Readers who have immersed themselves in the fantasy world of The Land of Elyon trilogy will be glad to hear that the adventure will continue. Author Patrick Carman has signed with Scholastic, Inc. to extend the story, with a prequel and two other books.”For a long time, I’d been thinking about book-ending the series, coming up with some way to have the trilogy stand alone, but with a book before and after that contained it. The trilogy ends in such a way that there’s room for another story about what happens afterward,” Carman says.”The Land of Elyon series is a classic tale of good versus evil. The combination of exciting plot twists, new adventures, and a strong, independent heroine make up the perfect fantasy novel. The heroine, Alexa Daley, is driven with a hunger to search for answers and solve mysteries. The possibilities are endless!” says Mary Armintor, publicist at Scholastic, Inc. The Land of Elyon trilogy includes The Dark Hills Divide, Beyond the Valley of Thorns, and The Tenth City. All three books became bestsellers, with The Dark Hills Divide spending six months on the New York Times’ Bestseller list. The books have wide appeal to young readers and have been nominated for several literary awards.”Patrick creates characters that are brave and adventurous–qualities that appeal to children. His stories metaphorically parallel the lives of children–what they experience as they grow up and become independent, explore new ground, and learn the difference between right and wrong,” observes Mary Armintor.The first of the three new books, called Into the Mist, will be published in late 2007. A prequel to The Land of Elyon trilogy, the story centers on two brothers, Thomas and Roland Warvold, on a grand and perilous adventure together in a time when the Land of Elyon was wilder. “The idea was that one of them was an adventurer by land and the other by sea. There were a lot of allusions to these characters in the trilogy,” says Carman. In Into the Mist, Alexa and the reader learn of the events that set the stage for her experiences in the Land of Elyon. “One of the things this story does very cleverly, is that it is a prequel that is in fact taking place as the next part of the adventure,” comments Peter Rubie, Carman’s literary agent.Following Into the Mist, another book will focus on the story that takes place after the trilogy. The third book will adapt the Land of Elyon story for a younger reading audience of seven to nine-year-olds. “Patrick is a very rare creature. A lot of people can write, but there are few people who are able to really connect with their audience as immediately and profoundly as he does. He has a great voice and as you read through the series, it’s better than ever,” says Rubie. For questions, interview support or public relations please contact:press@patrickcarman.comFor press material, pictures, and video or to find out more about Patrick Carman log onto www.patrickcarman.com

FIRST BOOK IN PATRICK CARMAN’S LAND OF ELYON SERIES WINS COCHECHO READERS’ AWARDSeptember 18, 2006Young readers in Dover, New Hampshire have awarded the 2006-2007 Cochecho Readers’ Award to The Dark Hills Divide, the first book in the best-selling Land of Elyon series by Patrick Carman. Named after the Cochecho River that runs through the center of Dover, the award is sponsored by the Children’s Librarians of Dover. It is given annually to an author whose book garners the most city-wide votes from third and fourth graders. “The Dark Hills Divide is a fantasy with a different twist to it. The story is accessible and is written at the right level,” comments Marcia Cannon, Children’s Librarian at the Dover Public Library, where copies of The Dark Hills Divide have been in high demand.Carman’s book was chosen from among a group of 25 notable books published within the last three years. Criteria for selection included both the quality of writing and child appeal of a book. In order to vote, children were required to listen to or read at least three of the titles on the list. They voted for their favorite book at school libraries during National Library Week in April 2006.Patrick Carma’s best-selling Land of Elyon series continues with Beyond the Valley of Thorns and The Tenth City, both published by Scholastic.For questions, interview opportunities or public relations please contact:press@patrickcarman.comFor press material, pictures, and video or to find out more about Patrick Carman log onto http://www.patrickcarman.com

Describe your latest project.The Tenth City is the final book in the Land of Elyon trilogy, which began with The Dark Hills Divide and continued with Beyond the Valley of Thorns. The Tenth City picks up only a few days after Beyond the Valley of Thorns comes to an end. Victor Grindall and his evil ogres are on the loose, making their way through Bridewell and beyond. Alexa, Yipes, Murphy, Armon the giant, and Warvold (all the characters readers have come to love) are lost on the Lonely Sea. And everyone – both good and evil – is searching for the Tenth City, where the greatest secrets of the story will be revealed. What is your favorite family story? The one about how I kidnapped a double-decker chocolate cake from the kitchen with the help of my GI Joe and my Spiderman, ate all the frosting off, and tried to blame it on the dog. If you could choose any story to live in, which story would it be? Why? My own, because my wife and children reside there. No other story comes close. How did the last good book you read end up in your hands? Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell came to me at the very end of my last book tour. I was looking for something to read on the plane ride home and it had just come out in paperback. My thinking at the time was, “that’s a HUGE book. I’ll read one page, somewhere in the middle, and if I like it, maybe I’ll buy it.” I ended up reading an entire chapter in the airport book store and almost missed my plane. It turned out to be one of the best books I’ve read in years. What was your favorite story as a child? Curious George What is your idea of bliss? A quiet stream full of big trout in Western Montana on a warm day that seems to last forever. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A professional athlete. Or Evel Knievil. Either would have been fine. Tell us about your pets. We’ve owned two cats – Sam and Pepper – both of which appear in my first book, The Dark Hills Divide. Sam and Pepper have since met with… unfortunate events. We also own a pound puppy named Taffy who looks like a Golden Labrador with a curly tail and sheds twice as much as any dog I’ve ever met. We think Taffy might have had something to do with the unfortunate events with the cats, but we only have sketchy “circumstantial evidence.” Our investigation is ongoing.

“No evil can resist the power of love forever.” – Wise words from WarvoldAlexa, now a gangly 13-year-old adventurer, gets ready to fight the battle of a lifetime as she and her friends sail across the Lonely Sea upon the ship, Warwick Beacon. While they know that they face many dangers, they have little understanding of what all this ultimately will mean to them. Hoping to rescue her dear little friend Yipes and set free Elyon from the fallen Seraph Abaddon and the evil Victor Grindall with his horrible ogres, they move ahead with both courage and fear. One major difference is that Alexa now carries the very last magical Jocasta stone. It is through the Jocasta stone that she is able to talk with her animal friends. And it is the Jocasta stone that can make all the difference in the outcome of the great battle of good and evil ahead.Again in the company of Murphy, the highly nervous squirrel, her faithful wolf companion Odessa, the soaring hawk Squire, and the gentle giant Armon, they fight all manner of evil together as they are set upon by black swarms (bats) and stinking, robot-like ogres. There is the horror of a traitor among them and their greatest sacrifice yet as their beloved Warvold is thrown to his death by Grindall and the ogres. In a twisted yet brilliant plot, Alexa manages to fool and rid their world of the terrible forces of Abaddon and Grindall — leading them to their deaths before they destroy Elyon or the Tenth City.As the final chapters close on this strange but unforgettable little group, many truths are revealed. Alexa learns that the beauty of the mystical Tenth City will always be there for her. She also learns that Elyon is restored to its beauty once more and that she and her friends will have yet more adventures. But most important to this curious, brave young girl is a personal discovery that will help her determine where her love of adventure comes from.This third and final book in The Land of Elyon trilogy is perhaps the best yet. Again Patrick Carman manages to pull in many important contemporary issues of environment, lust and power. His characters are diverse with both good and bad qualities. For the necessary flow and understanding, this is the kind of series that would be better read from the beginning. — Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts (stibbetts@maine207west.k12.il.us)