We chat with author Ben Guterson about The World-Famous Nine, which follows Zander who is determined to do whatever it takes to save his grandmother’s nineteen-story out-of-this-world department store.
Hi, Ben! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I was born and raised in Seattle, and now I live east of Seattle near a town called North Bend. My birthday is in December, so that’s my favorite month of the year. I was a high school teacher for several years, then I was a middle school teacher for a few years, and then I worked at Microsoft for several years—and then I quit working at Microsoft to write books for young readers. I love to swim—in the river near my house, most of all, but I also like to swim laps in a pool. I read a lot! I try to read two books a week, if I can, but I don’t always keep up that pace. I also like to drink a lot of tea, and I am very good at napping. I take a nap most every day, so I’m basically an expert when it comes to napping.
When I was young, I watched a lot of television and I ate almost any kind of breakfast cereal my parents would buy. I also played—poorly—a little baseball and basketball, and I collected comic books (I wanted to have a ring like the one Green Lantern had). When I was about 11 or so, I came across a book by an astrophysicist named Carl Sagan, and I decided I wanted to be an astrophysicist just like him—but it turned out I wasn’t so strong in math and science, so I abandoned astrophysics as a career and eventually earned a degree in English and became a teacher. The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs was my favorite book when I was a kid. My teacher read it to our class when I was in fifth grade, and it made a huge impact on me. I often think that book made me want to attempt to write kids’ books myself.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve always loved writing and playing around with words and sentences and thinking about stories and, especially, reading books. I started committing myself to writing on a daily basis when I was in my late-twenties, and it was then that I decided to become serious about writing stories. It took me a long time to figure out how to go about it, though. I began reading a lot of books about writing to help me understand the process better, and I read constantly—books, magazines, newspapers—and I just kept practicing every day. It is very difficult for me to write stories. It doesn’t come easily, but I get a lot of pleasure out of putting stories together word by word, sentence by sentence.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Something by Dr. Seuss. I think pretty soon after I read most of the Dr. Seuss books, I read Harold and the Purple Crayon. I think the first “real” book I read that really stayed with me was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
- The one that made you want to become an author: The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Your latest novel, The World-Famous Nine, is out January 30th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Rousing, puzzle-y, mysterious, fun, ginormous
What can readers expect?
The World-Famous Nine takes place in the largest department store in the world, The Number Nine Plaza (known as “The Nine”), in the metropolis of Novatrosk. Zina Winebee owns and runs the store, which has nearly everything imaginable, including a massive Ferris wheel on its rooftop, monorail tracks suspended from the ceilings, and twenty-five glass elevators. But there’s something evil looming in the shadows, and strange accidents start befalling the store’s guests. When Zina’s grandson, Zander Olinga, comes to stay with Zina for the summer, he and his new friend Natasha Novikov come across a series of inscriptions hidden throughout the walls of The Nine. They soon discover that the clues will lead them to a magical object which protects the store’s very existence. With the future of The Nine on the line, the pair are determined to recover the mysterious object before the luxury plaza and its many guests are destroyed.
Where did the inspiration for The World-Famous Nine come from?
I was inspired to write The World-Famous Nine because I thought it would be fun to set a story in a type of enormous, elegant, and old-fashioned building that was once very common: a department store. When I was young, I used to love visiting two beautiful department stores (Frederick & Nelson and The Bon Marché were their names) in my hometown of Seattle. There always seemed to be so much exciting activity inside those two huge stores! Plus, I’ve always loved big buildings. Not ones filled with offices or machines, but ones that have plenty of interesting—maybe even mysterious—places or things in them. Vast hotels, endless mansions, winding palaces, sprawling museums—those are the sorts of buildings I like, because something unexpected might be found behind each door or around any corner. A department store began to feel like the perfect setting for a story, and I found myself imagining a gigantic department store with a very old secret—a curse—that threatened it. It would be run by a woman named Zina Winebee, I decided, and the story would take place when her grandson, Zander Olinga, is visiting for the summer. The novel developed from those starting points, but the inspiration was the setting itself, and that came from pleasant memories I have of those two grand stores I visited many years ago.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
One of the most enjoyable parts about working on The World-Famous Nine was the research I did to learn about department stores, particularly ones in the United States. I found an amazing web site that documented the history of hundreds of department stores (most of which shut down years ago), and it was fascinating to read about how huge and lavish many of these places were. Some of these stores—such as Hudson’s in Detroit or Marshall Field’s in Chicago or Gimbel’s in New York—were basically palaces of commerce and goods, offering just about anything a person might need, from food and clothing to appliances and furniture. They were also grand destinations, places where people went to spend hours just looking around even if they weren’t doing any actual shopping; families would sometimes dress up for daylong visits, and most of the stores had restaurants and entertainment to keep people occupied. I learned a lot about these old stores by studying the information available online, and it was a real pleasure to read about these places from a bygone time.
What led you to writing middle grade fiction?
I’m drawn to write for a middle-grade audience in large part because I recall the thrill of losing myself in a good book when I was in the middle-grade period of my life. That love of books has always stayed with me, and so I found myself, as I grew older, wanting to write the sorts of books I enjoyed when I was young. Also, I feel middle-grade readers are old enough to have a mature understanding of the world without being too jaded. A few years down the line, their positions might become more rigid or zealous; but in the 8–12 age-range, I like to think kids are more open to a type of enchantment they might outgrow over their next half-decade.
I’ve discovered I’m definitely more suited to write books that fit in that zone—pre-teen—and I enjoy creating stories that focus on young people and their adventures, whether mysterious, magical, or thrilling. I also like depicting some of the challenges people at that age might go through. All of which is to say: middle grade is where I feel most comfortable as an author—and I’m glad to have written The World-Famous Nine for this particular audience. I hope readers enjoy the story!
What’s next for you?
My next book, which will come out during the summer of 2025, will be the sequel to The World-Famous Nine. The book doesn’t yet have a title, but it will continue the adventures of Zander Olinga and his new friend Natasha Novikov as they learn more about the history of The Nine and some ongoing threats to its safety. The next book after that, which will come out in 2026 or 2027, is called The Hidden Workshop of Javier Preston. It’s about a twin boy and girl who move to a town in the state of Georgia with their parents and end up involved in a mystery about a reclusive artist and a secret code that might open a safe with valuable items inside.
Lastly, are there any 2024 book releases that you’re looking forward to?
Adam Borba has a book coming out in April called This Again? that I’m eager to read. I enjoyed his very quirky and very well-written 2022 release, Outside Nowhere. Also, my friend Kazu Kibuishi is concluding his epic Amulet series in February with the ninth title in the series, and that’s a must-read for me.
