Jennifer Lynn Barnes stopped by Good Morning America to discuss her latest book, The Grandest Game.
Barnes’ novel, published in July by Little, Brown, is GMA’s YA book club pick for December. The book—the first in a planned series—follows a teenage billionaire who runs an island-based competition with four brothers in which contestants have a chance to win fame and fortune. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the book as “a fast-paced, high-stakes page-turner that’s sure to please new and returning fans alike.”
GMA co-anchor George Stephanopoulos noted that the book is different from what Barnes has written before.
“For me, the most different thing about the writing process was just how explicitly I wrote this book to be an escape for me and for readers,” she said. “Yes, it’s full of the puzzles and the riddles and the codes, but you’ve also got an elaborate mansion on this private island, cliffside encounters, the ocean at nighttime, a masquerade ball, romantic tension between these rivals for the prize, and it was just so much fun to write.”
Stephanopoulos asked Barnes if she experienced the escape while writing the book.
“I do,” she said. “I’m a mom to three small children, so my normal life is nothing like the life of the book, so it’s nice to be able to escape into it.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
