With illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, The Misfit Mysteries is a whip-smart, hilarious new middle-grade series in which a former castle turned prison is now a boarding school for an elite band of crime-fighting underdogs.

THE MISFIT MYSTERIES #1: THE ROYAL HEIST
by Lisa Yee
illustrated by Dan Santat
Random House, January 2024
(via Writers House)

Olive Cobin-Zang has . . . issues. And they mostly aren’t her fault (no, really!). Though she tends to slip under the radar, problems still have a knack for finding her. So you can imagine her doubts when she’s abruptly dropped off at the strangest boarding school ever: a former castle, turned prison, now “reforming arts school” or RASCH (not “rash”).
But nothing could have prepared Olive for RASCH. There, she is lumped with a team of misfits and soon discovers the academy isn’t what it appears to be—and neither is she. In fact, RASCH is a cover for an elite group of underdogs who fight crime . . . and Olive arrived just in time.
Turns out RASCH is in danger of closing, unless this new class can stop the heist of a lifetime. And as Olive falls in love with this wacky school of crime-fighting do-gooders, she realizes it’s up to her and her new squad to save the only home that’s ever welcomed them.

Volume #2 will follow in Spring 2025.

Lisa Yee has published over twenty titles for young people, and has almost 2 million copies of her books in print. Her most recent work, Maizy Chen’s Last Chance, was awarded the Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Dan Santat is the Caldecott Medal–winning and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle, and his artwork is also featured in numerous picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels, including Dav Pilkey’s Ricky Ricotta series. He is the creator of the Disney animated series, The Replacements.