The books are about a kid named Ronald Mack, but he has the nickname Cheesie. He’s 11 years old, just like me. Cheesie and his best friend Georgie Sinkoff go on adventures together throughout their hometown, Gloucester, Massachusetts, ranging from 5th grade graduation to a middle school construction site.
Here is an interview I had with the author Steve Cotler. Warning! Contains spoilers! Me: Why did you create the character Cheesie Mack? Steve: Well, first of all why is his name Cheesie in the book? It is because he loves mac n’ cheese. It is the food most kids love so I made his name the name of most children’s favorite food. Secondly, I wanted his name to be something easy to remember. Cheesie is something easy to say and remember. Me: What do you think Georgie Sinkoff ’s best quality is? Steve: Hmm. Well ,Georgie has two of them. They are loyalty and creativity. He is very loyal to Cheesie and he is the same in return. Creativity because his huge imagination is what helps him come up with his great ideas and where would we be without those. Me: Why did you put in the side story about Cheesie ’s dad’s foot being squashed by a bomb? Steve: Cheesie’s dad is an unusual guy. He should have something quirky or weird about him. I decided to have him lose a foot. Since he is an unusual guy he should lose his foot in an unusual way. I thought of the most gruesome diseases and things on how you could get a foot cut off. I then thought of something that happened to me on a field trip. Without thinking I stuck my leg inside the loop of a rope that connected a submarine and a pillar. A wave pushed the submarine forwards and tightened around my leg. If it had gone even a couple inches forward, it would have sliced off my foot. I thought about that and decided to make Cheesie’s dad on a boat in the navy. I thought about what was the most ridiculous way someone could have lost a limb and I decided to have something fall and squish it. When most people think about dropping a bomb they would see it exploding. Well this one didn’t. It was a dud. All it did was squish his foot. Me: Why did you give Cheesie a sister like Goon? Steve: Cheesie has a great life. He loves his parents and has a best friend. He needed something that made him miserable. So I gave him Goon. She has straight A’s and is the best dancer in her ballet class, but she hates her little brother. She teases him and calls him names. In general she tries her hardest to ruin his life. The Cheesie Mack books are great realistic fiction chapter books for kids from ages 8 to 11 and has received a number of rewards. The 5th book comes out August 16th. I hope you’ll read these books!
