Check out our interview with Mackenzi Lee, the author of "Teela: Daughter of Eternos."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
I'm very lucky with TEELA: DAUGHTER OF ETERNOS because I had a great film to be inspired by, and a whole canon of Masters of the Universe to play with! The book takes place during a time jump in the new Masters of the Universe film, after Skeletor has taken over Eternia and Prince Adam (aka the future He-Man) has disappeared. It follows Teela, Adam's best friend, who has been left behind on Eternia with a group of refugees from the fall of Eternos, trying to orient herself in a new world and figuring out how to fight back against tyranny. Outside of the inspiration I took from the existing MOTU world, I thought a lot about not just the usual difficulties of being a teenager--trying to figure out what kind of adult you want to be--but also how we have to redefine ourselves when the world around us has been thrown into upheaval. Teela's whole identity up to this point has been centered around working for the royal family and being a warrior for the king. So what happens when that world she built her identity around disappears?
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
It means reading and celebrating diverse stories--both that you see your own experience represented in and about characters with identities and experiences that are different than yours. Reading Rainbow means taking joy in the power of books to foster empathy and understanding.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
Because everyone should see themselves in stories, and should learn about people who are different than them in stories. Books are empathy machines. They help us understand experiences outside our own, and teach us that there is more than unite us as people than divide us. Books have the ability to foster kindness, understanding, and empathy that carry into the real world--I want to make sure my books are doing that.
What can fans expect from your book?
A lot of fun! I love the Masters of the Universe world because it's so campy, fun, and big-hearted. Readers will go on a big, fun ride along with Teela and her gang of misfits, and along the way, they'll get big fights, coming of age, travel cross the world of Eternia, an unlikely alliance between enemies, and, of course, a dragon. Because why not?
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
STAY TUNED :D
