Carnevale is the first book in the middle-grade fantasy-adventure series, Alexander Periscopi and the Greatest Adventure Ever Told.
Alexander Periscopi is a lonely orphan who dreams of two things: returning to Venice for Carnevale and having a big adventure. So when an anonymous note promising both beckons him to Venice on the eve of the festival, it seems too good to be true. Or is it?
Forced to solve the letter’s riddle to locate its sender, Alexander comes face-to-face with ‘C’, a mysterious shop owner who reveals the shocking truth: a thousand-year-old curse of Ancient Magic is destroying Venice, and Alexander is the only one who can prevent it from happening. But there’s a catch—to unravel the mystery of the curse, Alexander must use a magic mask to travel back in time, and there’s no guarantee of his return.
Accompanied by Lizzy, a fierce girl gondolier, and a bully named Waldorf, Alexander embarks on a quest to save Venice. But he soon finds out that every adventure has its price, and this one may cost more than he’s willing to pay.
It all started over twenty years ago on my first trip to Italy, where I spent a semester studying creative writing and Italian cinema in Florence. An afternoon writing session in a nearby graveyard (my teacher’s idea, not mine!) and a chance trip to Venice planted the seeds that would inspire this story. Over the years, it grew from a short fairy tale into a feature film screenplay, then a novel, and now a full-blown trilogy. While I have had hundreds, maybe even thousands of ideas over the years, this is the one story that would never let me go. I’m happy it didn’t. These characters have accompanied me all over the world, becoming my anchor during dark times, helping me uncover magic in the everyday, and giving me the courage to follow my lifelong dream of becoming a published writer. I owe them (and you, dear reader) everything.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
“STUNNINGLY EVOCATIVE!”
~ Beta reader
“I bought this book for my son, who hates reading. He read it in one sitting! That tells you everything you need to know!”
~ Beta reader
“Sparkling dialogue that jumps off the page and characters who stay with you long after you finish reading.”
~ Beta reader
WATCH THE BOOK TRAILER
ORDER THE ADVENTURE
“You don’t choose adventure.
Adventure chooses you!”
“THANKS TO CARNEVALE, ‘MIDDLE-GRADE GOTHIC’ IS OFFICIALLY A THING.”
— ERIN WILCOX, AUTHOR AND MOM TO A MIDDLE-GRADE GOTH
