Book News: Lowdown on The 39 Clues

450640If you thought the Cahills were the only group after the 39 Clues, you were wrong.  Dan and Amy Cahill didn’t just discover a secret, but an international catastrophe in the making!  Meet Vesper One — or better yet, don’t.  Because he (or she) is ruthless enough to take seven innocent Cahills hostage, in order to force Dan and Amy to do the Vespers’ dirty work.   What are the Vespers after, and why must the Cahill siblings travel the world, searching for lost texts, inventions, and artwork in deathly places?  Find out in the new series, Cahills Vs. Vespers, which has already begun with two high-voltage adventures: Gordon Korman’s The Medusa Plot and Jude Watson’s A King’s Ransom.  But hang on tight. If you think the stakes are high now, you ain’t seen nothing yet. March 6, 2012, is not only the drop date for my own book, The Dead of Night, but also wheels-up on my coast-to-coast, thirteen-state tour! Plans are still in the works, but here is what we have so far. Keep checking back, as the list will continue to grow right up to early March.

Are you a member of the Cahill Message Boards at 1000640http://www.the39clues.com/the39Clues.com?  If you are, you know that I have been bombarded with questions asking about what’s going to happen.  Well, some mysterious agent seems to hack my answers, but they can’t reach me here at my private website, can they?  Ha!  So just keep this between us, okay? The book’s title is The Dead of Night, it takes place in SORRY, CLASSIFIED!!!, and the awesome secret revealed in the book is ARE YOU KIDDING?? NO WAY!!!.  There! (Oh, yes, and you can read an excerpt from the book 1000640http://bit.ly/AnRnlGhere!)

Book 4 will be written by an awesome writer who is new to the series, Roland Smith!  Book 5 brings back the Newbery Award–winning Linda Sue Park, and New York Times best-selling author David Baldacci wraps it all up with Book 6.

If you’re new to the 39 Clues, or if you just want to read more about it, just click here.

wtf

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Six people, six secrets. One night, one party, one hideous accident that blows everything apart. On November 10, 2009, my young-adult novel wtf(Simon Pulse) was released. It’s intense, funny, and raw (for older, mature readers!) — the kind of off-the-wall, pulse-pounding adventure I like to read. Already the reviewers have been chiming in.

800660http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6716741.htmlSchool Library Journal: “Shortly after nine p.m. on a Friday evening in October, things fall apart for six young adults tangled together by drug deals, debts, and greed. The cinematic narrative flashes forward and back and alternates among the various characters’ viewpoints over the course of one night. Lerangis’s novel demonstrates how one stupid decision can have a wicked snowball effect that leaves everyone asking, ‘WTF’?…. Fans of David Levithan and Rachel Cohn’s Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist will appreciate this even faster paced, smart-aleck-toned partying misadventure, and the steady action and short chapters will appeal to reluctant readers.”

800600http://peterlerangis.com/files/wtf_voya_review.pdfVOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates): “Written in ever-widening circles and loops, this novel’s structure nearly becomes a character in its own right, lending an unpredictability and urgency to the events. The pacing of the story is well done, and when a chapter moves back to another character in a different place, clues help the reader to switch gears. The story takes place predominantly on one night (with only a few necessary flashbacks), making the read compulsive and surreal. Male and female characters from a variety of backgrounds will give the book broad appeal.… Sex, drugs, and strong language are prevalent —as might be supposed by the title … giving an air of realism to a horrifying night.”

800660http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3685130Booklist: “surreal … very believable, smart urban teens … teens will be eager to see how Lerangis stitches [the plot points] all together … and the event-filled chases through the streets of Manhattan will remind readers of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”

800600http://peterlerangis.com/files/BCCB_wtf_review.pdfBulletin of the Center for Children’s Books: “Plot-rich and quirky, with echoes of the Coen brothers and Weekend at Bernie’s.”

Publishers Weekly: “Action-packed from first page to last … with danger and surprises around nearly every corner.”

800660http://www.bookpage.com/reviews-10002010-Capture-the-imagination-of-your-book-loving-teenBookPage: “From the shocking beginning to an ending that still manages to surprise, this is one book readers won’t be able to put down.”

BookKids Blog: “ … fast-paced romp of a novel. If you’re looking for something edgy and original, wtf is a great pick.”

800660http://www.katiesbookblog.com/2009/12/wtf-by-peter-lerangis.htmlKatie’s Book Blog: “wtf was an awesome book. I read the whole thing in one day because once I started it I couldn’t put it down. It was so good and I just had to know how everything was going to end…. I laughed out loud so many times at all of the impossible situations … it will keep you enthralled from beginning to the very end.”

800660http://www.yabliss.com/2009/10/wtf-peter-lerangis.htmlYA Bliss: “Whoa! I LOVED this book! I had SO much FUN reading it…. There are so many WTF moments and so many OMFG moments you just can’t stop reading. The writing was awesome. The characters were cool, I felt I was watching a really fun movie. The plot was just so twisted and fun. It’s entertaining/ funny/ modern/ light/ cool book that you just can not miss! Definitely recommended.”

800660http://justyourtypicalbookblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/review-wtf-by-peter-lerangis.htmlJust Your Typical Book Blog: “There’s no doubt that this book could easily play out into a movie. It’s very fast paced and makes for a quick read.… There wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t cracking up.… The ending to WTF seriously had me going wtf?!”