Elinor Teele: The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin Q&A + Contest

Today, we’re back with our SECOND stop on the official blog tour for The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin by Elinor Teele (don’t miss our hilarious character interview with Great Aunt Beauregard here). We’ve got yet another chance for you to win a signed copy of the book … PLUS a super fun flash question interview with Teele. So let’s get right to it:

Favorite Halloween candy?

Skittles (But it’s a sad fact that I have to avoid them. You should never see me after a sugar high—Jekyll & Hyde are feeble by comparison.)

Starbucks beverage of choice?

Chai Tea

French fries or tater tots?

French fries (with ketchup)

Skill you wish you possessed?

Flying (without a plane, wings, or other accessories)

Can’t miss TV show?

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Favorite member of the Avengers?

Iron Man

Favorite villain?

Moriarty or The Red Queen

Pen or pencil?

Fountain pen

Favorite piece of clothing?

Keen hiking boots

Song you can’t get out of your head right now?

Big Parade by the Lumineers

☆ Starred Review from Kirkus – A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13.)

“Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women.”

Roald Dahl meets The Penderwicks in this quirky, humorous, whimsical, and heartwarming middle grade debut about two siblings who run away from home to escape working in the family coffin business.

John Coggin is no ordinary boy. He is devising an invention that nobody has ever seen before, something that just might change the world, or at least make life a little bit better for him and his little sister, Page. But that’s only when he can sneak a break from his loathsome job—building coffins for the family business under the beady gaze of his cruel Great-Aunt Beauregard.

When Great-Aunt Beauregard informs John that she’s going to make him a permanent partner in Coggin Family Coffins—and train Page to be an undertaker—John and Page hit the road. Before long, they’ve fallen in with a host of colorful characters, all of whom, like John and Page, are in search of a place they can call home. But home isn’t something you find so much as something you fight for, and John soon realizes that he and Page are in for the fight of their lives.

Also check out the Educational Activity Kit based on the book for use in the classroom or library!

And don’t miss the latest episode of WaldenTV, in which THE MECHANICAL MIND OF JOHN COGGIN is compared with the movie HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS:

1/2 Brit and 1/2 Yankee, Elinor Teele currently resides in New England. She lived with her family in New Zealand for eight years and still considers it a beloved homeland.

In 2000, Elinor took a slow plane to England for doctoral work in Anglo-Saxon literature at the University of Cambridge. She wrote her thesis on the Old English Riddles, a compilation of bawdy and lyrical poems in the language of Beowulf. She graduated with a PhD in 2005.

To earn her daily bread, she is a freelance copywriter with her own business, Squam Creative Services.

Find Elinor Teele at her website here.

Here’s your chance to win a SIGNED COPY of The Mechanical Mind of John Coggins, courtesy of Walden Pond Press.