The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes

The book's final cover

**The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes** is an anthology of short stories written by Rick Riordan and the other Rick Riordan Presents authors (Roshani Chokshi, J.C. Cervantes, Yoon ha Lee, Carlos Hernandez, Kwame Mbalia, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Sarwat Chadda, and Graci Kim) which center around both characters from their previous books, and new heroes.

## Development

On his Tower of Nero tour in October 2020, Rick Riordan announced that he and the Rick Riordan Presents authors would be writing short mythology-based stories in an anthology focusing on the theme of heroes; later, on January 24 2021, Rick Riordan publicly revealed the official title, and said that his short story would focus on Irish mythology and be titled, *My Life as a Child Outlaw*.

On March 4, 2021, Becky Riordan revealed the cover on Twitter.

* However, the official cover of the book was revealed on ReadRiordan on April 7, 2021

On March 5, 2021, Kwame Mbalia posted on Twitter about his upcoming projects, and retweeted a responder to tell them that Cursed Carnival would be an anthology where we would learn more about Gum Baby; he also revealed her middle initials. Later that day, he also Tweeted two pics -- one of the cover, and one of the start of his story -- which revealed the name of his short story: *The Gum Baby Files*.

On March 25, 2021, J.C. Cervantes posted on Instagram a picture of the cover and the first page of her story, and in the caption she said she was excited to revisit Zane's world and create a bridge to Ren's spinoff, Throne of Sand. On her story, she posted a picture of the cover and wrote the name of Brooks besides the hawk.

On April 8, 2021, Graci Kim retweeted an image ReadRiordan had posted about an hour earlier of the finalized Cursed Carnival cover, and added that her story would be titled *My Night at the Gifted Carnival* and would be set one year before *The Last Fallen Star*, acting almost like an origin story for Riley Oh.

On April 12, an interview on Color the Shelves with Graci Kim was published in which she revealed that her story would be about Riley and Hattie going to the Gifted Carnival, a magical fair that only comes once a year, and the two girls finding themselves in a race against time to save the innocent children at the carnival from the evil grips of an egg ghost, despite Riley wanting to lay low.

In a virtual interview, when asked about the timeline of her short story, Roshani Chokshi revealed that her story would take place between the events of *Aru Shah and the Song of Death* and *Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes*, during the one year time gap.

On May 22, Rick Riordan posted the first line of his short story, *My Life as a Child Outlaw* as a teaser which was—

## Overview

**Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents ten new stories--including one of his own--about beloved heroes that sprang from the imaginations of some of the best middle grade authors working today.**

*A cave monster . . . an abandoned demon . . . a ghost who wants to erase history . . . a killer commandant . . . These are just some of the challenges confronting the young heroes in this highly entertaining anthology.*

*All but one of the heroes previously starred in a popular book from Rick Riordan Presents. You'll be reunited with Aru Shah, Zane Obispo, Min the fox spirit, Sal and Gabi, Tristan Strong, Nizhoni Begay, Paola Santiago, Sikander Aziz, and Riley Oh. Who is the new hero? Read Rick Riordan''s short story to find out!*

*Ten bestselling and award-winning middle grade authors contributed to this collection: Roshani Chokshi, J.C. Cervantes, Yoon Ha Lee, Carlos Hernandez, Kwame Mbalia, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Sarwat Chadda, Graci Kim, and Rick Riordan, who also served as the editor.*

*The cultures represented by these own-voices stories are: Indian, Mesoamerican, Korean, Cuban, Black American, African, Navajo, Mexican, Mesopotamian, and Celtic.*

**There's something for everyone in this collection of fast-paced and funny adventure stories that show what it takes to be a hero in any time, setting, and universe.**

Read more about the heroes in these best-selling books:

*Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi*

*The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes*

*Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee*

*Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez*

*Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia*

*Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse*

*Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia*

*City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda*

*The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim*

## Short Stories

* ***Calamity Juice* by Carlos Hernandez**
* ***Beware the Grove of True Love* by Roshani Chokshi**
* ***The Cave of Doom* by J. C. Cervantes**
* ***The Initiation*** **by Yoon Ha Lee**
* ***The Gum Baby Files* by Kwame Mbalia**
* ***The Demon Drum* by Rebecca Roanhorse**
* ***Bruto and the Freaky Flower* by Tehlor Kay Mejia**
* ***The Loneliest Demon* by Sarwat Chadda**
* ***My Night at the Gifted Carnival* by Graci Kim**
* ***My Life as a Child Outlaw* by Rick Riordan**

## Characters

**Calamity Juice**

* Sal Vidón
* Gabi Real
* Principal Torres
* Yasmany Robles
* Gladis Machado
* PrankSal
* PrankGladis
* Vorágine

**Beware the Grove of True Love**

* Aru Shah
* Mini Kapoor
* Brynne Rao
* Urvashi
* Boo
* Shakuntala
* Dushyanta

**The Cave of Doom**

* Zane Obispo
* Ren Santiago
* Brooks

**Yoon Ha Lee's Short Story**

* Kim Min

**The Gum Baby Files**

* Tristan Strong
* Gum Baby

**Rebecca Roanhorse's Short Story**

* Nizhoni Begay

**Tehlor Kay Mejia's Short Story**

* Paola Santiago

**Sarwat Chadda's Short Story**

* Sikander Aziz

**My Night at the Gifted Carnival**

* Riley Oh

**My Life as a Child Outlaw**

* Unknown

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities Excerpt from Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cursed-carnival-and-other-calamities-the