Alexa Daley and her father return to the walled city of Bridewell, where Mr. Daley has more strictures for Alexa’s behavior than ever. Nevertheless, Alexa leaves Bridewell through its underground tunnels led by Yipes, her tiny companion from Dark Hills Divide. Instructions in a letter from Warvold lead them in a quest to free the dead leader’s wife from imprisonment in the Dark Tower on the other side of the eponymous valley. Gutsy Alexa centers this story, always ready to foster cooperation and accept help from well-intentioned friends, be they human or animal. Animal characters take an active and effective role in the adventure. The plot takes off a lot faster than in the first installment, because Carman integrates the backstory as needed in the text, rather than allowing it to slow down the pace. Although the resolution of this tale satisfies, it ends on a cliffhanger, leaving readers to wait in suspense for the story’s finale. Still, a trip with Alexa Daley through the Valley of Thorns is well worth the effort. (Fiction. 10-12)

You waited for it for months, then stood in line at the bookstore before running home with “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” under your arm. Riveted, you tore through all 652 pages before closing the book with a sigh.Now what?Only J.K. Rowling knows when the next and final book in the series will come out, so we asked a few experts to recommend some reading for Potter fans looking to fill the void.There’s no shortage of opinions, in part because the hoopla over Harry has pushed fantasy adventure stories- especially from across the pond – to the kid-lit scene.”Fantasies are coming out thick and fast,” notes John Peters, the supervising librarian at the Central Childrens Room of the New York Public Library. “And some are even better than Harry Potter – though not in terms of popularity, of course.”Topping his list is Charlie Bone and The Castle of Doom,” the fourth installment in the Charlie Bone series by the Welsh writer Jenny Nimo.The parallels with Harry Potter are hard to miss: The series is about a 10-year old boy with thick black hair an no father who discovers he has magic powers(he can hear the voices of people in photographs) and is sent to Bloor’s Academy, a school for “gifted” children with similar powers.”In a way, the premise is very similar.” Peters says, comparing Charlie to Harry.”But it’s a little darker. The school is pretty unpleasant, an it has some dark secrets.”(in case you are wondering: Charlie came out after Harry did – the first book in the Bone series bowed in 2003.)”Magyk,” the first book in the new Spetimus Heap” series by Englishwomen Angie Sage, is another of Peters’ picks for Harry-heads.The fantasy adventure begins when Septimus Heap, the proverbial seventh son of a seventh son, is kidnapped the night of his birth. That same night, his father finds a newborn girl in the snow and brings the foundling home to raise her.Who the mysterious baby girl is, and what happened to Septimus are revealed in the course of a coming-of-age adventure story populated by witches, wizards, ghosts and all manner of offbeat characters with magical powers.”There are spells and prophecies and all the standard things you want,”Peters says. At 564 pages it’s downright Potteresque in length, he notes, but like Rowling’s books, it’s a fast read.While female writers from the U.K. loom large in the world of kids’ fantasy books, they’re hardly the only game in town. For a homegrown selection there’s Patrick Carman’s “THE DARK HILLS DIVIDE,” which is a favorite of Sara Yu, the assistant manager of Bank Street Bookstore.Published last winter, the book is the first part of a trilogy, “The Land of Elyon,” that Carman, a Pacific Northwesterner, intially self-publsihed to local acclaim. The tale is set in the walled kingdom of Elyon and concerns Alexa, a 12-year-old girl with the power to talk to animals, who makes a bold foray into the foreboding hills beyond the Kingdom.”It’s one of those great books you can’t stop reading, and when you’re done you can’t wait for the next one,” Yu says.Happily you won’t have to wait long – Beyond the Valley of Thorns is due out next month.Out even sooner is “Eldest,” the second book in the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini, who kicked off the series two yearsago with Eragon which he started writing at 16.The book get s a big Thumbs up from Peter Glassman, the owner of Books of Wonder in Chelsea.”It’s a classic fantasy adventure,” Glassman says of “Eragon” – one with dwarves, elves, and an evil king who needs overthrowing.The soon to arrive follow-up, “Eldest,” is even better, he says. “It’s phenomenal.”Glassman also likes to turn Potter lovers onto classic series. For kids over 10 he reccomends Alexander’s Prydian Chronichles, which starts with 1964′s “The Book of Three,” and features a young man who like Harry Potter, grows older with each adventure, as he seeks his destiny.For younger readers, he touts Edward Eager’s classic books from the ’50′s, particularly, “Half-Magic,” about four ordinary children who fund a magic talisman. “That’s the most magical of them all,” he says.To get a suggestion straight from the source – actual kids – we tapped the expertise of 11-year-old Zhen Hui Gao fo Chinatown. Having read a whopping 148 books so far this summer, Zhen is one of the top readers in the New York Public Library’s summer reading program.Where fantasy is concerned, he’s partial to, “The Enchanted Forest Chronicles,” a four book series by Patricia Wrede.”It’s about some troublemaking wizards who kidnap the King of Dragons, and the princess wants to save him,” he says. “It was amazing.”Oddly enough Zhen has yet to read any of the Harry Potter books.”It’s really long,” he said.

Beyond the Valley of Thorns, the 2nd book in the critically acclaimed Land of Elyon trilogy debuted at #2 on The New York Times best seller list for children’s chapter books.Author Patrick Carman is currently touring in the Northwest and had this to say about the news, “Releasing the second book in a series is scary – it’s when you find out if anyone actually read the first one. I’m thankful for the fans who want to see where the story goes and I think they’ll be excited to find out in Beyond the Valley of Thorns.”Beyond the Valley of Thorns – released August 16th – follows Alexa Daley, her old friends and some new ones across The Land of Elyon through the valley of thorns to the city of Castalia where they find out what evil has cast it’s spell on Elyon. In the process they battle giants, ravenous dogs, and bats as well as uncover some dark secrets.Also of note, the brand new Patrick Carman website has launched at http://www.patrickcarman.com. The site has been completely redesigned and features video, audio, screen savers and a brand new forums section for fans to connect with each other. This site is the only place online to stay in touch with Patrick and everything he has going on.Beyond the Valley of Thorns is the follow up to The Dark Hills Divide which received a starred review in publishers weekly , sold over a 1/2 million copies in North America, and spent 6 months on the NY Times best sellers list.Beyond the Valley of Thorns is already receiving critical praise – www.the-trades.comFor questions, interview opportunities or public relations please contact:press@patrickcarman.comFor press material, pictures, and video or to find out more about The Land of Elyon Trilogy log onto www.patrickcarman.com

Howard Price Writer The-Trades.comIt has been a full year since Alexa Daley experienced her adventures in the Dark Hills beyond the walls of Bridewell. The convicts who had threatened to tunnel under the city had been captured and contained, the walls that enclosed the roads to Bridewell from Lathbury, Turlock, and Lunenberg had been torn down. The adventure was over.But in truth, it had just begun.Alexa and her friends Yipes and Murphy are back in the second part of the Land of Elyon trilogy, joined by new comrades: John Christopher, a former convict; Armon, the last of the giants; and Odessa, the wolf.Upon arriving in Bridewell, Alexa is presented with a letter of instructions from her departed friend, Thomas Warvold. In it, he instructs her to undertake a new quest, one that will take her again out of Bridewell, through the Dark Hills, and beyond the Valley of the Thorns. There she will come to Castalia, a city ruled by the iron fist of Victor Grindall and his army of ninety-nine ogres — former giants who have become diseased by the will of Abaddon.Alexa must survive the journey through the City of Dogs and overcome this invincible army to fulfill the prophecy of the imminent return of Elyon. Fortunately she will find help at every turn, relying on her instincts and her good nature. And before it’s all said and done, Alexa will uncover astonishing truths about the Land of Elyon, and be joined by friends whom she believed to have passed into legend.This is no mere romp through the countryside. The ogres are described in gruesome detail, and the battles waged to defeat them are as graphic and bloody as any skirmish related by Tolkein. Death is everywhere, and even the side of good isn’t immune to its icy touch:…I wanted to stop. I wanted everything to stop. I wanted simply to stay in the same place and mourn my friend’s death. But everything kept moving as it always does. I was still alive, and involved in things that wouldn’t wait for my needs to be met. The night was late, and I knew I had to gather my things and go.Beyond the Valley of the Thorns is akin to The Two Towers — and in fact there is a central single tower that plays host to very important and climactic scenes — in that the story it tells bridges the first book to the ultimate climax yet to come. For as one evil is set on the run, an even greater evil — Abaddon — is awakened to full power, and all the Land of Elyon is in more danger than it has ever known.Certain allegories to tenets of faith run strong through the pages, as sacrifices are made and hard choices taken — all in the name of a powerful entity they’ve never seen nor can prove the existence of, and who, it could be argued, has left them all to suffer their own fates. But Alexa continues undaunted, heroically, despite the many opportunities and many good reasons to give up. As girl heroes go, Alexa stands apart from her literary predecessors — for the Land of Elyon is not some faraway enchanted world to her, but her home; the evil she faces threatens not just a newfound group of friends, but her family and her very way of life. Her desperation and her resultant bravery are shared by the reader as the author transports us on a harrowing journey through dangers unimaginable.Grade: A+

It has been a full year since Alexa Daley experienced her adventures in the Dark Hills beyond the walls of Bridewell. The convicts who had threatened to tunnel under the city had been captured and contained, the walls that enclosed the roads to Bridewell from Lathbury, Turlock, and Lunenberg had been torn down. The adventure was over. But in truth, it had just begun. Alexa and her friends Yipes and Murphy are back in the second part of the Land of Elyon trilogy, joined by new comrades: John Christopher, a former convict; Armon, the last of the giants; and Odessa, the wolf. Upon arriving in Bridewell, Alexa is presented with a letter of instructions from her departed friend, Thomas Warvold. In it, he instructs her to undertake a new quest, one that will take her again out of Bridewell, through the Dark Hills, and beyond the Valley of the Thorns. There she will come to Castalia, a city ruled by the iron fist of Victor Grindall and his army of ninety-nine ogres — former giants who have become diseased by the will of Abaddon. Alexa must survive the journey through the City of Dogs and overcome this invincible army to fulfill the prophecy of the imminent return of Elyon. Fortunately she will find help at every turn, relying on her instincts and her good nature. And before it’s all said and done, Alexa will uncover astonishing truths about the Land of Elyon, and be joined by friends whom she believed to have passed into legend. This is no mere romp through the countryside. The ogres are described in gruesome detail, and the battles waged to defeat them are as graphic and bloody as any skirmish related by Tolkein. Death is everywhere, and even the side of good isn’t immune to its icy touch: …I wanted to stop. I wanted everything to stop. I wanted simply to stay in the same place and mourn my friend’s death. But everything kept moving as it always does. I was still alive, and involved in things that wouldn’t wait for my needs to be met. The night was late, and I knew I had to gather my things and go. Beyond the Valley of the Thorns is akin to The Two Towers — and in fact there is a central single tower that plays host to very important and climactic scenes — in that the story it tells bridges the first book to the ultimate climax yet to come. For as one evil is set on the run, an even greater evil — Abaddon — is awakened to full power, and all the Land of Elyon is in more danger than it has ever known.Certain allegories to tenets of faith run strong through the pages, as sacrifices are made and hard choices taken — all in the name of a powerful entity they’ve never seen nor can prove the existence of, and who, it could be argued, has left them all to suffer their own fates. But Alexa continues undaunted, heroically, despite the many opportunities and many good reasons to give up. As girl heroes go, Alexa stands apart from her literary predecessors — for the Land of Elyon is not some faraway enchanted world to her, but her home; the evil she faces threatens not just a newfound group of friends, but her family and her very way of life. Her desperation and her resultant bravery are shared by the reader as the author transports us on a harrowing journey through dangers unimaginable.Grade: A+