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Why mess around? Collect all six.
Grades 3-6. Paperback. Cheap!
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I’ll be signing a range of books, I imagine, but mostly we’ll be celebrating 50 years of the fabulous Open Door bookstore. What an accomplishment, what a service to our community.
For this visit, we’ll be focusing on some of my spookier titles — Exit 13 and the “Scary Tales” series — but there’s also just a big, wonderful, glorious store to visit and support. Put your money where your values are.
Please stop by and say hello.
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Take a minute, study hard, and tell me if you can notice any subtle differences in the covers . . .
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Yes, okay, correct: one is red and the other is orange. And yes again. The image of the doll has been reversed! Very good. Now look closer at the words. That’s right! The book on top was published in Persian. How cool is that?
Thanks to Google Alerts, I found this article from the Tehran Times yesterday:
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TEHRAN – “One-Eyed Doll” by American children’s book writer James Preller has been published in Persian.
Cheshmeh is the publisher of the book translated into Persian by Maedeh Mortazavi.
Welcome. Have a seat. The doll will move if you ask nicely. She’s got a story to tell. But be warned. One-Eyed Doll isn’t just any tale. This is a scary tale.
Meet Malick Rice and his sister, Tiana, two kids who love to hunt for hidden treasure and are about to make their biggest find yet: a small box, tightly locked, buried behind a deserted house; a box meant to stay buried forever… in this bone-chilling tale from James Preller and Iacopo Bruno.
Preller is the author of the popular “Jigsaw Jones” mystery books.
He has also written widely for young readers of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. Some middle-grade titles include “Blood Mountain”, “Bystander”, named a 2009 Junior Library Guild Selection; “Six Innings”, an ALA Notable Book; “The Courage Test”, a 2016 Junior Library Guild Selection; “The Fall”, a YALSA award-winner; “Better Off Undead”; and, “Before You Go” — as well as the “Scary Tales” and the “Big Idea Gang” series.
Younger readers might enjoy his pirate-themed books (“A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade”) and an upcoming picture book of haiku, “All Welcome Here”.
He lives in Delmar, New York, and gratefully visits schools around the country.
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Anyway, just sharing. Once you put a book out into the world, there’s no telling where it might end up!
And while it’s unlikely that Maedeh will find this blog post, thank you, Maedeh Mortazavi, for translating my English into Persian. I hope you enjoyed the experience.
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For many years now, I’ve been receiving fan mail from a school in Istanbul, Turkey. It’s always a thrill to get them, just the idea that something I wrote can make it all the way there — and then, years later, we connect through that shared book experience. Writer and reader. Words bring us together. It’s kind of beautiful when you think about it. Here’s one from Kaya . . .
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Dear Mr Preller,
Some of the vocabulary you used was difficult for me but I learned new words. Normally I read slowly but I was curious about your story and I read it so fast.
I liked the pictures of your book. They helped me to understand your story better. In my opinion the book can be more interesting if pictures are colorful.
I want to read other books of Jigsaw Jones this summer. They look so interesting.
I replied . . .
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Dear Kaya,
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This sweet note, out of the blue, made me feel better about everything.