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A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL DISRUPTIVE BOYS

The story you are about to read is true.

If parents or teachers try to tell you otherwise, don’t believe them. They’re part of the conspiracy, trying to make you believe in chocolate chip cookies and happy endings, while secretly they plot your doom.

They definitely don’t want you knowing about places like Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys.

It’s possible they’ve already begun filling out your application.

Cody Mack had never heard of Splurch Academy. He had no idea he was in danger, just from a few disruptive stunts here and there.

And look what happened to him.

Wait. You don’t know yet what happened to him. But you will.

This book is here to warn you, to save you from a fate like Cody’s. I won’t say, “Stop being disruptive forever,” because I might as well tell a hound not to bark, but I will say, “You might want to tone it down a notch,” or just, “Keep a very close eye on your parents,” and maybe also, “Look through their papers to see if they’ve been in contact with Dr. Archibald Farley, the headmaster.”

You don’t yet know who Dr. Archibald Farley is, or why you should fear him.

It’s far safer to meet Dr. Farley in the pages of this book than to face him in real life.

Read and be warned. Read and be wise. Read and know what really happens to disruptive boys once they’ve crossed that line.

I suspect you still don’t believe me.

In that case, all I can say is farewell.

And good luck.

Excerpt copyright © 2010 Julie Berry

About the book:

Splurch Academy is the last thing Cody suspects when he’s summoned down to Principal Small’s office for yet another misdeed. Something’s clearly creepy about Dr. Archibald Farley, the headmaster, but neither Principal Small nor Cody’s parents seem to notice. They sign him over to Dr. Farley’s care at the remote boarding school, confident they’re doing the very best thing possible for feisty fifth-grade Cody.

But there’s a little problem.

Dr. Farley’s a vampire. His crew of vile teachers are bone-wrenching, blood-sucking, kid-eating monsters. And reform is the last thing on anyone’s mind at this reform school. Will Cody make it to Christmas break? For that matter, will he even survive the first night? Monsters-meet-mad science-meet naughty boy mayhem in this new series by sisters Julie Berry and Sally Gardner.

Release date: August 19, 2010

About the Author:

Julie Berry holds a BS from Rensselaer in communication and an MFA from Vermont College in writing for children and young adults. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and four young sons. The Amaranth Enchantment (2009 Bloomsbury) was her first book, followed by The Rat Brain Fiasco and Curse of the Bizarro Beetle, the first two titles in the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series of comic/graphic novels.  (2010 Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin Books for Young Readers).  Her latest book, Secondhand Charm, released October 12, 2010 from Bloomsbury.

The pandas have been busily tallying entries for our Prisoners in the Palace giveaway. Their lack of thumbs made it slow-going, but finally, with the help of random.org, they chose a winner! And that lucky person is:

Amanda!

Amanda, I’ll be contacting you to get your address. Thanks so much to everyone who entered! We’ll be having more giveaways in the future, so make sure to check back soon. Happy reading!

“Really, Jen, is it too much to ask?”

I pressed my lips together. I hated that question. Dad only used it when my answering “yes” would make me look selfish, inconsiderate, and completely unreasonable.

He speared a piece of Szechuan chicken with his fork and popped it into his mouth, undoubtedly hoping that, while he chewed, I’d agree to six weeks of hard labor at my grandmother’s bed-and-breakfast.

Was it too much to ask? No. At least it shouldn’t have been. But a familiar, anxious feeling was forming under my ribs at the thought of staying out at the Schoenhaus for more than a few days. I studied the white Chinese take-out cartons sitting on our kitchen table for a few seconds, wondering why he was trying so hard to guilt me into this. Then I found the hole in his logic.

“Grandma Kay didn’t ask me to help her,” I pointed out. “She was just giving me first shot at the job if I wanted it. That’s a big difference. I’d rather stay here in St. Louis this summer. I put in three applications today, and two of the places are hiring.”

“But Jen, the summer tourist season has already started,” Dad pointed out. “Training someone takes time. Your grandmother thinks making beds is an art form.”

“True,” I said. Then I frowned. “But wasn’t she already training someone else?”

“Well, yes. But Bri only plans to put in about ten hours a week.”

“Bri?” I asked. “Working? You’re kidding.”

Dad shrugged. “Her mom thought it would be good for her.”

“Right,” I said. My father had just given me another good reason to stay away from the Schoenhaus. Ten hours a week with Bri Harris was cruel and unusual punishment.

Excerpt © 2010 Kristin Wolden Nitz

About the book:

Jen is scheduled to spend the summer helping Grandma Kay run a Victorian bed and breakfast. But Grandma Kay’s plans include a lot more than housekeeping. She intends to solve a real mystery from the past: the disappearance of Jen’s mother. During the build-up to an elaborate, role-playing Murder Mystery Weekend, Jen’s worst suspicions are aroused. Could a member of her own family be responsible?

What people are saying:

Nitz intertwines and then untangles relationships among the teens and guests, weaving a credible mystery for a wide adolescent audience. With clues and red herrings neatly scattered throughout, the book scores as a darned good little mystery. Intriguing, suspenseful fun. (Mystery. 12 & up) -Kirkus

Release Date: October 1, 2010

About the author:

Kristin Wolden Nitz learned the subtle art of planting clues from reading–and often rereading–hundreds of mysteries. The historical building, sloping vineyards, and winding roads around Augusta, Missouri gave her both the initial idea and the eerie atmosphere for SUSPECT. Kristin, who is also the author of DEFENDING IRENE and SAVING THE GRIFFIN, lives in Southwest Michigan.

Win a copy of Prisoners in the Palace! Details at the end of this post.

I

In Which Liza’s
Circumstances Change
for the Worse

Liza huddled in the armchair near the window, her mother’s shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Despite the fire, she couldn’t seem to get warm. The blinds were drawn against the morning’s winter light.

It shouldn’t be sunny.

There was a discreet knock at the door. A maid in a black dress with a white apron entered, carrying a meal on a tray. “Miss Liza, you mustn’t shut yourself away like this. It’s not like you.” With a quick motion, she deposited the tray and jerked the blinds open. Liza blinked and held up a hand to shade her eyes.

“Cora!”

“With all due respect to your bereaved state, Miss, the staff is beginning to talk,” Cora scolded. “This is no life for a young lady such as you. Go out of doors, put some color back in those cheeks.”

“There’s nothing for me outside.”

The hotel suite had been her refuge since the day she had walked behind the black carriage drawn by four black horses and watched the shovelfuls of black earth rain down on her parents’ coffins. And now what? Her family had come to London to join society. But without Mama’s letters of introduction, there would be no welcome for Liza in the best homes. There would be no glittering season followed by a brilliant marriage. She was alone in a strange country; she had neither friends nor family. When her parents’ cabriolet had plunged into the Serpentine a fortnight ago, it had desolated Liza’s life too.

Excerpt copyright © 2010 Michaela MacColl

About the book:

London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza’s dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady’s maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant’s world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on newly discovered information, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe.

What people are saying:

“Prisoners in the Palace is a delightful behind-the- scenes look at Victorian royalty and the making of a queen.  I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it highly.” -Karen Cushman

“A splendid view of the Victorian world; a warm and engaging novel. I loved it.” -Patricia Reilly Giff

Release date: November 2010

About the author:

Michaela MacColl studied multi-disciplinary history at Vassar College and Yale University, which turns out to be the perfect degree for writing historical fiction. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and three extremely large cats in Connecticut. This is her first book.

Win a copy:

The publisher, Chronicle Books, has been kind enough to contribute a copy of Prisoners in the Palace for a giveaway!

To enter simply leave a comment on this post.

For extra entries, become a  member of First Page Panda by clicking “Join this site” (+1 entry) or link to this contest on Twitter, Facebook, etc. (+1 entry per each link). Please list your extra entries in the comments.

The contest is for US and Canada only and will end at midnight EST on October 25th.

Good luck!

ONE

Responsibility was overrated. Sure, it sounded good—take control of your own life, make your own choices—but that also meant you had to pay for your own mistakes. And if your life and choices hadn’t gone the way you’d planned, well, then your mistakes might reach deeper than your pockets could afford.

I hoped mine were deep enough for the mess I’d caused.

I watered the lake violets in the front sunroom. Just busy work, but I had to do something other than sit in the town house worrying while my friends were out risking their lives. I should have been out there with them, but I’d been recognized on our last rescue mission and it wasn’t safe outside for me anymore. Not that Geveg had been all that safe in the five years since the Baseeri invaded, but being hunted by the Duke, his soldiers, Geveg’s Governor-General, and by who knew how many trackers, added a whole new level of danger.

“Is Aylin back yet?” asked Tali, lurking in the doorway. Some girls hovered behind her, a few Takers we’d rescued last week but hadn’t managed to smuggle off the isles yet.

“No,” I said, “she’s still out looking.” So was Danello, but Tali always worried more about Aylin, which was silly. Aylin could take care of herself—Danello was the one with the street smarts of a hen.

“Is it bad that it’s taking so long?”

I hesitated. “I don’t know. It depends if the recruiters are snatching people off the street again.”

The Takers behind Tali paled and backed away. None had been grabbed by the Healers’ League’s new “recruiters,” but we all knew people who had: pulled from their homes, dragged to the League, forced to heal—even if it killed us.

It was nine shades of wrong. The League used to invite only Takers with strong healing talents to become apprentices, those who had real futures as Healers. But now? You didn’t have a choice. The Duke demanded that any Taker with even a trace of healing ability had to serve at the League. The lucky ones were trained. The unlucky—they wound up in a small, windowless room somewhere being experimented on.

The Duke of Baseer had his war to win, whatever the cost to us.

Excerpt © 2010 Janice Hardy

About the book:

Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.

Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer—if she doesn’t destroy it first.

What people are saying:

In a story thick with ruses and political intrigue, Hardy keeps the focus human by returning to Nya’s moral qualms about having to hurt one person whenever she heals another, the tough choices leadership thrusts upon her, and her smart-aleck first-person voice. –Horn Book

Nya catapults through the pages like a super-charged action figure, but her first-person narration reveals inner conflict when forced to use her healing powers to injure and kill. Again, Nya confronts impossible moral choices as she fights to find her beloved sister. Relentless, gripping adventure. (Fantasy. 10 & up) –Kirkus

Release date: October 5, 2010

About the author:

A long-time fantasy reader, Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, and BLUE FIRE from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins.  She lives in Georgia with her husband, three cats and one very nervous freshwater eel.