Middle graders will rejoice with the arrival of the latest book from the Rick Riordan Presents banner. Stacey Lee makes her debut with the mythological imprint with her newest action-packed novel, Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies.
In the book, Winston is your average teenager who has good friends, a stable homelife, but sadly mourns the death of his father from a friendly fire accident in Iraq. Set on the streets and hills of San Francisco, Winston has enough to deal with in ordinary life, from soccer to impressing the new girl Dani, with his ukelele skills, which he has no idea how to play. An accidental pieing of some tough guys stalking Mr. Pang’s store leads Winston and his friends on an adventure of a lifetime.
Offered anything for free, the first thing that Winston touches in Mr. Pang’s shop is an old broom and dustpan. Winston has no idea how detrimental these objects will be in the next few days. San Francisco has been plagued by oversized squirrels attacking people, frequent rain storms that pop up in different parts of the city, and it seems like the city is spiraling out of control.
When his soccer jersey disappears, and his older sister Philipa’s stuffed animal is missing, Winston suspects the broom and dustpan. The moment his younger sister Coco seems to have changed into something else, Winston learns the truth. The broom and dustpan are not benign objects. They act as conduits to steal Coco’s spirit as well as the other items which have been swept away to Mr. Pang’s shop so that the magic of each item can be used.
There is more to the broom and dustpan. They are being inhabited by the spirits of the mythological beings Cloud Weaver and Cowherd. The odds are stacked against Winston and his friends to save Coco in time.
Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies is yet another entry into the world of mythology, and what an exciting and explosive entry author Stacey Lee has made into this literary realm. She is one of many to write a new tale using mythology as the background for modern day middle grade readers, but Lee walks into this world armed with a compelling story of angst, loss, grief, the art of friendship, and the love of family, while also bringing readers a snapshot of Chinese folklore through the tale of Cloud Weaver and Cowherd.
The Rick Riordan Presents banner’s mission is to bring more diverse stories and cultures to the printed page, and throughout the years they have published many GREAT books. It must be daunting for someone like Lee to enter this world and equal, if not exceed the previous works of the numerous authors who have brought new stories to life through the banner. Not only should Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies feel proud and hold its head high amongst some great titles, but Stacey Lee has also done an extraordinary job of taking multiple themes that any reader will connect with, and compacted them into a concise, epic tale that will find a place in every reader’s heart.
What I particularly enjoyed about Lee’s book is the focus on the human characters. This is a story that does have mythological connections, with gods and goddesses as supporting characters but not necessarily main points of the story.
The drama and the focus of Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies is on Winston’s shoulders and how he and his family deal with the fallout of the loss of their father, and their everyday world. This is a time when his mother is looking for full time work, his sister Philippa isn’t sure what to do with her life following high school, and a younger sister who is oblivious to the pain her family is experiencing because she never knew her father.
Winston has a great set of friends to rely on like Mav, Bijal, and Cassa. He’s not alone, and when the otherworldly happens, Winston has his friends right beside him ready to fight the battle together. It’s unique to see the hero of the story already have his friends assembled, which is just another twist on the traditional narrative that Stacy Lee brings with her book.
We see the very routine fighting between Winston and his older sister Philippa throughout most of the book, but Lee coyly reveals to the readers that Philippa is not immune to what Winston tells her when things start going wrong because of Cloud Weaver and Cowherd. She is still grieving the loss of her father, looking for answers, and displacing her grief in the form of hostility.
Amongst the family god drama, the story is set in beautiful San Francisco. While many past mythology stories are set in smaller towns, for the first time in a while, we get a full fledged story set in the heart of a big city, and nothing could be better than the way Stacy Lee brings San Francisco to life.
From the causal street names as Winston and his crew walk through the city, to the epic battles, San Francisco is the quiet character that comes to life through Lee’s prose. We see the highs and lows of many parts of the city, the difference between the big tourist items and the hidden gems that only residents would know about. San Francisco lives and breathes like a person who is another member of Winston’s friend group.
Stacey Lee has created a saga that can be easily contained within the one world but will leave readers hoping for many more tales to come.
Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies was released on February 7th, 2023.