Original Fake

This book came out in 2016, with G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Random House), and the intensely, immensely talented E. Eero Johnson (Erik T. Johnson) of Minneapolis (view his work here) provided the illustrations. We have have more fun working on this project than I’ve ever had working on a book. This book is joy between two covers.

Here we are at Teen Lit Con ’16, in between panels and book signings.  A fun day with book nerds young and old (just like us!).

The flap copy: Frankie Neumann hates his life, and understandably so.  He’s got a weird sister (Lou), even weirder parents (Bridget and Brett), and there’s no way he fits into a family full of people who are ARTISTIC and COOL and TALENTED (and extroverted–Frankie is definitely an introvert).  He’s just Frankie, the guy who makes pizza at Pizza Vendetta.  His job is to stay in the background.  Then Frank meets David and Rory, cousins and errand runners for the mysterious Uncle Epic (a legendary anonymous street artist in the Twin Cities) and Frank’s life suddenly gets way more cool, and there’s way more art and way more fun things to do.  He also makes a plan to get back at his sister for a lifetime of badness, and things go haywire quicker than you can say “street art kicks righteous ass.”

Original Fake received a starred Publisher’s Weekly review, was a Junior Library Guild selection, and was a Minnesota Book Award finalist in 2017.

A brief example of street art, from 2013: here’s an original Banksy in San Francisco’s North Beach. I about freaked when I saw it, because Banksy is the model for Uncle Epic, and he’s *the* most famous street artist alive.  I never guessed I’d actually see one of his pieces!  The photo isn’t great because I couldn’t get close–as you can tell, it’s on top of a building.  The text reads “If all else fails, call an airstrike.”  Banksy is amazing because his stuff just . . . appears.  Nobody ever sees him, or if they do, nobody ever says anything.  He’s a bit of a god, and Uncle Epic is the same.  He’s also full of social commentary, which Epic tries to emulate, but Epic’s work definitely doesn’t have the punch that Banksy’s does. I’m not that smart!

Kirstin Cronn-Mills is a fiscal year 2013 recipient of an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.  This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

THANK YOU, MINNESOTA STATE ARTS BOARD, and THANK YOU, VOTERS OF MINNESOTA.  Thank you for helping me complete one of the coolest projects that’s ever fallen out of my brain.  THANK YOU.