Cindy Callaghan

Cindy Callaghan
Occupation Novelist
Nationality American
Genre Juvenile fiction, Middle Grade fiction
Notable works Just Add Magic, Lost In series
Website
cindycallaghan.com

Cindy Callaghan is an American author writing middle grade fiction.[1][2][3][4] Cindy’s books are known as face-paced, funny, and stuffed with quirky characters and lots of delicious desserts. Her first novel, Just Add Magic, is now a live-action series on Amazon Studios.[5]

Early life

Cindy grew up in New Jersey and attended college at the University of Southern California before earning her BA in English and French, and MBA from the University of Delaware.[6] Her first book, Just Add Magic, was published in 2010 from Simon & Schuster.

Works

When Kelly Quinn and her two BFFs discover a dusty old cookbook while cleaning out her attic, the girls decide to try a few of the mysterious recipes inside. But the ancient book bears an eerie warning, and it doesn’t take long for the girls to realize that their dishes are linked to strange occurrences. The Keep ‘Em Quiet Cobbler actually silences Kelly’s pesky little brother and the Hexberry Tarta brings an annoying curse to mean girl Charlotte Barney. And there’s the Love Bug Juice, which seems to have quite the effect on those cute Rusamano boys…

Could these recipes really be magical? Who wrote them and where did they come from. And most importantly, what kind of trouble are the girls stirring up for themselves? Things are about to get just a little too hot in Kelly Quinn’s kitchen.

The “Lost In” books are written for middle grade readers. Each book features a different character, but they all have a city/country mouse theme. The countryside is in Wilmington, Delaware or locales nearby. For the city side, Cindy selects locations that she thinks will make middle-grade girls “spark.” They’re interested in big, glam, European cities!

Jordan needs excitement, anything but her current ho-hum life. She jets to London hoping to find an adventure; she finds one, and oh-so-much more. Over six short days she and her posh new friends get locked in a massive department store overnight, blackmailed into conducting a cross-city scavenger hunt that takes her to amazing medieval sites, and find themselves in trouble with the London police.

Gwen Russell is thrilled to hear she will be heading to Paris with her family. Even though the main reason for the trip is to see her three older brothers play lacrosse, Gwen and her Mom have plans to tour the city when they can.

As soon as they land, Gwen is swept up in the city she has always wanted to see, and even meets a très cute boy named Henri. If that wasn’t enough excitement, Gwen finds out that her all-time favorite band is playing a one-night only concert in Paris—and there are tickets available to the sold-old show for three lucky people. The catch? Fans who want a golden ticket have to work for it via a scavenger hunt around the City of Light.

Through cryptic clues blasted out every day through a special website, Gwen and her new friends find themselves in a race against time—and against other die-hard fans—as they scramble to landmarks throughout Paris. And it turns out the concert tickets might not even be the biggest prize…

Lucia “Lucy” Rossi thought she was going to be a camp counselor for the summer, but, thanks to a very fortunate twist, she ends up in Rome, Italy, helping out at her aunt’s restaurant, Amore Pizzeria. Lucy can’t wait to see some ruins, eat all the gelato she can, and maybe say a few buongiornos to some cute Italian boys.

But Lucy arrives to Italian trouble. Her aunt is in danger of losing her business, thanks to a flashy new pizzeria down the road that is all style, but no substance. In order to try and save the shop, Lucy decides to employ a very unique version of matchmaking—making matches based on customer’s pizza preferences. Soon, word of the American matchmaker gets out, and it looks like the business might be saved! Or so she thought—until someone decides to try and sabotage the newfound success of Amore pizza. Can Lucy figure out who might be behind everything? Or will her family being saying ciao to Amore Pizzeria for good?

Meghan McGlinchey is the most superstitious girl in her family—and probably in the entire state of Delaware. When she receives a chain letter from a stranger in Ireland, Meghan immediately passes it on, taking only a tiny shortcut in the directions.

But after a disastrous day, made complete by losing the election for class president and embarrassing herself in front of the entire school, Meghan realizes that tiny shortcut was a big mistake. Thankfully, her family was already headed to Ireland on spring break, and Meghan makes it her mission to find the original sender and break her extremely unlucky streak.

With the help of an eccentric cast of characters—and one very cute Irish boy—can Meghan figure out a way to stop her bad luck? Or is she cursed forever?

Finding a buried treasure “somewhere in Hollywood” leads Ginger and Payton to classic cinema landmarks and to changing the life of a former starlet.

Can inheriting a haunted cemetery in Delaware finally make California tween Sydney MacKenzie popular? Oh, yeah. And so so much more for the town of Buttermilk River Cove and her own movie star aspirations.

The original live-action kid’s series, Just Add Magic, has been renewed for Season 2 by Amazon. The series will return to Amazon’s Prime Video.Just Add Magic set a record for “the most successful Amazon Original Kid’s Series in terms of US Prime Video streams and hours”. Just Add Magic will continue to star Olivia Sanabia (as Kelly), Abby Donnelly (as Darbie), Aubrey Miller (as Hannah). The series follows Kelly and best friends, Darbie and Hannah as explore they magic recipes from Kelly’s grandmother’s cookbook.

Charity

Give One for the Books

Cindy believes that every child should have access to books. Her Give One for the Books initiative couples author events with a book-donation opportunity. Whether it’s a book club or school, authors and readers work together to spread the joy of reading. As a part of these author events, new books are collected and donated to a local underserved organization.

References

  1. ↑ "Mozart In The Jungle Season 2 and Just Add Magic Are Greenlit « Picrow News". picrow.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  2. ↑ "'Just Add Magic' Star Olivia Sanabia Talks New Amazon Series, Cooking And Acting [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]". Headlines & Global News. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  3. ↑ White, Hilary. "The Kids' Book That Amazon Is Turning Into a TV Pilot". POPSUGAR Moms. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  4. ↑ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk, webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk -. "Cindy Callaghan". www.fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  5. ↑ "Cindy Callaghan". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  6. ↑ "About Me - Cindy Callaghan". Cindy Callaghan. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
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