Local Debut Author Candice Zee Wins Gold Award of Teen Category in the Reader Views Literary Awards

CLEVELAND, March 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The upper middle-grade fantasy novel The Munchkins by Cleveland-based author Candice Zee, published in October 2021, just won the Gold Award of the Teen Category in the 2021-2022 Reader Views Literary Awards, announced on Monday, March 7th. This story about thirteen siblings with mysterious powers and their malevolent neighbor is Zee's debut novel, and it has been receiving high praise from readers and reviewers alike.

In a 5-Star review for The Munchkins, Amy Lignor of Reader Views said The Munchkins "has all the "ingredients" for a fantastical, magical, YA story that also caters to adults who absolutely love the Potter-esque world that happens maybe twice in a lifetime." The full Reader Views review can be found here: https://www.readerviewskids.com/reviewzeethemunchkins/

In the book, Capricorn Munch and her twelve siblings all stop aging at 10 years old and develop powers that give them incredible abilities. They strive to live a normal life with their loving adoptive father, hiding their powers, until a sociopathic neighbor moves in next door. As the dangerous neighbor encourages them to be reckless with their powers, the siblings realize he's up to something more sinister and they need to find out what—before it's too late.⁠ The book is the first in a series and is available nationally and internationally through brick-and-mortar stores, online retailers, and libraries.

Candice Zee is a middle-grade and young adult (YA) fantasy writer who first dreamed the idea of The Munchkins as a child while playing make-believe with her brother in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The two siblings would make up Munchkins stories, act them out, and imagine them into being. She is an early childhood teacher and lives with her wife and dog in Cleveland, Ohio. The Munchkins is her debut book.

SOURCE Candice Zee