Darkest Hour Official Trailer

Focus Features will release Darkest Hour

in select cities on November 22, 2017

Story: A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.

Director: Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Hanna,” “Pride & Prejudice,” “Anna Karenina”)

Writer: Anthony McCarten (“The Theory of Everything”)
Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn

For more info, please follow the film on social:

Official Site I Facebook I Twitter I Instagram

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SDCC: Showtime Celebrates Twin Peaks

SHOWTIME® CELEBRATES TWIN PEAKS AT COMIC-CON®INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO

 

Mark the date and we will see you there!

WITH A PANEL SESSION IN HALL H

On Friday, July 21, The Cast Of TWIN PEAKS Will Participate

In A Panel, Moderated By Emmy® Winner Damon Lindelof

SHOWTIME To Host An Exclusive Advanced Screening Of Part 11 At 10 PM PT

NEW YORK, NY – July 6, 2017 – SHOWTIME will celebrate the TWIN PEAKS phenomenon at Comic-Con International: San Diego, bringing together a panel of cast members including Kyle MacLachlan, Tim Roth, Dana Ashbrook, Kimmy Robertson, Everett McGill, Matthew Lillard, James Marshall, Don Murray and Naomi Watts. Moderated by Damon Lindelof (Lost), the TWIN PEAKS panel session will be held on Friday, July 21 at 2:45 p.m. PT in Hall H. Immediately following the panel, select cast members will be available for an autograph signing at the Entertainment Earth Booth (#2343). That same night at 10 p.m. PT in Room 6A, SHOWTIME will host an exclusive first-look screening of Part 11 of TWIN PEAKS, ahead of its SHOWTIME debut on Sunday, July 23 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The screening is available exclusively to Comic-Con badge holders on a first-come, first-serve basis.

TWIN PEAKS SCHEDULE AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON

Friday, July 21:
(*times and attendees are subject to change)

2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Panel session in Hall H
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Autograph signing at the Entertainment Earth Booth (San Diego Convention Center, #2343)
10:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. – Exclusive sneak peek screening of TWIN PEAKS Part 11

In collaboration with Entertainment Earth and Funko, SHOWTIME will give fans access to TWIN PEAKS merchandise available for purchase including the Agent Cooper Bobble Head, Welcome to Twin Peaks Sign Monitor Mate Bobble and a Funko Pop! Two-Pack of Agent Cooper & Laura Palmer.
Directed entirely by David Lynch, the new SHOWTIME 18-part limited event series picks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town were stunned when their homecoming queen Laura Palmer was shockingly murdered. TWIN PEAKS is written and executive produced by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and is executive produced by Sabrina S. Sutherland. For more information about TWIN PEAKS, go to: http://twinpeaksonshowtime.com, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and join the conversation using #TwinPeaks.

SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple®, Roku®, Amazon, Xbox One, Google and Samsung. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation® Vue and Amazon Channels. The network’s authentication service, SHOWTIME ANYTIME, is available at no additional cost to SHOWTIME customers who subscribe to the network through participating providers. Subscribers can also watch on their computers atwww.showtime.com and www.showtimeanytime.com.

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Edward Willett Author Interview

Book Nerd Interview

Photo Content from Edward Willett

Edward Willett is an award-winning author of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction for both children and adults.

Born in Silver City, New Mexico, Willett lived in Bayard, New Mexico and Lubbock and Tulia, Texas, before moving to Weyburn, Saskatchewan with his family when he was eight years old.

He studied journalism at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, then returned to Weyburn as a reporter/photographer for the weekly Weyburn Review, eventually becoming news editor. In 1988 he moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, as communications officer for the Saskatchewan Science Centre, and in 1993 he became a fulltime freelance writer. He still resides in Regina.

Willett is now the author or co-author of more than 40 books, ranging from computer books and children's non-fiction books to science fiction and fantasy for both adults and young adults.

His science fiction novel Marseguro (DAW Books) won the 2009 Aurora Award for best English-language science fiction or fantasy book by a Canadian author. He has also won a Saskatchewan Book Award for his YA fantasy Spirit Singer. He has been nominated for the Aurora Award and Saskatchewan Book Awards multiple times.

His most recent novels include the Masks of Aygrima trilogy, YA/adult crossover novels published by DAW books and written as E.C. Blake, and the five-book YA fantasy series The Shards of Excalibur, published by Coteau Books. He's also the author of the Peregrine Rising duology for Bundoran Press (Right to Know and Falcon's Egg).

Other novels include SF novel Lost in Translation (DAW Books), Terra Insegura (sequel to Marseguro, DAW Books), Magebane (DAW Books, written as Lee Arthur Chane), YA SF novels Andy Nebula: Interstellar Rock Star, Andy Nebula: Double Trouble, and The Chosen; and YA ghost story The Haunted Horn. 2016 will see a new YA fantasy, Flames of Nevyana, from Rebelight Books.

His non-fiction titles run the gamut from science books for children on topics as diverse as Ebola Virus and the Milky Way to local history books like Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw for Red Deer Press, awarded a Municipal Heritage Award by the City of Regina in the education category and A Safe and Prosperous Future: 100 years of engineering and geoscience achievements in Saskatchewan, published by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS). He's also written biographies for children of Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Andy Warhol, Orson Scott Card, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Ayatollah Khomeini.

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Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

I think the defining moment was when, on a rainy afternoon when I was 11, for something to do, a friend and I decided to write short stories. I don’t think he finished his, but I finished mine. It was called “Kastra Glazz: Hypership Test Pilot” (which also shows how early on I was infected with the science-fiction bug, thanks to two older brothers who read SF). My mother typed the story for me, and I showed it to my Grade 8 English teacher, Tony Tunbridge, who did me the honor of taking it seriously and suggesting ways it could be better. (“I don’t understand why your aliens act the way they do…”) That was the spark. I wrote longer and longer things (including three novels in high school), and I’ve never stopped. Which is why The Cityborn is dedicated to Tony Tunbridge!

Why is storytelling so important for all of us?

There seems to be something hard-wired in humans that makes us construct narratives, of our own lives, of the lives of others, of the way the world has come to be the way it is. Storytelling has played an important role in human cultures ever since there were human cultures, serving as a collective memory, a way to impart important lessons about survival and community, and, yes, as entertainment.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?

When I was about 14, having read that Isaac Asimov answered all his fan mail, I wrote to him care of his publisher, Doubleday, explaining that I was also a writer, but I had a question: how can you tell when a piece of writing is good enough to be published? I still have the postcard he sent me in response, with his answer: “Dear Mr. Willett: When it is published. Sincerely, Isaac Asimov.”

In your new book; THE CITYBORN, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it and why they should read your novel?

The Cityborn is set in a place called the Heartland, ringed by impassible mountains, and split down the middle by the great Canyon. Astride the Canyon, at the center of the Heartland, stands the City: a vast metal structure with thirteen levels, called Tiers, ruled with an iron fist in the name of the semi-mythical Captain (who supposedly lives in the top Tier) by the First Officer, whose laws are enforced by the ruthless Provosts. The ruling class, the Officers, live in the Twelfth and Eleventh Tiers, while the poor scrabble for whatever they can get in the First and Second Tiers. (The middle class lives, appropriately enough, in the middle Tiers.)

The City has stood there so long that the Canyon beneath it has filled with rubbish, creating a dangerous, gang-ruled wasteland called the Middens. The lowest of the low are trapped there, criminals and others who have fled the City and now scavenge and squabble for survival.

When Alania, a young woman raised by a cold and distant Officer in luxury on the Twelfth Tier, flees an unexplained ambush, she is literally dumped into the Middens, where she is rescued by Danyl, a young man who has lived his whole life in the the Middens and dreams only of finding something so valuable he can barter it for entry into the City. He thinks Alania may be his ticket out—but almost at once they find themselves pursued by Provosts, for reasons they can’t imagine. The secrets they uncover, and how they react to them, determine not only their fates, but the fate of everyone in the Heartland.

So why should you read The Cityborn? Great characters, fascinating setting, and a fast-paced story that’s a ton of fun. (Don’t take my word for it—the DAW copyeditors even commented on how much fun the story was to read!)

For those who are unfamiliar with Alania, how would you introduce her?

She’s a smart young woman of unknown parentage who feels like a prisoner. Though she has been raised in luxury, her guardian is an Officer who has never offered her anything approaching fatherly affection. The closest thing she has to a mother is her maidservant, Sala. Her wealthy friends, daughters of other Officers, are free to travel outside the City to resorts and retreats in The Heartland: she is not. She has no idea who her parents really were. She longs to escape her cosseted life.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating Danyl?

I think Danyl surprised me in the end with how selfless he proved to be, despite his upbringing as a scavenger. His relationship with Alania is not what I thought it would be when I first started thinking about this story, either, but I can’t say anything more about that without spoiling the story.

Why do you feel you had to tell this story?

Like many of my novels, The Cityborn began with an image: in this case, the image of a boy scavenging for survival on a giant trash heap outside a great city. I wanted to know who that boy was, why he was outside the city and not inside it, how the city came to be there, what kind of city it was, how it was ruled…question after question. The answers I came up with pointed toward a story I thought would be fun to write and fun to read. That seemed reason enough!

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?

I’d like to introduce either Danyl or Alania to Richard Hansen from my earlier DAW science fiction novels Marseguro and Terra Insegura (collectively known as The Helix War). They’d have interesting things to talk about regarding being destined for things before they were even born.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?

A few months ago Door into Faerie, the fifth and final book in my young adult fantasy series The Shards of Excalibur, came out from Coteau Books. (The other books in the series are Song of the Sword, Twist of the Blade, Lake in the Clouds, and Cave Beneath the Sea.) That was great fun to write: it’s a modern-day fantasy in which a 15-year-old girl named Ariane inherits the power of the Lady of the Lake and, with her slightly younger friend Wally Knight, must find the five pieces of King Arthur’s legendary sword before Merlin can. (Merlin is the villain, in his modern-day guise as a Steve Jobs/Bill Gates-like computer magnate named Rex Major. His magic has infiltrated the Internet, which makes things difficult for my young heroes!) Their quest takes them all over the world, from the Northwest Territories to the south of France to New Zealand to the Caribbean, but always ends up back here in Saskatchewan.

My other recent YA release was Flames of Nevyana, from Rebelight Publishing. It’s a more traditional fantasy tale, about three young people from very different cultures (one of whom is essentially a humanoid cat) must work together to prevent a devastating war that could destroy them all. (The magic in the story, called Blue Fire, is based on electricity, so the publisher has dubbed Flames of Nevyana “voltpunk,” which is kind of catchy.)

Up next: I’m currently writing (almost finished!) the first book in a new fantasy series for DAW Books called Worldshapers. It’s set in a universe in which there are many worlds, each designed by an individual Shaper (rather like the worlds in novels are designed by authors). A powerful Shaper called The Adversary has broken out of his own world and is taking over others, one by one. Shawna Keys, a Shaper from a world very much like ours, is recruited by a mysterious traveler to journey from world to world to protect them. Every step of the way, she’ll be pursued by the forces of The Adversary. I’ve sold the first two books in the series, and hope to write many more.

What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager?

I have a teenaged daughter, so I think I’d choose this one. She’s had so many more opportunities to do terrific things than I did in my own teen decade (which was the 1970s) that I’m jealous of her. But I enjoyed my decade, too. Although, in retrospect, the clothing choices were…odd.

Where can readers find you?

My website is www.edwardwillett.com, and you can sign up for my biweekly newsletter there, too, if you’re interested. My Facebook author page is www.facebook.com/edward.willett/. Twitter handle is @ewillett. Instagram is ecwillett (I’m not very active on Instagram, but hope to do better).

TEN QUOTES FROM THE CITYBORN

1. The trashslide struck without warning.

2. Alania stared gloomily down from the head table’s dais at the elaborately coiffed heads of twenty-three young women more or less her own age.

3. And from the middle of that falling mass of cloth, Danyl heard the last thing he’d ever expected to hear, the one thing that could make him forget about ’tronics or jewelry or all the other possible riches this fresh Drop from high atop the City might contain: he heard a girl’s scream.

4. Mouth bitter with bile, eyes streaming, throat raw as sandpaper, stinking like a sewer, Alania Beruthi staggered with Danyl and Erl through the teetering, slimy piles of the Middens and promised herself that if she ever made it back to Twelfth Tier, she would never leave it again.

5. Sitting there quivering like one of the gelatin desserts at her birthday party—had that really just been yesterday?—wouldn’t accomplish anything.

6. Then they rounded the shaft for the thirty-third time, and with a groan and a bang and a squeal of tortured metal, the stairs fell away beneath their feet and pitched them forward into darkness.

7. Three figures covered head to toe in shining black, gloved, booted, and helmeted, eyes encase in bubble-like goggles, had clambered out onto the netting from the eastern wall and were swiftly approaching, looking for all the world like four-legged spiders…

8. “You can do anything if you hate enough.”

9. “So,” she said. “We have the rest of the afternoon and all evening to wait. Anyone for bridge?”

10. “You are the Cityborn.”

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Two young individuals must uncover the dark secrets of their stratified city in this suspenseful sci-fi standalone

The metal City towers at the center of the mountain-ringed Heartland, standing astride the deep chasm of the Canyon like a malevolent giant, ruled with an iron fist by the First Officer and his Provosts in the name of the semi-mythical Captain. Within its corroding walls lies a stratified society, where the Officers dwell in luxury on the Twelfth Tier while the poor struggle to survive on the First and Second, and outcasts scrabble and fight for whatever they can find in the Middens, the City's rubbish heap, filling the Canyon beneath its dripping underbelly.

Alania, ward of an Officer, lives on Twelfth. Raised among the privileged class, Alania feels as though she is some sort of pampered prisoner, never permitted to explore the many levels of the City. And certainly not allowed to leave the confines of the City for any reason. She has everything a young woman could want except a loving family and personal freedom.

Danyl, raised by a scavenger, knows no home but the Middens. His day-to-day responsibility is to stay alive. His sole ambition is to escape from this subsistence existence and gain entrance to the City--so near and yet so far out of reach--in hopes of a better life.

Their two very different worlds collide when Alania, fleeing from an unexpected ambush, plunges from the heights of the City down to the Middens, and into Danyl's life.

Almost immediately, both of them find themselves pursued by the First Officer's Provosts, for reasons they cannot fathom--but which they must uncover if they are to survive. The secrets they unlock, as they flee the Canyon and crisscross the Heartland from the City's farmlands to the mountains of the north and back again, will determine not only their fate, but the fate of the City...and everyone who lives there.

Praise for Edward Willett's science fiction

“Their moral dilemma is only one of the reasons this novel is so fascinating. The Selkie culture and infrastructure is very picturesque and easily pictured by readers who will want to visit his exotic world.” —Midwest Book Review

“Mr. Willett blends science fiction with heavy religious beliefs into a well-written storyline that’s filled with dramatic scenery and character detail. Sci-fi and fantasy fans should find this story full and entertaining.” —Darque Reviews

"An intriguing take on genetic modification.... A very good read." —Night Owl Reviews

“The author was constantly surprising me, which doesn’t happen often, twisting the usual sci-fi conventions into more than just a shoot ‘em up space opera. Edward Willett has created people, personalities with belief systems and misguided judgments who make mistakes in trying to do what they believe is right.” —Boomtron

"Terra Insegura is an action-packed thrill-ride...a novel that knows it is good science fiction and isn't afraid to show it...science fiction at its best." —Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews

You can purchase The Cityborn at the following Retailers:

        

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And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you Edward and Penguin/Random House for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of The Cityborn by Edward Willett.

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

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Christina Henry Author Interview

Book Nerd Interview

Photo by Kathryn McCallum Osgood

CHRISTINA HENRY is the author of the CHRONICLES OF ALICE duology, ALICE and RED QUEEN, a dark and twisted take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as well as LOST BOY: THE TRUE STORY OF CAPTAIN HOOK, an origin story of Captain Hook from Peter Pan.

She is also the author of the national bestselling BLACK WINGS series (BLACK WINGS, BLACK NIGHT, BLACK HOWL, BLACK LAMENT, BLACK CITY, BLACK HEART and BLACK SPRING) featuring Agent of Death Madeline Black and her popcorn-loving gargoyle Beezle.

ALICE was chosen as one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year in Science Fiction and Fantasy for 2015. It was also a Goodreads Choice Award nominee in Horror and one of Barnes & Noble’s Bestselling Science Fiction and Fantasy novels of 2015.

She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

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What was your first introduction to literature?

I was always a reader – I don’t really remember not reading. When I was pretty young I got a boxed set of classic children’s works for Christmas. It had ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS by Lewis Carroll, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame, and THE JUNGLE BOOK and JUST SO STORIES, both by Rudyard Kipling. I read and re-read all of those books more times than I can count, and I still have those well-love copies.

What’s one thing that readers would be surprised to find out about you?

The last television show I watched regularly was DEADWOOD. I’m not much of a TV watcher, although I love movies.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I’ve been writing since grade school. When I was about 12 I wrote my first “novel” – it was a poor copy of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, which was my favorite book at the time. The first book I finished as an adult was BLACK WINGS, and I sold that book to Penguin/Ace when I was 34.

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?

To read books that I didn’t think I was interested in. A lot of younger readers are put off the classics because the language is archaic, but if you just relax and let yourself sink into the book you’ll be rewarded.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Stubborn; probably hungry.

Which character have you enjoyed getting to know the most over the course of writing LOST BOY: THE TRUE STORY OF CAPTAIN HOOK?

I loved teasing out all the facets of Jamie, the main character. He’s strong and smart but he’s also foolish and uncertain. He tries to do the right thing but he makes a lot of mistakes. I really wanted to get at that sense of being caught between childhood and adulthood, and the way it makes you feel mixed-up and unsure of your place in the world.

Where can readers find you?

My website is www.christinahenry.net
I’m on Facebook at facebook.com/authorChristinaHenry
On Twitter at twitter.com/C_Henry_Author
And on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/CHenryAuthor

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From the national bestselling author of Alice comes a familiar story with a dark hook—a tale about Peter Pan and the friend who became his nemesis, a nemesis who may not be the blackhearted villain Peter says he is…

There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first—and favorite—lost boy to his greatest enemy.

Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter's idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock—the kinds of playthings that bite.

Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever.

Praise for LOST BOY

“Christina Henry shakes the fairy dust off a legend; this Peter Pan will give you chills.”—Genevieve Valentine, author of Persona

“Multiple twists keep the reader guessing, and the fluid writing is enthralling...Henry immerses the reader in Neverland and genuinely shocks...This is a fine addition to the shelves of any fan of children’s classics and their modern subversions.”—Publishers Weekly

“This wild, unrelenting tale, full to the brim with the freedom and violence of young boys who never want to grow up, will appeal to fans of dark fantasy.” —Booklist

“Turns Neverland into a claustrophobic world where time is disturbingly nebulaous and identity is chillingly manipulated...a deeply impactful, imaginative and haunting story of loyalty, disillusionment and self-discovery.”—RT Book Reviews

“Once again, Henry takes readers on an adventure of epic and horrific proportions...Her smooth prose and firm writing hooked me up instantly and held me hostage to the very end.”—Smexy Books

“We all have a soft spot for the classics that we read when we were growing up. But…this retelling will poke and jab at that soft spot until you can never look at it the same way again.”—Kirkus Book Reviews

“Lost Boy owes more to William Golding’s Lord of the Flies than it does Barrie, as Henry examines the darker side to leaving a bunch of boys to fend for themselves… This audacious and gripping treatment of this well-known story is expertly told by Henry’s emotive, evocative prose.”—Starburst Magazine

“Lost Boy is a fantastic adventure story with a Lord of the Flies sensibility… Henry’s writing is among the most substantive and touching in the fantasy genre.”—I Smell Sheep

You can purchase Lost Boy at the following Retailers:

        

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And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you Christina and Penguin/Random House for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of Lost Boy by Christina Henry.

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

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{Nerd Blast} Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 - 7
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Starscape (August 29, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765385562
ISBN-13: 978-0765385567

Praise for BAN THIS BOOK

“Readers, librarians, and all those books that have drawn a challenge have a brand new hero in Amy Anne Ollinger. She's a true champion and testament to how doing a good thing is the first step in finding your own courage."―Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor winning author of The Underneath

"Ban This Book is absolutely brilliant and belongs on the shelves of every library in the multiverse."―Lauren Myracle, author of the best-selling Internet Girls series, the most challenged books of 2009 and 2011

"A stout defense of the right to read." ―Kirkus Reviews

“Gratz delivers a book lover’s book that speaks volumes about kids’ power to effect change at a grassroots level." ―Publisher’s Weekly

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Official Nerd Blast for Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

This is a Nerd Blast, you will post the promotional info we provide you with, including the giveaway. No reviews required. Please mark your Calendar.

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An inspiring tale of a fourth-grader who fights back when her favorite book is banned from the school library--by starting her own illegal locker library!

It all started the day Amy Anne Ollinger tried to check out her favorite book in the whole world, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, from the school library. That's when Mrs. Jones, the librarian, told her the bad news: her favorite book was banned! All because a classmate's mom thought the book wasn't appropriate for kids to read.

Amy Anne decides to fight back by starting a secret banned books library out of her locker. Soon, she finds herself on the front line of an unexpected battle over book banning, censorship, and who has the right to decide what she and her fellow students can read.

Reminiscent of the classic novel Frindle by Andrew Clements for its inspiring message, Ban This Book is a love letter to the written word and its power to give kids a voice.

EXCERPT

Ponies and Pink Tutus

Our two huge rottweilers, Flotsam and Jetsam, met us at the door to lick my face. They were so tall they came up to my armpits.

“Off. Off,” I said, trying to pet them so they knew I had said hello. They barked and wagged their tails, squirming around in front of us so much I couldn’t move. I had to follow my mother like she was an icebreaker ship, pushing past the dogs into the kitchen. Dad was there stirring two pots on the stove and baking something in the oven and making a salad. Dad was tall and thin, with skin as dark as mine and muscular arms from laying bricks all day. He had his opera music playing loud again, some Italian lady singing like somebody was shaking her by the shoulders the whole time.

“Spaghetti in fifteen minutes,” he told us. “Alexis!” he yelled. “Come set the table! I’ve asked her three times.”

“I can’t!” Alexis called from our room down the hall. “I’m changing for ballet!”

“Amy Anne, will you do it, honey?” Dad asked.

“No. Alexis always has some excuse not to do what she’s told. Make her do it.” That’s what I wanted to say. But I knew from experience it didn’t make any sense to argue. It never had. It was easier for everybody concerned if I just went ahead and did it. I dumped my backpack on the floor and went to the cabinet for the plates. Mom disappeared down the hall to change out of her work clothes.

“How was chess club?” Dad asked me, and I cringed a little. I took the late bus home every day because I told my parents I was staying late for different clubs, but I wasn’t really in the chess club, or the anime club, or the robotics club. I wasn’t in any club. I just sat in my favorite corner of the library and read books until I had to leave. It was the only time I ever got any peace and quiet.

“Fine,” I lied.

Angelina, my youngest sister, came galloping into the kitchen on all fours. She was a pudgy five-year-old with Mom’s dimples, Dad’s darker skin, and her hair pulled back into a fuzzy ponytail on the back of her head. Angelina had decided she was going to grow up to be a pony, and for the past few weeks she’d been practicing all day. She made a pbpbpbpb sound with her lips and nudged me with her head.

“Hello, Angelina,” I said.

“Rainbow Sparkle!” she told me. Rainbow Sparkle was her pony name. I was definitely not calling her Rainbow Sparkle.

The dogs thought Angelina was playing with them, and they started hopping around and barking at her right where I was walking. I had to hold the plates up high not to drop them as I squeezed back and forth. Angelina and the dogs got under Dad’s feet, and he stepped back from the stove with a scowl.

“Okay, I need all ponies and dogs out of the kitchen while I finish dinner,” Dad said. “Amy Anne, can you do something with them?”

“Why am I supposed to do something with them? I’m not the one crawling around on the floor getting them all riled up!” That’s what I wanted to say, but of course I didn’t. I just grabbed Roller Girl out of my backpack, led Angelina into the hall by her imaginary lead, and called Flotsam and Jetsam to follow me to the room I shared with Alexis.

Alexis’s clothes were all over the floor of the bedroom—even on my side of the room—and she was holding onto the corner of my bed to practice arabesques in her pink tutu. Alexis, the middle sister, was a pretty brown color somewhere between Mom and Dad, and had her pink-highlighted hair cut short and straightened. A pop song blasted from her CD player.

I kicked her clothes across the imaginary line that separated the two sides of our room. “Use your own bed!” I told her for the thousandth time.

“I can’t!” she told me for the thousandth time. “Your bedpost is exactly the same height as the ballet barre!”

“Too bad,” I said, but she didn’t let go. I punched the eject button on her CD player, nabbed the CD, and jumped up on my bed.

Alexis scrambled after me, reaching for the CD. “Mom! Mom, Amy Anne took my music again!” Alexis yelled.

“It’s my room too, and I want to read!” I told her.

“Amy Anne,” Mom called. “Amy Anne! Give your sister back her CD.”

“Why? It’s half my room too,” I wanted to say, “and I don’t want to listen to Taylor Swift while I read!” But I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Alexis always got to practice her ballet whenever she wanted to. I tossed the CD like a Frisbee onto Alexis’s bed, and she dove across the room for it. I called the dogs, and they followed me as I stomped into the hall. Mom had changed clothes and was headed to the kitchen when her phone rang.

“Don’t answer that!” Dad yelled.

Mom took her phone out of her pocket and looked at it. “It’s the office.”

“Definitely don’t answer that!” Dad yelled.

Mom answered it. “Hello? Yes? You’re kidding. Redo the presentation? Really? Before the end of the day tomorrow? But it’s not due until—no—I’m home already. About to sit down with my family and—” She covered the phone with her hand and called out to my dad. “Jamal, can you please turn that music down?”

“Told you not to answer it!” Dad said. He didn’t turn down the crazy opera singer.

Flotsam and Jetsam tried to run into the kitchen again to mooch for food, and I had to drag them with me into the living room. But I couldn’t even hide out there. Angelina had pulled all the cushions off the furniture to make a barn for herself, and she’d used Mom’s paper shredder again to slice up paper to make fake hay. Today she’d found something to build a fence out of too.

“My books!” I said. The few books I owned were all propped up against each other in a half circle outside her “barn,” the spines twisting out of shape. I started to snatch them up, and Angelina wailed.

“No! No! I need those! I need those!” She tried to grab them back from me. “You’re not using them!”

“Well, you’re not using your room,” I told her. “How about I just go in there and read?”

Alexis and I shared a room because five years ago Mom and Dad decided our house wasn’t crazy enough and they needed another kid. So Angelina got a room all to herself because she was the baby and had a different bedtime. I would have been happy to go to bed at eight o’clock every night and read if it meant I could have my own room, but I knew there was no way Alexis and Angelina would share a room together.

I marched toward Angelina’s room with my armful of books.

“No! No! That’s my room! You can’t!” Angelina screamed.

Mom stuck her head in the room. “Girls, please. I’m on the phone with work.”

Angelina wrapped herself around my leg. “Amy Anne took my fence, and now she’s going in my room!” she wailed.

“Amy Anne, I need you to be the mature one here,” Mom said.

“But—”

Mom mean-frowned at me. “Fix this,” she said, and went back to her phone call.

So I had to give Alexis’s CD back, but Angelina didn’t have to give me my books back? How fair was that? And Mom didn’t understand why I wanted to run away.

I turned away from Angelina’s room and shoved the books back at her. “Here. And if you bend any of the pages or covers, you’re a dead horsey. Understand?”

“Pony,” Angelina said, arranging the books back into a fence.

“Amy Anne?” Dad called. “I thought I asked you to keep these dogs out of the kitchen! They’re licking the floor again!”

I drooped. The dogs had slipped away from me while I was arguing with Angelina.

“Flotsam! Jetsam! Come!” I yelled.

In the hall, Mom put a finger to her other ear and frowned. “I’m sorry, can you say that again?”

I led the dogs into the bathroom and shut the door. It was the only place left where I could get away from everyone. I sat down on the closed toilet seat with a huff and pulled Jet and Flot to me, hugging them. They were the only ones who ever really listened to me. With everybody else, I’d just stopped trying.

“I don’t suppose you guys have found a magical rabbit hole I can fall down or dug up an enchanted amulet in the backyard that leads to another world, have you?”

Flotsam and Jetsam licked my face and wagged their stubby tails, which I took as a no.

“At least we can hide out in here until dinner,” I told them.

The door rattled. “Mom! Mom!” Alexis yelled. “Amy Anne is hogging the bathroom and I have to pee!”

Copyright © 2017 by Alan Grantz
Reader’s guide copyright © 2017 by Tor Books

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Book Nerd Spotlight

Photo Credit: Wes Stitt

Alan Gratz‘s first novel, Samurai Shortstop, was named one of the ALA’s 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults. His second novel, Something Rotten, was a 2008 ALA Quick Pick for Young Adult Readers, and was followed by a sequel, Something Wicked, in October 2008. His first middle grade novel, The Brooklyn Nine, was one of the ALA’s Top Ten Sports Books for Youth and Top Ten Historical Books for Youth, and his middle grade Holocaust novel Prisoner B-3087 was one of YALSA’s 2014 Best Fiction for Young Readers and has won seven state awards. His latest novels are the YA thriller Code of Honor, a YALSA 2016 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and The Monster War, the third book in his middle grade steampunk League of Seven trilogy.

Alan’s short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, online at Tor.com, and in the anthologies Half-Minute Horrors and Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction, which benefitted victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

As the first Artist in Residence at the American School in Japan in 2010, Alan spent six weeks teaching historical fiction-writing to middle school students in Tokyo, and he was the Thurber House Children’s Writer in Residence in 2011, living and writing in James Thurber’s attic for a month while working with young writers from all around the Columbus, Ohio area.

In addition to writing plays, magazine articles, and a few episodes of A&E’s City Confidential, Alan has taught catapult-building to middle-schoolers, written more than 6,000 radio commercials, sold other people’s books, lectured at a Czech university, and traveled the galaxy as a space ranger. (One of these, it should be pointed out, is not true.)
Alan was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, home of the 1982 World’s Fair. After a carefree but humid childhood, Alan attended the University of Tennessee, where he earned a College Scholars degree with a specialization in creative writing, and, later, a Master’s degree in English education. He now lives with his wife Wendi and his daughter Jo in the high country of Western North Carolina, where he enjoys playing games, eating pizza, and, perhaps not too surprisingly, reading books.

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The Child by Fiona Barton

Book Nerd Spotlight

As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it’s a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who is the Building Site Baby?

As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A newborn baby was stolen from the maternity ward in a local hospital and was never found. Her heartbroken parents were left devastated by the loss.

But there is more to the story, and Kate is drawn—house by house—into the pasts of the people who once lived in this neighborhood that has given up its greatest mystery. And she soon finds herself the keeper of unexpected secrets that erupt in the lives of three women—and torn between what she can and cannot tell…

Praise for THE CHILD

“Tense, tantalizing, and ultimately very satisfying...definitely one of the year’s must-reads.”—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Fiona Barton has masterfully delivered again with The Child, her follow-up to her bestselling debut novel, The Widow....So many questions, so much perfect suspense….Barton tells the child’s story as only she can—brilliantly.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“This being a Barton thriller, there’s more to pretty much everything than meets the eye.”—The Boston Globe

“Fiona Barton has outdone herself with The Child. An engrossing, irresistible story about the coming to light of a long-buried secret and an absolutely fabulous read—I loved it!”—Shari Lapena, New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

“[An] intriguing, twisty tale....With plenty of red herrings, nothing and no one is who they seem in this evocative puzzler.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A slow-burn portrait of loss and survival.”—Entertainment Weekly

“A twisty and tantalizing story you won't be able to put down.”—Bustle

“Startling twists—and a stunning, emotionally satisfying conclusion.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Clever and compelling. You’ll love The Child.”—Clare Mackintosh, international bestselling author of I See You

You can purchase The Child at the following Retailers:

    

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Author Spotlight

Photo Credit: Jenny Lewis

DAVID ZELTSER emigrated from the Soviet Union as a child, graduated from Harvard, and has worked with all kinds of wild animals, including rhinos, owls, sharks, and ad executives. He is the author of Lug, Dawn of the Ice Age, the first book in a satirical series about the world’s inaction on climate change, for ages 8-12. He also has a forthcoming picture book, Ninja Baby, with Caldecott Honor illustrator Diane Goode (Chronicle Books).David lives with his wife and daughter in Santa Cruz, California. He performs improv comedy and loves meeting readers of all ages. His second book about Lug is scheduled to publish in Fall 2015. Visit David’s website at www.davidzeltser.com. He’s also on Twitter: @davidzeltser

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{Nerd Blast} Jigsaw Jones: The Case from Outer Space by James Preller

Age Range: 6 - 10 years
Grade Level: 1 - 5
Series: Jigsaw Jones Mysteries
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (August 8, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250110173
ISBN-13: 978-1250110176

Praise for JIGSAW JONES: THE CASE FROM OUTER SPACE

"Jigsaw Jones is back! Preller's puzzle-solving second grader returns for his first mystery in 10 years, coinciding with the republication of four original "Jigsaw Jones" mysteries. Fans will be happy to once more see Jigsaw, fellow detective Mila Yeh, teacher Mrs. Gleason, and other familiar friends. Here, classmates Joey and Danika find a mysterious note in a book they borrowed from a neighbor's Little Free Library. They are convinced it means that aliens are coming. ... As usual, Preller brings the threads together in the end. ...Those who enjoy Preller's works for younger readers will welcome the return of Jigsaw Jones. Highly recommended, especially for devotees of series such as David A. Adler's "Cam Jansen," Ron Roy's "A to Z Mysteries" and "Calendar Mysteries," and, of course, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's "Nate the Great."―School Library Journal

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Official Nerd Blast for Jigsaw Jones: The Case from Outer Space by James Preller

This is a Nerd Blast, you will post the promotional info we provide you with, including the giveaway. No reviews required. Please mark your Calendar.

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Jigsaw Jones is back! In this brand new, original mystery from James Preller, Jigsaw and his crew—Mila, Joey, and Danika—find a clue that implies an alien may be about to visit their school! Can it be true? And what does the Little Free Library have that aliens from outer space might want?

(Hint: The school librarian has invited a special guest to talk about space exploration—an astronaut!)

Friendship, mystery, and school-day shenanigans are what make the Jigsaw Jones chapter book mysteries beloved and read over and over. Includes a word jumble (names of planets in solar system), writing prompts, and information on how to start a little free library (which are taking hold in many parts of the country)!

Chapter 1

A Knock on the Door

Illustration HERE

Call me Jones.

Jigsaw Jones, private eye.

I solve mysteries. For a dollar a day, I make problems go away. I’ve found stolen bicycles, lost jewelry, and missing parakeets. I’ve even tangled with dancing ghosts and haunted scarecrows.

Mysteries can happen anywhere, at any time. One thing I’ve learned in this business is that anyone is a suspect. That includes friends, family, and a little green man from outer space.

Go figure.

It was a lazy Sunday morning. Outside my window, it looked like a nice spring day. The sky was blue with wispy clouds that looked like they had been painted by an artist. A swell day for a ball game. Or a mystery. Maybe both if I got lucky.

I was standing at my dining room table, staring at a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle. It was supposed to be a picture of our solar system. The sun and eight planets. But right now it was a mess. Scattered pieces lay everywhere. I scratched my head and munched on a blueberry Pop-Tart. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. As a cook, I’m pretty good with a toaster. I began working on the border, grouping all the pieces that had a flat edge. Sooner or later, I’d work my way through the planets. The rust red of Mars. The rings of Saturn. And the green tint of Neptune. I’ve never met a puzzle I couldn’t solve. That’s because I know the secret. The simple trick? Don’t give up.

Don’t ever give up.

My dog, Rags, leaped at the door. He barked and barked. A minute later, the doorbell rang. Ding-a-ling, ding-dong.That’s the thing about Rags. He’s faster than a doorbell. People have been coming to our house all his life. But for my dog, it’s always the most exciting thing that ever happened.

Every single time.

“Get the door, Worm,” my brother Billy said. He was sprawled on the couch, reading a book. Teenagers, yeesh.

“Why me?” I complained.

“Because I’m not doing it.”

Billy kept reading.

Rags kept barking.

And the doorbell kept ringing.

Somebody was in a hurry.

I opened the door. Joey Pignattano and Danika Starling were standing on my stoop. We were in the same class together, room 201, with Ms. Gleason.

“Hey, Jigsaw!” Danika waved. She bounced on her toes. The bright beads in her hair clicked and clacked.

“Boy, am I glad to see you!” Joey exclaimed. He burst into the room. “Got any water?”

“I would invite you inside, Joey,” I said, “but you beat me to it.”

Danika smiled.

“I ate half a bag of Jolly Ranchers this morning,” Joey announced. “Now my tongue feels super weird!”

“That’s not good for your teeth,” I said.

Joey looked worried. “My tongue isn’t good for my teeth? Are you sure? They both live inside my mouth.”

“Never mind,” I said.

“Pipe down, guys!” Billy complained. “I’m reading here.”

“Come into the kitchen,” I told Joey and Danika. “We’ll get fewer complaints. Besides, I’ve got grape juice. It’s on the house.”

“On the house?” Joey asked. “Is it safe?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You keep grape juice on your roof?” Joey asked.

Danika gave Joey a friendly shove. “Jigsaw said ‘on the house.’ He means it’s free, Joey,” she said, laughing.

Joey pushed back his glasses with an index finger. “Free? In that case, I’ll take a big glass.”

Text copyright © 2017 by James Preller

Illustrations copyright © 2017 by R. W. Alley

You can purchase Jigsaw Jones: The Case from Outer Space at the following Retailers:

 

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Book Nerd Spotlight

Photo Content from James Preller

James Preller (born 1961) is the children's book author of the Jigsaw Jones Mysteries, which are published by Scholastic Corporation. He grew up in Wantagh, New York and went to college in Oneonta, New York. After graduating from college in 1983, James Preller was employed as a waiter for one year before being hired as a copywriter by Scholastic Corporation, where he was introduced (through their books) to many noatable children's authors. This inspired James Preller to try writing his own books. James Preller published his first book, entitled MAXX TRAX: Avalanche Rescue, in 1986. Since that time, James Preller has written a variety of books, and has written under a number of pen names, including Mitzy Kafka, James Patrick, and Izzy Bonkers. James Preller lives in Delmar, New York with his wife Lisa and their three children.

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