Last month, beloved and award-winning author James Ponti embarked on a week-long tour to promote his latest novel, City Spies #5: Mission Manhattan (on sale Feb 6, 2024). The cross-country tour consisted of five in-person stops with independent bookstores featuring James in conversation with other middle-grade authors such as Jeff Kinney, Stuart Gibbs, Hena Khan, Jake Burt, Gordon Korman and Adam Gidwitz. James also conducted multiple days of school visits along the tour route, resulting in a lot of smiles from students and wonderful feedback from the schools. In total, his tour consisted of 5 public events, 3 literary festivals, 16 in-person school visits, and 2 virtual school visits.
Now that the tour has come to an end, James worked with YABC to share an exclusive rundown of his tour week in the humorous fashion his fans know best.
Meet James Ponti!
AMES PONTI (he/him/his) is the New York Times bestselling author of four middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society following a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award– winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan. His books have appeared on more than fifteen different state award lists, and he is the founder of a writers group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida. Find out more at JamesPonti.com
About the Book: City Spies: Mission Manhattan
The City Spies head to the Big Apple when a credible threat is made to a young climate activist who is scheduled to speak in front of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. With Rio acting as alpha and a new member in their ranks, the team’s mission to protect a fellow teen takes them on an exciting adventure in, around, and even under the greatest city
in the world as they follow leads to the outer boroughs, the UN Headquarters, and even the usually off-limits stacks that extend deep under the main branch of the New York Public Library.
Great multicultural cast of characters! Nicknamed for the various cities they hail from around the globe, Brooklyn, Kat, Sydney, Paris, and Rio–represent an impressive range of ethnicities, personal backgrounds, and unique skill-sets–making them a spectacular team of spies that truly offer something for every reader. And as readers learned in book 4, there’s been a recent addition to the team as well.
City Spies has it all! Action and adventure, intelligence and intrigue, humor and heart—plus lots of fun contemporary references and believable interpersonal dynamics to keep things moving on multiple levels. Every book in the series so far has been a New York Times bestseller, with appearances on the hardcover, paperback, and series lists. Even though he writes fiction, Ponti is very conscientious about
how he portrays the various locations and cultures in each story.
Amazon MGM Studios is currently developing a global film franchise based on the City Spies series!
James Ponti City Spies: Mission Manhattan Tour recap written by James himself!
Book Tour Confidential
I never feel more borderline cool, than when I tell someone that I’m about to go on a book tour. It just sounds glamorous and conjures up images of cozy bookstores, adoring fans, and witty banter. And I never feel more deceitful than when I allow that conversation to end without correcting some misconceptions.
First of all, I am not remotely cool. Secondly, glamorous it ain’t.
Don’t get me wrong, the bookstores are awesome, the readers (fans is still a hard word for me to use) are incredible, and there are countless laughs along the way. But there’s nothing glamorous about three a.m. wakeup calls, dragging your suitcase up and down Connecticut Avenue, or standing in front of large groups of middle schoolers, because, you know, middle school was such a positive experience the first time.
So here are some snapshots – both literal and figurative – of my recent tour to promote the release of City Spies: Mission Manhattan. From a numbers-standpoint, it was made up of five days, five states and the District of Columbia, nine schools, six independent bookstores, the New York Public Library, eight author friends, one presidential motorcade, and zero healthy meals.
DAY 0 – Orlando, Florida (where I live)
Mission Manhattan was a lay-down title, which means copies couldn’t be sold before its release date on Tuesday, February 6th, so I couldn’t do any official events on Monday. Still, just like a pitcher likes to warm up in the bullpen before heading to the mound, I like to get loose before I hit the road.
So, on Monday, I stopped by my good luck school St. Mary Magdalen in Altamonte Springs, Florida to do a presentation. It’s close to my house, has an amazing librarian, and has been part of virtually every tour I’ve ever done. I followed this up with a couple of virtual visits, one in Massachusetts and one in Seattle, and felt ready to go. That night I flew to Washington D.C., arrived at my hotel late at night, and was turned away at check in. (I refused to take this as an omen, but it wasn’t ideal.) Eventually, my reservation was located and I was able to get some sleep before the frenzy.
DAY 1 – Washington, D.C. (where the President lives, although he’s not going to come into story until we reach New York.)
Two schools and two bookstores – the original Politics & Prose, where I spoke to a bunch of students and their new store on the DC Wharf, where I had a public event with my good friend Hena Khan, who’s book Drawing Deena came out the same day. (Get it, it’s so good.)
The first challenge on a book tour involves luggage. You change cities every day and check out of your hotel room early each morning. That means you have to carry your bags and whatever you need for you presentation with you everywhere you go – schools, stores, restaurants, etc… You’re trying to stay presentable, but you’re rushing up and down Connecticut Avenue with your bags trying to get to the next stop in time. (Luckily, a college friend picked me up and gave me a ride at point.)
I was anxious/excited about the public event. It’s a new space and on a school night there’s always the fear that no one will show up. Hena and I had special cookies made with our covers on them. The plan was to give them out to the guests, and if no one came we’d just eat them ourselves. Luckily there’s a Ben & Jerry’s nearby, if we needed more sugar therapy.
Luckily, the turnout was good and included some surprises. Friends from high school and college showed up unannounced as did one of my favorite school librarians. Her husband was once the deputy-director of the CIA and their three sons all work in the intelligence business. They are literally the people I call when I need help figuring out what the spies should do in my spy books.
After the event, I managed to squeeze in a quick lobster roll with my nephew, who lives in DC, before racing off to the airport to fly to New York where I made it to my hotel around midnight. Door to door: 17 hours. Actual meals: 0
Day 2 – New York City
Despite the lack of sleep, I was pumped and up early. This was a bucket list day because I did a presentation for kids at the New York Public Library. It was doubly sweet, because the library is a major setting in the book. It was triply sweet because a group of people from my published, Simon & Schuster, came. So did two awesome author buddies – Karina Yan Glaser and Emma Otheguy. The support among middle grade authors is wonderful.
My publicist Alex, who no doubt felt bad about the luggage, carried my suitcase throughout the library and even loaded it in the cab for me, as I headed to PS 158 on the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, President Biden was also visiting the Upper East Side and his motorcade shut down the road. I had to jump out of the taxi and was once again “Sidewalk Suitcase Guy.” (Not exactly Naked Cowboy Guy from Times Square.)
That evening, I had my first real meal of the tour – with a team of people from Simon & Schuster who worked on the book. It was delicious and the company was wonderful. Bonus, for the first time ever, some random kid walked up to me because she recognized me from my books. (Don’t tell the S&S team it was a first time, I acted like it was a daily occurrence.)
Next, was a public event at the legendary Books of Wonder, where the staff made a window display that took my breath away. That night Gordon Korman, Adam Gidwitz, and I had a panel during which I laughed excessively and the audience seemed entertained. (Whew, you do not want to bomb in New York in front of your publisher and editor.)
Day 3 – Madison, Connecticut
There is a great irony in being a middle grade fiction author. First of all, most writers pick the occupation in part because it’s somewhat solitary and introverted. Secondly, most of us pick middle grade as a way to deal with the lingering scars and traumas of our own middle school awkwardness. So, what do we have to do? Talk in front of huge groups of kids in middle schools. I refer to it as returning to the belly of the beast. To prepare, I even bought special cool shoes (Nike dunks!) to wear at the visits because I never had such things when I was an actual middle schooler.
I did this dance at three different Connecticut middle schools and luckily all of them were filled with eager and receptive kids. By this point, however, I was getting a little punchy. Luckily, I managed to keep it together without incident. My evening event that night was at RJ Julia, a bookstore that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, with author/friend Jake Burt, who devised all sorts of games to keep the crowd entertained. Bonus: my copy editor Rebecca (I call her Gator) showed up and we went out for ice cream! (Lobster roll, cookies, ice cream, hmmm, why am I not healthier?)
Day 4 – Plainville, Massachusetts (where Jeff Kinney lives)
Jeff Kinney and his team have built an incredible oasis of books at An Unlikely Story. It has an incredible event space. (And good pizza across the street.) I did a couple school visits and made it to the store with plenty of time to panic. Unlike the other stops, there was no fellow author to help lure in an audience. I kept worrying that they were setting up too many chairs, but it all worked out and great fun was had.
Day 5 – Orlando, Florida
To make it home in time, I had a 3:00a.m. wakeup call and a flight from Boston to Orlando. I went to the house long enough to drop off my suitcase – finally – and then headed over to Rollins College to meet up with one of my dearest author friends – Stuart Gibbs. Stu and I had a public event hosted by Writer’s Block Bookstore. People came from as far away as North Carolina and it was the perfect way to close out the tour.
I drove Stu to the airport, went home and took a nap.
I love writing middle grade books. I love meeting young readers. And I love hanging out with author friends. It’s not glamorous, but it sure is fun. This fall, my new series, The Sherlock Society, debuts and I’m planning to do a two-week tour that goes coast to coast. I can’t wait. But until then, I’m going to try to get some rest and maybe look into a more durable suitcase.
Title: City Spies: Mission Manhattan
Author: James Ponti
Release Date: 02/06/2024
Publisher: Aladdin
ISBN-13:9781665932479
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
Age Range: 8-12 years
