It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
and the book:
SaltRiver (August 20, 2008)
A motorcyclist and former rock band roadie turned Anglican minister, Graham Peter (G. P.) Taylor has been hailed as "hotter than Potter" and "the new C. S. Lewis" in the United Kingdom. His first novel, Shadowmancer, reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2004 and has been translated into 48 languages. His other novels include Wormwood (another New York Times bestseller which was nominated for a Quill book award), The Shadowmancer Returns: The Curse of Salamander Street, Tersias the Oracle, and Mariah Mundi. Taylor currently resides in North Yorkshire with his wife and three children.
Visit the author's website.
Product Details:
List Price: $ 19.99
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: SaltRiver (August 20, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414319479
ISBN-13: 978-1414319476
MY REVIEW:
The First Escape has been my introduction to the work of G.P. Taylor, and what an introduction it has been! Part novel, part graphic novel, part artwork, the first book in the Doppleganger Chronicles is the most unusual adventure story I’ve ever encountered. G.P. Taylor’s story features a set of twin sisters, Sadie and Saskia Dopple, who have been abandoned by their mother to Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children. And wayward doesn’t begin to describe this mischievous duo!
From the very first pages, Sadie and Saskia are troublemakers with a capital T! Ms. Dunstan thinks she is doing herself a favor by allowing a mysterious wealthy contributor to the school to “adopt” Saskia. Separated for the first time, both twins discover that life apart from each other can indeed be treacherous! Sadie finds herself alone and threatened in Ms. Dunstan’s school, while Saskia discovers that her new home is filled with many dark and dangerous secrets! Neither girl is sure what will become of them now that they have been separated from the other’s presence.
Erik Dopple is the only boy among the many girls at Ms. Dunstan’s school, and he quickly befriends Sadie and convinces her to go in search of her sister. It turns out that their lives at the school are not entirely safe, and their escape turns into a treacherous chase! By the time they finally find Saskia’s new “home” and locate her, all three of the children are up to their eyeballs in trouble of the worst kind!
This is a most unusual tale, but I can certainly understand its appeal to children. The variety of print formats in the book are almost as exciting as the story itself! G.P. Taylor created this series specifically to appeal to “reluctant” readers, and so far he has seen great success! Here are a few words from G.P. Taylor about this project.
I visit many schools each year for the promotion of reading. Due to these visits I found that we had a reading crisis with many children being reluctant readers. Teachers admit this is a big problem. I decided to do some research and found that children in years 5 to 9 found books that were mostly text, difficult to keep reading. They are the first of a visually stimulated society with pictures, colour and graphics playing an important part of their daily lives. Websites - computer games and the like have had a major effect on this. yet books are lagging behind - yes - we do have manga and comics - but they are not the same as chapter books.After much thought I developed a book that has combined all of these things and much more. It has text (to the reading level of my other books and equivalent to Pullman) as well as full page illustrations - word art - graphics and manga comic strip. Each page is black bordered to keep the childs eye on the page and to mimic a computer screen (to make it familiar). The pages are tinted cream so that children with reading difficulties find it easier to read. (You can read a sample chapter at www.gptaylor.info or www.dopplegangerchronicles.com)
So if it is adventure and suspense that you like in your young adult reading, there is much to enjoy about The First Escape. The ending of the story leaves you perfectly situated to enjoy the next mystery….something about an Indigo Moon! Sounds exciting!!
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
1 comment:
That is so cool! I would love to read this... :-)
God bless, thanks for the interview!
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