Cynthia Surrisi Interview - Patron Spotlight

Dark and Stormy Book Club

On this episode, we talked with our longest patron, Cynthia Surrisi. She has two books that
have just come out. She is a very successful middle school novel author.
The Bones of Birka: Unraveling the Mystery of A Female Viking Warrior.(Chicago Review
Press). When archaeologist Dr. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson discovers that the bones
contained in the most significant Viking warrior grave ever opened are, in fact, female, she and
her team upend centuries of historically accepted conclusions and ignite a furious debate
around the reality of female Viking warriors and the role of gender in both ancient and modern
times.
In The Bones of Birka, author C. M. Surrisi introduces young readers to the events that led up to
this discovery and the impact it has had on scientists’ and historians’ views of gender roles in
ancient societies and today. This is the inside account of the Birka warrior grave Bj 581
archaeological endeavor, including all of the dreams, setbacks, frustrations, excitement, politics,
and personalities that went into this history-changing discovery.
Her other book is The Unofficial Lola Bay Fan Club (G.P. Putnam's Sons Publishers). Pop star
Lola Bay is everything to Iris and her best friend, Leeza. Her songs speak right to
their souls and they can’t wait to start a Lola Bay fan club when middle school starts. But then
mean girls take over the fan club and Leeza seems to be interested in other things.
Enter Dana. She’s bold and cool and not afraid to stand up for herself. Plus, she’s a massive
Lola Bay fan and knows how to get free merch online. She even has big ideas for getting them
to a concert.
When some of Dana’s ideas make Iris a little nervous, she pushes the feelings down—Dana
seems to know what she’s doing. Only as Dana’s plans get bigger and bigger, Iris feels worse
and worse. And then Dana crosses a line that causes trouble for Iris’s whole family.
How could someone who is supposed to be a friend do that? And, Iris wonders, how did I let
things go this far?
TRIVIA
Last week's question was:
What is author Laura Lippmans familyh connection to “The Wire?”
a. her brother
b. Her sister
c. Her cousin
d. Her husband
The answer is D. Her husband. Lippman is married to David Simon, another former Baltimore
Sun reporter, and creator and an executive producer of the HBO series The Wire.The character
Bunk is shown to be reading one of her books, In a Strange City, in episode eight of the first
season of The Wire. Lippman appeared in a scene in the first episode of the last season of The
Wire as a reporter working in the Baltimore Sun newsroom
This week's question is:
Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil spent how many weeks on the NY Times Best Seller
list?
a. 52
b. 100
c. 150
d. 216