Look out, Harry. Youngsters who delighted in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles or the Harry Potter books will like “The Land of Elyon: Book 1, The Dark Hills Divide” by Patrick Carman.
Everett News Tribune

Elizabeth Barrington believes Alexa is smarter than Harry Potter. That’s high praise about the main character in Patrick Carman’s first book from the third-grader at Sacajawea Elementary School in Richland. The Harry Potter series about a boy wizard has sold millions of copies worldwide.

Elizabeth, 8, declared Carman’s book, The Dark Hills Divide, to be more exciting than the Potter adventures.

“It’s not as long and better than Harry Potter. Your eyes are glued to the page more,” she said.

Carman, a Walla Walla author, spoke to Sacajawea students Thursday about his first book. Today, he’s signing books at 6 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. He also visited Richland’s Jason Lee Elementary School on Thursday and planned to visit Jefferson Elementary School in Richland today.

Carman’s 200-page fantasy is the first in a trilogy about Alexa, a 12-year-old girl who grew up inside a walled city. The 40-foot-tall, 3-foot-wide stone walls protect the townspeople from “enchanted dangers” outside.

But the story’s heroine isn’t satisfied with her safe haven. She wants to see what’s on outside the walls.

And so begins her adventure in the magical Land of Elyon where animals can talk and stones tell the future.

“She’s an interesting character,” said Alicia Faggioli, 9, of Alexa. “She’s pretty curious about everything.”

Ezra Dulaney, 9, said he was on page 153 of the book as he stood in line to get Carman’s autograph. “It’s a different world, and that’s fun,” he said.

The girls, Sierra and Reece, now in third and first grades at Prospect Point Elementary in Walla Walla, loved their dad’s first book and are clamoring to read the second, Behind the Valley of Thorns, due out at Christmas. But their father won’t let them.

“They’ve got such big mouths. They’d tell the other kids what happened,” said Carman, who is currently working on the third book in the series, The Tenth City.

Carman has visited Walla Walla’s six elementary schools to talk about the book and writing with students as part of his marketing campaign. The result has been successful sales at the Book and Game Co. in downtown Walla Walla.

“Over Christmas we couldn’t keep them in stock, and when they first came out we couldn’t keep them in stock,” said store manager Joyce Bruns.

Since September, the store has sold 288 copies of Carman’s book, which is published by Walla Walla-based Amped Media. The store has four copies left on the shelves and more on order. Six were sold Wednesday. By comparison, the fifth Harry Potter book, Return of the Phoenix, went on sale in May last year and 458 copies have been sold.

“With Pat Carman’s book, the sales have been consistent. Harry Potter, it was first two months and then sales dipped drastically. Pat Carman keeps the interest going and does things with the schools so the sales have been very consistent,” Bruns said.

Many of the Sacajawea students bought the book and were reading it in their classes to prepare for Carman’s visit.

On Thursday, Carman tossed three mini basketballs to the kids and encouraged them to toss them back into a small hoop he carried. He said the fundamentals of basketball — dribbling, passing, shooting — are important to play a good game of basketball. Mastering the basics of writing is important for the same reason, he told the Sacajawea kids.

“If you can’t do those things well, you can’t write very well,” he said.

It’s been five years since an author has visited the Richland school. “We haven’t had an author in a long time,” said third-grade teacher Glenda Webber. It’s rare for kids get to meet them, and students were excited about his visit because they were enjoying the book, she said.

Jason Trader, 9, a third-grader was one of them. “He uses a lot of elaborate detail and you can picture the story in your mind,” he said.

Steven Rusk, 10, a fourth-grader said he’d never met an author before.

“If I had a mood ring it would be purple,” he said. “Purple means excited.”

Los Angeles – Kids who loved Eragon, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter will likely be mesmerized by Patrick Carman’s The Dark Hills Divide, the riveting first volume in his new Land of Elyon trilogy for young readers.

The Walla Walla author will visit Richland on January 22, 2004, to speak to the entire student body at Sacajawea Elementary School.

Carman will also meet with and sign books for young readers at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at the Columbia Street Mall on Thursday, January 23rd, at 6 pm.For more information about this event, please call (509) 736-3116.

Carman is a successful entrepreneur who conceived the Land of Elyon series after trading places with his wife one night a week while she got out of the house and he took over reading to their two young daughters. As the months passed, Carman began spinning a tale for them about the escapades of a young girl who became the inspiration for the novel’s heroine.

In the year that followed, Carman “journaled” his thoughts and sketched out impressions about the characters and place that would become The Land of Elyon. Then, in his spare time between running a national media production company and his ongoing commitment as a volunteer counselor to teens, Carman began to write.

The Land of Elyon Book I: The Dark Hills Divide is set in a fantasy world in which animals can talk and enchanted stones can predict the future. The heroine, a 12-year-old girl named Alexa, has spent her life living behind the four-story walls that surround her village and the three others that make up Bridewell Common. Even the roads between the towns are walled in to keep its citizens safe from the unknown. But Alexa’s curiosity for what lies in the hills and forests on the other side sends her on a daring adventure into a secret world in which nothing is as it seems to be.

Ideal for readers 9-12, the lush story is filled with mystery, unforgettable characters, intriguing plot twists, and moral issues that are relevant to their own lives.

For more information about the book, please go to www.LandofElyon.com.

The Land of Elyon Book I: The Dark Hills Divide (Amped Media, $11.95) is currently available through Barnes & Noble at Columbia Street Mall and other local bookstores.

Washington – Kids who loved Eragon, The Chronicles ofNarnia, Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter will likely bemesmerized by Patrick Carman’s The Dark Hills Divide, the riveting firstvolume in his new Land of Elyon trilogy for young readers.

The Walla Walla author will visit schools and bookstores throughout the Northwestfrom January 15, 2004 to April 15th 2004. Mr. Carman will visit Richland,Kennewick, Pasco, Seattle, Spokane, Wenatchee,Yakima, The Dalles, Hood River,Portland, and Salem.

Carman is a successful entrepreneur who conceived the Land of Elyon series aftertrading places with his wife one night a week while she got out of the house andhe took over reading to their two young daughters. As the months passed, Carman beganspinning a tale for them about the escapades of a young girl who became the inspirationfor the novel’s heroine.

In the year that followed, Carman “journaled” his thoughts and sketched outimpressions about the characters and place that would become The Land of Elyon.Then, in his spare time between running a national media production company and hisongoing commitment as a volunteer counselor to teens, Carman began to write.

The Land of Elyon Book I: The Dark Hills Divide is set in a fantasy world inwhich animals can talk and enchanted stones can predict the future. The heroine, a12-year-old girl named Alexa, has spent her life living behind the four-story wallsthat surround her village and the three others that make up Bridewell Common. Even theroads between the towns are walled in to keep its citizens safe from the unknown. ButAlexa’s curiosity for what lies in the hills and forests on the other side sends her ona daring adventure into a secret world in which nothing is as it seems to be.

Ideal for readers 9-12, the lush story is filled with mystery, unforgettablecharacters, intriguing plot twists, and moral issues that are relevant to their ownlives.

For more information about the book, please go towww.LandofElyon.com.

The Land of Elyon Book I: The Dark Hills Divide (Amped Media, $11.95) iscurrently available through booksellers in the Northwest, atwww.landofelyon.com, and throughwww.amazon.com.

You’d be surprised how many people who find out what I do for a living express disappointment with the current quality of books — and that my response is that I’m delighted with the quality of books today.

Admittedly, there are books that I complain about. But almost every day I get excited about two or three new books written on fascinating topics by exceptional literary talents.

I know that everyone has varied tastes in reading material. Some people don’t like to read books at all. But I get a curious exhilaration from a good book — and when I finish it, I need to quickly get into another.

I used to read history and biography almost exclusively, but now I get genuine enjoyment from high-quality novels. I like to find a book that grabs my interest early on and holds it. Even though I know I forget much of what I read, I think I have learned important things by reading books of great variety.

You may think, “That’s easy for him to say — he reads books for a living!” And it’s true that I probably read more books than the average person. But I believe that people who consistently read books in their leisure time, even if they do it slowly, are often more interesting and more fulfilled than those who don’t. Digesting various good books seems to enrich the brain, and to accelerate the ability to enrich others.

A vocal contingent was not happy about a special National Book Award going to popular horror-writer Stephen King. But a lot of people enjoy reading his novels, as well as the dependable annual works of John Grisham, Janet Evanovich and Tom Clancy.

Others believe it’s a giant leap from those often predictable mysteries to the more literary, upscale writing of John Updike, Louis Begley or Tobias Wolff.

But we all have different interests, so we should probably read what we like to read, books we enjoy — books that make us think or books that just make us happy.

That said, this has been an enormously successful year for the writing and reading of books.

Another “Harry Potter” novel was published (“The Order of the Phoenix”), with J. K. Rowling playing an important role in making children’s books more attractive. Last year, it became a mark of prestige to have read a “Harry Potter” book — even for adults.

Locally, Shannon Hale wrote a wonderful book for young people, “The Goose Girl,” published and recognized nationally. We will hear more from this talented writer in 2004.

The most consistent best-seller this year, and perhaps the most talked-about, has been Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code,” a mysterious, historical novel that critics call “clunky” in style but which many readers find fascinating. Brown may not be the best writer of the year, but he is the one who most clearly struck a chord with the current public interest in religion, symbolism and history.

Fantasy writers, such as Patrick Carman (“The Dark Hills Divide“) and Michael Stackpole (“The Grand Crusade”), are cashing in on the continuing popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series, which continues to charm moviegoers.

This was an especially notable year for political writers because the established niche that conservative writers have enjoyed has been effectively challenged by liberals. They are popping up all over the non-fiction best-seller lists — conservative Bill O’Reilly, the host of TV’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” has “Who’s Looking out for You?” which has been among the top-four best-sellers since its publication; glamorous conservative Ann Coulter has hit the big time with several books, most recently “Treason”; liberal Al Franken’s “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them” has been a consistent best-seller; Michael Moore’s “Dude, Where’s My Country” is enjoying popularity, much like his earlier book, “Stupid White Men.” There is even a liberal talk-radio network about to hit the airwaves in January, with liberal hosts (including Franken) getting their own shows to compete with O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh.

This has also been the year when non-historians cashed in on writing historical works, such as “Benjamin Franklin,” written by former CNN /CEO Walter Isaacson, and “Franklin and Winston,” in which Jon Meacham, a Newsweek managing editor, has markedly contributed to the public scrutiny of Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

Scholars of great distinction, such as Fred Kaplan and Robert Dallek, have also written interesting, definitive books on Mark Twain and John F. Kennedy, respectively.

Although book sales have been down, along with the rest of the economy, the quality of books in my view has generally remained high. And that is good news indeed.

E-mail: dennis@desnews.com