Kate McKinnon discusses ‘Secrets of the Purple Pearl’ on our Best October Books episode.

This episode of Fully Booked is dedicated to the hottest books of October. First, in a special editors’ segment, Laurie Muchnick, John McMurtrie, Mahnaz Dar, and Laura Simeon share their top titles for the month. Then I’m joined in conversation by Kate McKinnon, author of Secrets of the Purple Pearl (Little, Brown, September 30), Book 2 in the No. 1 New York Times–bestselling middle-grade series, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. “In a race against their enemies, the Porch girls must find a peculiar pearl in order to foil a fiendish plot,” Kirkus writes in a starred review of a sequel that’s “unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun.”

McKinnon is a bestselling author and award-winning performer, who is celebrated globally for her work in film and television. Young readers will recognize her as the voice of Ms. Frizzle in The Magic School Bus Rides Again for Netflix. She recently played Weird Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s worldwide blockbuster hit film, Barbie. 

Here’s a bit more from our review of Secrets of the Purple Pearl: “After defeating a monstrous Kyrgalops in The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch find themselves at Lake Kagloopy’s Purple Pearl Hotel with their mentor, Millicent Quibb. Quibb informs the trio that they must find the titular pearl before the members of their evil mad-scientist rivals, the KRA, do. If they fail, the KRA plans to use the gem to bestow the Gift of Endless Vibrancy on the villainous Talon Sharktūth.…Jokes aside, the girls’ story is intriguing, offering more clues to their mysterious backgrounds and tantalizing tidbits promising later adventures. McKinnon offers bountiful backstory and enough guffaw-inducing jokes, zany footnotes, and creative jargon to enthrall readers both new and old with her delightful sophomore effort. Mixing humor, found family, and well-wrought worldbuilding, this sequel is a certain crowd pleaser.”

McKinnon and I discuss a panoply of topics, including but not limited to: storytelling, mad science, wild hairdos, secrets, Sappho, seafood buffets, sisterly bonds, the writing process, Roman numerals, Echinodermata, the excellence of children’s literature, and kids these days.

BEST BOOKS OF OCTOBER 2025:

Heart the Lover by Lily King (Grove)

Schott’s Significa: A Miscellany of Secret Languages by Ben Schott (Workman)

Dead Ends! Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels by Lindsey Fitzharris & Adrian Teal; illus. by Adrian Teal (Bloomsbury)

K-Jane by Lydia Kang (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

The Tale of Mr. Crocodile Takes Tea by Lance Lee, illus. by Cilla Hunkeler

Teddy & Freddy by Debra Burr Downing, illus. by Jason Velazquez

Spell Ya Later by Zoe Shae

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.