The League and The Lantern: A Rip-Roaring Adventure Series by Local Author Brian Wells

Author:

Published on:

Feb 16, 2016, 7:50 pm

About the project:

"A rip-roaring comedy adventure that's also about courage, family and friendship."

I love action-adventure! When I was 10, my dad brought home a second-hand Hardy Boys book from the Salvation Army store. I was hooked. Next came The Chronicles of Narnia, and then the big screen; Indiana Jones, The Goonies and later National Treasure.

Those stories profoundly impacted me. They were both GREAT (engaging writing, great characters, surprising twists and humor) and GOOD (they reinforced the kind of character my parents wanted to build into me). Over the last several years, in-between producing family movies, being a husband and dad and working to help children around the world I’ve been writing my own.

Allow me to introduce you to The League and the Lantern. It's the FIRST BOOK IN A NEW ADVENTURE SERIES for middle-school readers. It all starts when a dangerous organization invades Jake Herndon’s seventh-grade sleepover. He escapes along with two new classmates, Lucy and TJ, only to face a 48-hour fight for survival on the streets of Chicago. The kids unravel a mystery dating back to the Civil War, and an incredible secret about Jake’s family. Along the way they learn unexpected lessons about courage, family and friendship.

What makes the book so awesome?

That’s so nice of you to ask. And I love how you worded that. Everyone from 9-14 year-olds to parents to industry professionals are saying that it's an engaging mix of great characters, laugh-out loud humor and mind-bending twists. And it delivers all this in an incredibly imaginative way without any objectionable language, sexual innuendo or inappropriate themes.

The book is in it's final round of proofreading but here’s some of the early feedback on the advance draft:

Emmy and Peabody Winner and former Spielberg Producer:

“An original concept with characters that are fun, different and have original voices. I can safely say I have not read or seen anything with this kind of storytelling.”

Former Vice-President, Walt Disney World:

"A riveting adventure full of great characters, smart humor and gripping action!"

Mom of two boys and one girl:

Suspenseful action-adventure mixed with moments of hilarity, a great moral lesson and spatterings of history. My kids loved it and I loved what it filled their minds with!

Eleven-year-old boy:

“This is one of my favorite books of all time! I loved the characters who were funny, smart and daring. I would definitely recommend it to all my friends."

Thirteen-year-old girl:

“I loved it. It was an epic adventure with so many crazy twists and turns!”

University English Professor and Children's Author:

“You’ve somehow created a rip-roaring comedy-adventure that also manages to be a brief for mercy, compassion and love.”

If you want to get an even better feel, check out the first 33 pages here: http://dot-dash-client-files.s3.amazonaws.com/leagueandlantern/LeagueAndLanternSneakPeek.pdf

Anything else awesome about the book?

Again, I’m glad you asked. This isn’t your first rodeo is it? The answer is yes, many things, but especially these two:

1) I’ve worked with education professionals to invisibly weave into the book 140 OF THE TOP VOCABULARY WORDS MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENTS NEED FOR SUCCESS. By doing this we’ve created a fun summer read that will also keep your child or grandchild sharp for middle school.

2) By launching this book outside of the traditional route we’re able to do something that’s close to my heart. FOR EVERY HARDCOVER THAT WE SELL WHEN WE LAUNCH IN MAY WE'LL GIVE AWAY A HARDCOVER TO A CHILD IN NEED. That’s right, every time someone buys a book when we launch we’re going to give a free book to a child who couldn’t otherwise afford it. There's something special when a kid gets to hold their very own brand new book in their hands. We want every kid to have that experience.

How will you use the funds?

The book is almost finished but we need help with the printing of the books and building awareness when we launch. We'll use every penny we raise to print up books for the launch and to help spread the word. The more we raise, the more books we'll be able to print and the more we'll be able to get the word out.