Talking ‘Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library’ With Chris Grabenstein

Writer Chris Grabenstein is the author of the Mr. Lemoncello series of books. They are a series of books with an aim at delighting and inspiring young readers. Other works from Grabenstein include the series Welcome To Wonderland and Dog Squad. With the 10th anniversary of the original Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, Grabenstein, illustrator Doulas Holgate, colorist Marta Todeschini, and designer/letterer Juliet Goodman are publishing a graphic novel adaptation. Thus, Chris is answering interview questions from Comicon.com about Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library: The Graphic Novel (2023).

Benjamin Hall: What inspired this work?

Chris Grabenstein: During an author visit to P.S. 10, a school in Brooklyn, NY, I marveled at their incredibly beautiful library. The librarian, Ms. Macrina, told me that it had been “donated by a very generous benefactor.” That got my mental wheels spinning. “What if…a generous benefactor, an eccentric bazillionaire, gave the town where he grew up the most amazingly awesome library ever built?” By the way, most of my books start with a big “What if…?

And since, when I was a kid, I loved playing games like Monopoly, Sorry, and Risk, I decided to make my eccentric benefactor a wackier version of one of the Parker Brothers, the name behind many of my favorite games. I named him Lemoncello and made him the son of Italian immigrants in honor of my Greek immigrant grandparents whose last name was Lemonopoulos. My mother once told me that, when she was a little girl growing up in Canton, Ohio, speaking and reading more English than her mom and dad who were still speaking Greek, she was determined to “read every book” in the library. The library was where she could learn even more about her family’s new home. That’s one of the reasons I chose to celebrate the connection between libraries and immigrants in this book.

Hall: Why do an anniversary edition?

Grabenstein: It’s fun to think about all the kids (many of whom are now young adults) who have grown up reading Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in the ten years since it first came out. I think they’ll get a kick out of seeing the Graphic Novel bringing a favorite story to vivid, vibrant life. And for the new group of 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders who will pick up this new graphic novel, it’ll be a great entry point for the series. (There are currently six Lemoncello books with a seventh, Mr. Lemoncello’s Fantabulous Finale, coming in 2024). Besides, anniversaries are fun. There’s usually cake and balloons.

Hall: If you could redo any part of this work would you?

Grabenstein: Actually, I sort of already did. When cutting down the original book for the graphic novel I did jettison some of the chunks that, in ten years, nobody has ever identified as their favorite parts. Translating a novel into a movie or a graphic novel is an exercise in deduction. With ten years of talking to kids in schools and reading fan mail, I had a pretty good idea about what parts to rework and tweak a little.

Hall: What is the most interesting fan interaction you remember, if any, in relation to the original work

Grabenstein: The most interesting (and heartwarming) I remember came at about ten o’clock at night. A young reader who had never finished a book in her life couldn’t put Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library down. When she finished, she wrote me to share the good news. About ten minutes later, her tearful parents also wrote to me. It was, apparently, a very big deal. Their child had struggled with some learning issues. She had never, ever finished a book before, and she was twelve or thirteen. Everybody at their house was celebrating an accomplishment that opened the door to a whole new world. I was very proud that my story had been able to do that for that reader.

Hall: Where can people find this anniversary edition?

Grabenstein: Well, first of all, don’t go looking for an anniversary edition. That’s just something we’re saying as we celebrate the book’s incredible ten year history. (It was in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list for 111 weeks, not that I was counting; it’s been nominated for 44 state book awards, winning twenty-three; it’s been translated into two dozen different languages; Nickelodeon turned it into a movie; and kids everywhere dress up like Mr. Lemoncello for Halloween, which is awesome.) Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library: The Graphic Novel is available wherever fine books are sold. Here’s a handy link from the publisher, Random House.

Thanks to Chris Grabenstein for his time!

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library The Graphic Novel sees release on Nov. 7 2023.