If global climate change causes irreparable damage to earth, might the best solution for the survival of the human race be to create an artificial world with an environment humans can control? Patrick Carman, whose The Land of Elyon trilogy (Orchard) has 1.5 million copies in print, tackles this question in his new series, Atherton, set 100 years in the future. It debuts with The House of Power, which Little, Brown will release on April 3 with a 150,000-copy first printing and a $250,000 marketing and publicity campaign.

That campaign spans an unusual range of angles and media. Little, Brown began to build the Atherton buzz early-more than a full year before the inaugural installment’s pub date. Andrew Smith, v-p of marketing and associate publisher at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, explains that at last summer’s ALA conference, the publisher distributed a number of packages replicating how Carman’s proposal was delivered to Little, Brown. “We placed an early galley in what looked like a manuscript box, along with a letter from the editor,” he explains. “We seeded the market with this first glimpse into the world of Atherton and we got a very good response.”

The publisher spread word of Atherton again this past fall, when it did an extensive mailing-to retailers, librarians and sales reps-of a splashy brochure and DVD presenting a movie-like trailer (created by Carman) for the book.

And the Atherton marketing effort continued at the ALA midwinter meeting last month. Little, Brown hosted a gathering of 250 librarians, media professionals and booksellers at the Seattle Public Library, where an exhibit of all things Atherton was unveiled: computer stations where people could view Writing Atherton, a collection of videos the author filmed about the creation of this world, drawings and replicas of objects from the novel, as well as a full-scale rendition of the fictional planet itself. This will become a traveling exhibit, for which schools and libraries can submit a proposal to host on the series’ Web site, www.athertonseries.com.

That Web site is an innovative part of the publisher’s-and the author’s-marketing efforts. Visitors to the site can view Carman’s trailer for the book, as well as the Writing Atherton videos. Educators can download curriculum and teacher guides and retailers can download in-store signs, flyers for customers and high-res images for use in store newsletters. On this site, young readers will find a variety of downloadable activities, drawings of Atheron and podcasting and journal entries.

On a second Web site (www.unlockdrhardingsbrain.com), readers can crack hidden codes that Carman has included on the novel’s jacket and in its back matter. Those purchasing a copy of The House of Power will receive a CD-ROM with additional interactive material as well as a decoder lens that, when held up to the computer screen at this site, will reveal hidden clues to let readers embark on a mission similar to that of the novel’s characters: to unlock “the secrets of Atherton.”

And during the author’s eight-city national tour in early April, he will reveal additional codes not contained in the books. Little, Brown will provide bookstores hosting Carman with tour packs that contain Atherton T-shirts and a standee. Other promotional materials the publisher has created for retailers include a pre-publication easel announcing The House of Power’s on-sale date and a three-level, full color floor display that replicates the planet Atherton.

Little, Brown’s Atherton advertising campaign includes spots in USA Today, the New York Times and Disney Adventures, as well as radio ads and banner ads on kid-targeted Web sites. Smith, who describes this as “our biggest middle-grade launch ever,” reports that the publisher has received a very positive response to the pre-pub campaign from kids, retailers and librarians. “We’ve been really excited about getting word of Atherton out there,” he says. Given the house’s multi-layered promotional strategy, that excitement is evident.

Bestselling author Patrick Carman, has left behind the Land of Elyon and created a new world for readers. Welcome to Atherton, a world that looks something like a child’s top: an uninhabited (or is it?) southern hemisphere, topped by a triple-layer of flat landscapes — the Flatlands, Tabletop, and the Highlands. The flow of water is controlled by the lords who live in the highlands, who let it flow into the second tier of Tabletop, the agricultural level where the people grow rabbits, sheep and figs. Waste is thrown literally off the edge of the world into the barren Flatlands.

But there’s a secret behind this feudal society that none of the residents know: Atherton is an artificial world.

Edgar, a young boy of Tabletop, is an anomaly among his folks. He gets into trouble with the master of the fig groves frequently, because his mind is elsewhere, and at night he practices his forbidden hobby: climbing the cliffs to the Highlands, to see how high he can go. He’s seeking something from a memory long ago, and eventually finds it — a book, which contains all the secrets of Atherton. Which would be a handy thing… if Edgar knew how to read. But the only people who know how to read are the higher classes in the Highlands.

As Edgar works on finding out the contents of the book, the other citizens of Atherton are in for a surprise as well: the Highlands are sinking! What will happen when the high class and the low class eventually find themselves on equal footing, after the Highlands having been so demanding of Tabletop for so long? Nobody knows, but they don’t expect it to be good, so they prepare for war — an unheard of concept outside of storybooks.

But Edgar won’t be around for the war — because he’s gone exploring for more information in the Flatlands, which is where he meets Dr. Luther Kincaid, who finally explains the world of Atherton in full to Edgar (or at least as best as Edgar can understand it):

“Where you come from, there are almost no trees. Can you even imagine a place so unlike the grove? The air is filthy, nearly impossible to breathe. A person can live where you come from — lots of people do — but it’s not the beautiful world it used to be. If you must know, it’s called the Dark Planet, and it’s closer than you think.”"But how did I get here? How did anyone get here? And why don’t I remember my life before Atherton?”Again Dr. Kincaid slipped into speaking in terms Edgar couldn’t understand. he lectured about computers and machines and something called the third wave, until Edgar shook his head. Science, skyscrapers, televisions, cars, pollution — all of it was lost on the boy. It made the divide seem impassable to poor Dr. Kincaid.”Try again,” suggested Edgar. “And pretend you’re a boy like me. Maybe that will help.”Dr. Kincaid pondered this approach a moment before he continued.”There came a time on the Dark Planet when I and a group of other scientists — those are people who try to solve problems — had the idea of building a new place where people could live. We worked on it for a long time and found ourselves going in circles, not getting anywhere. But then we found someone who could help us.”

The House of Power is a unique blending of “The Village” meets “Dark City”, and the release is being supported by a website that is interactive with codes found in the book, as readers are invited to Unlock Dr. Harding’s Brain and delve deeper into the secrets of Atherton — a world that is, quite literally, turning inside out!

The adventure is told in a straightforward fashion, and older readers will quite likely be able to deduce puzzles rather easily. Younger readers, however, will be enthralled, and readers of any age will appreciate the imagination involved in creating every aspect of Carman’s new world.

WALLA WALLA – The setting of Patrick Carman’s life and its main characters haven’t changed much in the last few years.

But the plot has taken a fantastic turn.

The 41-year-old father of two from Walla Walla has morphed from a business owner to a best-selling author signed by publishing powerhouses Scholastic and Little, Brown and Co.

His latest book for young adults, the science fiction Atherton: The House of Power, is due in stores in April.

“People always ask me, ‘How has your life changed?’ ” Carman said recently, sitting in his home office that’s packed with books, Atherton artifacts and photos of his kids. “(But) I think I always had this sort of lifestyle.”

Creativity certainly has been a major theme of his life.

After graduating from Willamette University in Salem, Carman operated his own advertising agency for 10 years. Then came stints developing board games and running an Internet company.

Along the way, he got married and had two daughters, Sierra, 11, and Reece, 9.

The girls often are among their dad’s first readers. Reece, a fourth-grader, even helped him come up with the idea for a series of chapter books for young children that he’s working on now.

It was his popular Land of Elyon trilogy that made Carman a name in the publishing world. He’s toured the country and visited hundreds of schools – more than 100,000 school children – talking about his stories of Alexa, a girl who grew up inside a walled city but wants to see the enchanted land beyond.

The series started with The Dark Hills Divide.

“We had a lot of kids come in looking for the book. They thought it was really great,” said Tammie Ross, owner of The Bookworm bookstores in Richland and Kennewick. “They dragged their parents in. They all looked forward to the second one and the third one.”

Now there’s another tale for kids to be excited about.

Carman came up with the idea for Atherton while he was on tour for the Elyon books. In the Frankenstein-inspired story, a doctor has created a three-level world that begins to change in ways people living there don’t expect. One of them is Edgar, an orphan and the book’s young hero, who’s on an important quest.

Atherton has themes of class struggles and caring for the Earth. It also includes plenty of interactive features for readers to check out online.

“One of the things kids seemed to enjoy (about Elyon) is things weren’t always as they seemed. There were surprises,” Carman said. “This is no different.”

Michelle Price, community relations manager for Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Kennewick, predicts Atherton will be just as popular as Carman’s other titles. He always draws a crowd of kids when he stops at the store for book-signings, she said.

“Every time he’s been at our store, that’s the way it’s been,” Price said. “He’s got a lot of fans.”

He does his writing in the office behind his home in Walla Walla, usually in the morning. He gets his kids off to school, checks his e-mail and maybe tries a crossword puzzle, then gets to work.

The small space is neat and uncluttered. There’s sleek black furniture but also a bright Spider Man stool. A 4-foot model of the Atherton world sits in a corner near his computers.

When Carman says his life hasn’t changed that much, he means his work schedule long has been flexible. But his life story’s plot twist has brought a new kind of creative fulfillment.

“Writing fits really perfectly for me,” he said.

A Land of Elyon prequel, Into the Mist, is due in stores later this year.