Octavia Spencer reads from her debut novel

Actress Octavia Spencer, best known for her Oscar-winning performance as Minny in The Help, has written a new novel about a young crime-fighting hero, Randi Rhodes: ninja detective. In her first adventure with best-friend and sidekick D.C. (also a ninja detective), Randi goes looking for her small town’s time capsule, which many people believe holds the town’s treasure. Below, Spencer talks about her inspiration for the story and her own struggle with dyslexia as a child. Plus, listen to Spencer reading from an excerpt of The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit, which is out today.

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