Once upon a time, author Sarah Mlynowski imagined a typical brother and sister living in an ordinary house—except for the strange mirror in the basement. That looking glass magically transported siblings Abby and Jonah into a fairy tale where they humorously disrupted the traditional narrative and had to figure out—with contemporary flourish—how to resecure a happy ending. So began the bestselling Whatever After series from Scholastic, which debuted in May 2012.
Ten years later, Abby and Jonah have starred in 14 series volumes and two special editions, landing in such time-honored stories as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Cinderella,” and Whatever After boasts a whopping eight million copies in print. Book 15, Just Dance, in which the mirror sends Abby and Jonah into “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” one of Mlynowski’s favorites, arrives on June 7. “Sisters! Dancing! Hijinks! A perfect trifecta!” she teased.
While marking this anniversary is in order, it’s not the only celebration this team has on tap for 2022: Mlynowski and Scholastic are launching a middle-grade multi-author series called Best Wishes next fall. PW has an exclusive first look at the cover for the inaugural title, Best Wishes #1.
The book introduces Becca, a girl in New York City who’s having her worst day ever after her best friend dumps her. Things are looking lonely and grim until Becca receives a package in the mail containing a bracelet and a mysterious note telling her to make a wish. When Becca slips on the bracelet and wishes for—friends, of course!—she gets way more than she imagined. Magically, everyone wants to be her BFF. But is that a good thing?
“The idea for Best Wishes came to me when I was making up bedtime stories for my daughter Anabelle,” Mlynowski said. “Her favorite tales were always about a girl just like her who got something magical and unexpected in the mail. I started writing the story of Becca, who receives a mysterious package that contains a magical, wish-granting bracelet. I quickly realized that I didn’t want the story to end with Becca; I loved the idea of the magical bracelet being mailed off to different girls from different backgrounds all around the country—kind of like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but for younger readers.”
Aimee Friedman, editorial director at Scholastic and Mlynowski’s longtime editor, agrees.. “I immediately fell in love with the pitch for Best Wishes when Sarah sent it to me,” she said. “What’s unique about this series is that it creates an even bigger world, taking readers to different locations and introducing new characters and authors in each book. Each story has a strong, specific sense of place, and a joyful, empowering spirit that I know readers will love.” Friedman also offered a peek into the series’ future. “At the end of book 1, Becca mails the bracelet off to a new girl in Ohio... who will be the star of book 2 with her own messy, magical wish,” she said. Book 3 brings the bracelet to a girl in Texas.
Mlynowski “mapped out the whole ‘universe’ of the series,” Friedman said, and created the first book solo. But going forward she’ll fittingly have help from some pals. “I reached out to two of my favorite kid-lit authors, Debbie Rigaud and Christina Soontornvat, to ask if they would be interested in co-writing the next two stories in the series with me, and I was ecstatic when they said yes,” Mlynowski said. She initially sold Best Wishes as a three-book series but noted, “I have a list of 30 middle-grade authors I’d love to co-write with, and at least a hundred wishes I’d like to grant so... fingers crossed.”
Co-writing is something Mlynowski said she loves, and she has some solid experience with this dynamic as she co-authors the bestselling Upside-Down Magic series with Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins. Those books—there are eight to date—were adapted for a Disney Channel movie which debuted in 2020.
“When you brainstorm, write, and edit with someone else, you inspire each other to be funnier, smarter, braver,” she said of the process. “They expand your perspective. You also keep each other accountable. When you promised your co-author a certain number of words by the end of the day, you’re less likely to reorganize your closet or fall down a Twitter wormhole. Co-writing makes writing less lonely and far more fun.”
The Best Wishes #1 cover was designed by Elizabeth Parisi, v-p and creative director at Scholastic, who has worked on all three of Mlynowski’s Scholastic series; the art is by Maxine Vee. “I wanted each book to feature the main character, convey that the reader would find a fun, contemporary story with a magical twist inside, and I also hoped to include a nod to the city that each main character lives in, since all the girls live in different parts of the U.S.,” Mlynowski said. “Oh, and I wanted Becca’s curls to look like my daughter Chloe’s. I actually sent in pictures of Chloe’s hair from different angles! I am so impressed with the way the cover captures the fun and magic of the series, but my favorite part is Becca’s expression of delight and wonder, which I very much hope is mirrored on readers’ faces when they open the book.”
A Decade of 'Whatever After'
To mark the anniversary, Scholastic will roll out a robust marketing and publicity plan and hold a 10th anniversary bash on its Home Base online platform, where a dedicated Whatever After “island” has a large following.
Looking back on the series’ journey to this point, Mlynowski said, “I have loved writing Whatever After,” noting that she considers creating books for middle-grade readers to be “both a delight and a privilege.” She especially enjoys hearing from and meeting kids, booksellers, teachers, and librarians from around the world. “I feel lucky to be part of my readers’ lives: their book reports, their summer reading, even their Halloween costumes!”
A few things have stood out for Mlynowski as she has watched Whatever After find its fandom. “When I was in elementary school, book club delivery day was my favorite day of the month, so seeing my books in the Scholastic flyer for the first time was a huge highlight,” she said. “And book five hitting the New York Times bestseller list was another big milestone. It was my 18th published novel, and my first time on the list; I’m sure all of New York City heard me screaming when I got the news.”
Aimee Friedman, editorial director at Scholastic and Mlynowski’s longtime editor, recalled some of her memories of Whatever After’s trajectory. “A series reaching its 10-year mark feels really special in this day and age where there’s so much content being produced and kids have so much to choose from in terms of entertainment,” she said. She credits Mlynowski’s writing with giving the books this kind of staying power and wide appeal. “Her fans eagerly await a new book every year, and kids are still discovering book 1 and diving into the whole series from the start. Fractured fairy tales are a perennial, but Sarah brings so much sparkle and humor to these stories, and they end up feeling both contemporary and classic all at once.”
Friedman delights in being part of all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into planning the series, too. “Sarah and I will have lots of terrific discussions and debates about picking just the right story for the characters to visit—and fracture,” she said. “We can spend hours going, ‘But wait, what is Goldilocks’s motivation for trying all that porridge?’ We end up going down lots of rabbit holes talking about feminism and fairy tales and the rules of magic. It’s a lot of fun, and I think that sense of fun shows up throughout the series, and in the book covers as well, which are illustrated by Helen Huang and designed by Elizabeth Parisi. Each time we get in art for a new book in the series, Sarah and I are like, ‘No, wait! This one is our favorite!’ ”
Mlynowski said that although Whatever After has already seen success beyond her wildest dreams, she still has “big hopes and plans for the series.” She’s preparing for a third special edition inspired by Peter Pan, and hopes to revisit Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, and Robin Hood down the road.
With no end in sight for the original line of books, both author and editor are also excited about “adding another sort of life” to Whatever After, according to Friedman. “We have just signed up a graphic novel adaptation of the first book in the series, Fairest of All,” she said, and they are eyeing a 2023 release. In addition, Mlynowski is enthusiastic about yet another potential life for the books—on the small screen. “I would love to see a TV adaptation of Whatever After,” she said. “I am currently working with Imagine Entertainment to hopefully make that happen!”
