owners back in the old days”)

DKS: The tontine came first, followed by the setting. I love the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. I have a vacation cabin there, and several of my books (published and unpublished) are set in those mountains. When planning this book, I knew that I would gather the final members of the tontine at a remote inn nestled in the Poconos.

DKS: Nico Lombardi came about because I needed a protagonist who was separate from the tontine contenders and their families. The main character had to be an outsider, new to the concept of a tontine and unaware of all the secrets these hotel guests brought with them. And because he is the main character, Nico has problems of his own—thus his predicament as an orphan trapped in indentured servitude.

Illustration Surprises

Q 3. What surprises did illustrator Matt Schu bring to the project?

DKS: What most surprised me was how Matt envisioned my characters. In general, I keep physical descriptions of my characters sparse so that readers can picture them on their own—and, as the illustrator, Matt was one of my first readers. Some of his drawings match the person in my head; some are quite different.

For example, Matt drew the innkeeper, Gunther Hogg, as a portly balding man, while I had always imagined him as the tall and gangly John Cleese in the role of irascible hotelkeeper  Basil Fawlty from the British sit-com, Fawlty Towers. But I never described him that way in the book. Matt’s version was as valid as my own, and today’s kids (probably) haven’t seen Fawlty Towers anyway!

The Path to Middle Grade

Q 4. I see that you wrote your first book at age 4, The Dragon and the Girl (Yes, I watched your LegitKidlit interview), and then eventually moved on to Young Adult novels. What made you switch from YA to middle grade?

DKS: I wrote my first novel in 2006 and self-published it in 2007 under the title High Spirits. It was the story of the Fox sisters who spawned the 19^th century Spiritualist movement with what I believe was an adolescent prank that spiraled out of control. I could have marketed it as either adult fiction or YA, but, as a teacher, I thought I had an advantage targeting YA. A few years later, Sourcebooks pitched a re-boot under their new YA imprint, and my first traditionally published book, re-titled We Hear the Dead, released in 2010. After that I thought—woo hoo!—I’m a YA author!

And then…

My second book went out on submission under my newly-acquired, amazing agent, Sara Crowe. It did not sell. My third book, The Caged Graves, sold to critical acclaim. My fourth book, a Tesla-punk historical science fiction, did not sell, and then came The Eighth Day.

Sara called me to discuss this one. She had shared my manuscript with a few trusted professionals, and they all agreed: this was a MG premise. How did I feel about re-writing it for a middle grade audience?

The Wisdom of 5th Graders –and Agents

She was probably surprised by my immediate enthusiasm. But you see, I was still a 5th grade teacher at that time. I’d been sharing my publishing experience with my students all along and they were unfailingly supportive, but only when I told them about The Eighth Day did they beg me to read them my manuscript. My agent was right. This was a middle grade story.

Once I ventured into MG territory, I never went back. I loved this audience. I taught this audience for 25 years and I loved what they read. I was home.

And because writers don’t write all the time… (Do they?)

Q 5. How do you spend your time when you’re not writing?

DKS: I spend a lot of time at my local animal shelter, CompAnimals Rescue Shelter. I started out walking shelter dogs in our local park. But soon I was enlisted to the small animal room, and now I spend two days a week servicing that room: feeding the cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, (and sometimes ferrets, chinchillas, and rats) cleaning the cages, scooping the litter, providing cuddles and head rubs, and dishing out the treats.

DKS: For example, let me introduce JJ. He was (apparently) abandoned on the street after a horrific allergic reaction to a flea collar. He ended up on a stranger’s front porch, looking for help. This Good Samaritan bundled him up and brought him to us. JJ is currently receiving medical care as well as lots of cuddles. He is a super-affectionate boy. We will be sure to find JJ a home with the loving, forever people he deserves.

Happy Book Birthday to THE TONTINE CAPER

And many thanks to Dianne K. Salerni for joining us on the blog today to celebrate!

To learn more about her work check out her website: https://diannesalerni.com/

and follow her on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianneKSalerni

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianneksalerni/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/diannesalerni.bsky.social

Next up on the blog:

We celebrate the Book Birthday of Author/Photographer Kelly Crull’s

new nonfiction picture book,

THE BLACK MAMBAS: The World’s First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit

(Millbrook/ Lerner)