about the book
In 1776, Benjamin Franklin sailed to France on a very important mission: charming King Louis the Sixteenth and Queen Marie Antoinette into sending money and soldiers to help the American Revolution.
Everyone in Paris was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the latest scientific discoveries. They were all fascinated by the American who discovered that lightning was the same as electricity…until Dr. Mesmer made his entrance.
Dr. Mesmer had magic. He controlled a force that could cure illness, control thoughts, and even make water taste like a hundred different things.
Ben was skeptical.
Can he help the King and Queen prove that Dr. Mesmer is a fraud with the help of the Scientific Method?
about the author
Mara Rockcliff may spend a lot of her time at the computer—in pajamas—but she also has a resume full of unique experiences. To name a handful, Mara has “ridden an elephant, swallowed fried grasshopper, lived in a commune, flown a hangglider (and crashed), … swum through a pitch-black cave to a tiny and perfect hidden beach, milked goats, … and hiked up a glacier and alarmed a moose.”
Her professional resume doesn’t list those experiences. Instead, it’s filled with all the books she’s written, including The Grudge Keeper, Gingerbread for Liberty!: How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution, and Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France.
When she was growing up The Swiss Family Robinson was one of her favorite books. She read it over and over again. “Those Robinsons had some mad skills, yo.”
Mara lives in Pennsylvania with her family.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Shelf-Awareness
Author interview: Literary Friendships
Author interview: Peach Tree Publishers
Also by Mara Rockliff:
Anything But Ordinary Addie : The True Story of Adelaide Hermann, Queen of Magic. Candlewick Press. April 2016.
Gingerbread for Liberty! : How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution. HMH Books for Young Readers. 2015.
about the illustrator
You’ll probably recognize a lot of the book covers Iacopo Bruno has illustrated over the past two decades. Some of the titles include Iron Hearted Violet, Jinx, The School for Good and Evil, and Deadweather and Sunrise. His website shows the covers one right after another.
But now Iacopo has done something different. He’s illustrated a picture book! Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France is the first book that he hasn’t needed to summarize the entire story in one image. He had more room to share the character’s personalities and the setting with readers.
“I think of the cover as a snapshot and the interiors as a short film.”
One aspect of Iacopo’s style that is present in both his book covers and Mesmerized is that typography and illustrations “live together.” The text has just as much personality as the characters!
Iacopo lives in Milan, Italy.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator biography: KidsReads
Illustrator biography: Hudson Booksellers
Illustrator interview: Shelf-Awareness
Also by Iacopo Bruno:
Anything But Ordinary Addie : The True Story of Adelaide Hermann, Queen of Magic by Mara Rockliff. Candlewick Press. April 2016.
The Scary Tales series by James Preller. Feiwel and Friends. 2013-2015.
read more!
Ben and Me : An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse, Amos by Robert Lawson
Many so-called historians have written about the life of Benjamin Franklin. They get it all wrong. Well, maybe not all, but close to it. That is why I, Amos, have taken it upon myself to write down the true account of Mr. Franklin’s life. After all, he was my patron. I knew him best of all.
Electric Ben : The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd
Packed full of wild and detailed illustrations, fun facts, and Ben’s own adages, this book covers a range of Ben Franklin topics from his diplomatic roles, to his ideas for social progress, to his fascination with stormy electricity!
Gingerbread for Liberty! : How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution by Mara Rockliff
Christopher Ludwick was a German-born American with a big heart and a passion for baking. Despite being too old and too fat, he was determined to help the Revolutionary War effort. So General George Washington put him to work baking bread for the troops! How else did this little-know character help the Revolution?