SPLIT an ALAN Pick!

Okay, so it was last month, but I just noticed that my latest YA novel, Split, was selected by ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) as a pick of the month.  Their review, which you’ll have to scroll down a bit to see, said in part:

“Petrucha gives each Wade a strong voice and demeanor, but readers will question whether one is a dream and the other real. It is, however, fascinating for us to consider “what if …” and to see Wade’s parallel lives played out before us.”

Ms. Yingling, a great supporter of my work, gave Split a big thumb’s up.  “The reason Petrucha's writing is so brilliant is that he tackles material that falls in the high school range philosophically, but is middle school appropriate.”

I also neglected to mention that during last week’s reading at the Essex Technical & Agricultural High School, listeners were particular excited about the upcoming Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring – apparently the early orders on this very satisfying satire are going great.

Last but never least, Ray Tate gave the latest Nancy Drew a nice review at Comics Bulletin.  This is the second-to-last in the first series of graphic novels, and Nancy tangles with the old and the new, Edgar Allen Poe and a musical mystery.

Pax!

BEA & High School Reading

Been a busy time.  First, a whirl-wind trip to NYC for the Book Expo, where I happily sat alongside artist extraordinaire Rick Parker, signing copies of our hit parody Stinky Dead Kid and yes, putting our monikers on toilet plungers, to promote our upcoming Harry Potty parody.  Rick brought along his complete art for Harry Potty (cover below), and I was thrilled at how much it reminded me of an early 1950s MAD magazine parody, back when they had the likes of Will Elder and Harvey Kurtzman working for them, with lots of great eye candy and background jokes.

I also had a great time hanging with Alex Logan and chatting about plans for Blood Prophecy – including ways in which Grand Central Publishing will be using an amazing new song by Jazan Wild  for promotion.  She also handed me an advanced reader copy and some cover flats for the book – and they look amazing!

Lunch with Betsy Schecter, one of the executive producers of Paranormal State was likewise fun – it’s always great to sit and talk to someone about the paranormal, and she has some fascinating projects she’s working on.

Food around the Javitz Center, where BEA is hosted, is petty nonexistent, so it was great to get down to the village the next morning for a diner breakfast with my new editor at Ace Books, Jessica Wade,  to chat about my next project, Dead Mann Walking – zombies like you’ve never seen them before.  No, really.

I was back home for what seemed like only a few days before heading out to do a reading at the Essex Agricultural and Technical High School as part of a book fair sponsored by Cornerstone Books in nearby Salem.

I spoke to two large groups under a big tent on their beautiful grounds (tended by the students!) and read chapters from Split and The Rule of Won.  The Q&A afterwards was very impressive, with a lot of smart, fun questions.  I hope the students had half as good a time as I did.

Upon my return, I was greeted by a package of reader copies for Paranormal State, which looks terrific.  I think a lot of fans of the show, as well as paranormal aficionados in general, will be surprised and very pleased by this book.  I’m looking forward to chatting with Ryan this week on yours truly possibly showing up for one of their cases.

And now, it’s back to work!  (Or maybe I’ll play a little Dragon Age: Origins first… I could use a break…)