Choke, the sequel to the well-received Pillage

“Obert Skye has created another amazing dragon fantasy.” ─ McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Award-winning author Obert Skye, writer of the fantasy series Leven Thumps, now pens volume two of his trilogy Choke.

Having toured the country multiple times, speaking to more than half-a-million students about the importance of reading and growing your imagination, Skye has developed a loyal nationwide fan base.

In this sequel to Pillage, Beck Phillips has determined he is a Pillage and dragons are part of his heritage. Try as he might, he can’t ignore their obvious lure. In Choke (Shadow Mountain, $17.99), Beck is confronted with conflicting stories from adults who claim to know what’s best for him and it’s his task to figure out who can be trusted and who can’t. Will Beck, once and for all, be able to change the course of events his family curse has destined for him?

For more information, about Choke visit the official site of Obert Skye.

About the Author:

Obert Skye loves dragons. He wishes he had a few. Actually, he wishes he had a few dozen. Unfortunately, at the moment he doesn’t even have one. Because of this he’s really enjoyed telling the tale of Beck Pillage and his family’s ability. To quote Obert, “Dragon and drool aside, writing this book has been one exciting ride.” Aside from issuing quotes for the back of book jackets, Obert is also the award-winning author of the bestselling Leven Thumps series. Obert currently lives indoors and near a thin, winding road.

Hourglass Door wins national

Book of the Year award

NEW YORK CITY, May 26, 2010 – Today ForeWord Reviews crowned Lisa Mangum’s debut novel the 2009 Book of the Year for Young Adult Fiction.

Honored at a ceremony today at BookExpo America in New York City, The Hourglass Door represents the best independently published works from 2009. The winners were chosen by a panel of librarian and bookseller judges. The author, Lisa Mangum, lives in Taylorsville, Utah.

Last year Mangum burst onto the exploding teen supernatural book scene in her debut novel, The Hourglass Door. In this first book a trilogy, Abby’s picture perfect life is turned upside down when a mysterious foreign exchange student from Italy moves to town. Dante Alexander is provocative, and interesting, and unlike anyone she’s ever met before.

The Deseret News said, “In a time when copycats abound, Mangum has created a unique story with interesting characters and an intriguing plot. And because “Hourglass” centers on relationships, fantastical elements feel believable rather than, well, fantastical.”

The second book in the trilogy, The Golden Spiral, just released in May.

Mangum knew she was destined to work with books when she opted to skip recess in elementary school to help out at the school library instead. A voracious reader her entire life, her first paying job was at the Sandy Library as a page, where she shelved books all day.  She worked at Waldenbooks for the four years while she attended the University of Utah, earning a degree in English. An avid reader of all genres, Lisa has worked in numerous editorial roles in the publishing industry. She lives in Taylorsville, Utah, with her husband, Tracy.

New York Times bestselling author Brandon Mull could be coming to a city near you.

Check out his 2010 spring tour schedule. We’re adding more signings every day, so make sure to check back.

Tuesday April 13
Ann Arbor, MI
7:00p.m.
Barnes & Noble
3235 Washtenaw Avenue, 48104
Contact: Gayle Townsend
Store: 734-973-1618

Thursday, April 29
6p.m.- Borders
125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
805-497-8159

Friday, April 30
5:15-7:00pm BYU Bookstore
Provo, UT 84602
801-422-2400
Monday, May 3
6:30pm Deseret Book
514 N 325 E
Ogden, UT 84404
801-334-4215

Tuesday, May 4
Signing- 6:00p.m.
Barnes & Noble
7157 South Plaza Center Drive
West Jordan, UT 84084

Shadow Mountain Publishing today released the official book trailer for Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison.

In this explosive series finale, allegiances will be confirmed and secrets revealed as the forces of light and darkness collide in a desperate struggle to control the keys to the demon prison, Zzyzx.

Since ancient times, Zzyzx has protected the world from the most dangerous servants of darkness, including Gorgrog, the Demon King. After centuries of plotting, the Sphinx is on the verge of recovering the five artifacts necessary to open the legendary prison. Facing the potential of a world-ending calamity, all friends of light must unite in a final effort to thwart the Sphinx’s designs and find a safe home for the five artifacts. To this end, Kendra, Seth, and the Knights of the Dawn will venture far beyond the walls of Fablehaven to strange and exotic magical preserves across the globe, where the end of every quest becomes the beginning of another.

Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison releases nationwide on March 23, 2010.

Hardcover:		Audio:
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At last, in Kiss It Good-bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates (Shadow Mountain, $24.99, releasing March 2009) the sports world will find out what caused a superstar major league pitcher, possibly en route to Cooperstown, to suddenly lose his dominance over the batters he faced.

In 1960, an upstart Pittsburgh Pirates team beat the vastly superior New York Yankees in the World Series. With a Yankee roster including Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra, that improbable victory did more than give Pirates fans something to cheer about; it put Pittsburgh on the map.

Though Kiss It Good-bye author John Moody was only six years old during that magical baseball season, he was a devoted fan of the Pittsburgh team. The star pitcher for the Pirates and John’s first sports hero was Vernon Law, an unsophisticated Idaho country boy, widely known as The Deacon, a friendly nickname derived from his strict Mormon upbringing.

Law was a relatively young man at the time and should have enjoyed several more seasons of fame and success, yet his career went into decline following that phenomenal Series.

But the book is more than just another exposé. This is about a real sports hero:  Vernon Law – a man of integrity. Recalling a distant time in American sports, Kiss It Good-bye contains a universal theme: a son’s affection for his father and the bond that was forged between them because of their love of baseball.

About the Author

Not content to hang around suburban Pittsburgh forever, John Moody lived and worked in New York, Moscow, Paris, Bonn, Warsaw, Mexico, Costa Rica and Rome, among other places. He helped start the Fox News Channel and now works for its parent company, News Corporation.

He co-wrote The Priest Who had to Die, and is the author of Moscow Magician, a novel, and Pope John Paul II, a biography.

After all his world travels, he’s still proud to come from Pittsburgh.

My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions

My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions is the perfect blend of wit, comedy, suspense, and, of course, romance.

In this new young adult novel by author Becca Wilhite, Sarah feels like she’s an average, normal, everyday girl. So, when Ben (to whom she secretly refers as Adonis because she thinks he could be a Greek god) begins to take interest in her, Sarah is in denial.

For one thing, last year she was deeply crushed and humiliated by Jesse James a guy who she thought liked her. She’s determined not to get burned again. But in her heart of hearts, what she really wants is a Jane Austen kind of romance. Ridiculous, right? That kind of romance doesn’t exist anymore, or does it? Sarah is smart and fun to be around and even pretty, despite her Medusa-like red curls. She even plays the guitar. (So does Ben!)

Yes, Sarah is everything Ben has wanted. He’s crazy for her, but Sarah is just not getting it. She’s playing hard to get, and if she s not careful, she s going to lose a real hot gentleman — her 21st-century Mr. Darcy.

My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions (Shadow Mountain; Publication Date: February 2010; ISBN: 978-1-60641-596-2; Paperback: $8.99) is available at Amazon.com, and at Deseret Book and deseretbook.com.

About the Author:

Becca Wilhite graduated from Brigham Young University and then lived, among other places, in Indianapolis and Oklahoma City. Now she lives in a little valley in the Rockies where she can see mountains out of every window. Every day she discovers miracles of every shade with her husband and four kids. Her debut novel, Bright Blue Miracle, released in February 2009.

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