Heroes and Villains, the seventh volume in Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read Library of Great Reading, is chock-full of adventure featuring an array of characters―with and without capes.
Featuring ten all-new, original stories that run the gamut from fantasy to comics to contemporary adventure to nonfiction, and featuring eleven of the most acclaimed, exciting writers for kids working today, this collection is the perfect book for you, whether you use your powers for good―or evil.
Authors include Laurie Halse Anderson, Cathy Camper and Raúl Gonzalez, Sharon Creech, Jack Gantos, Christopher Healy, Deborah Hopkinson, Ingrid Law, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Lemony Snicket, and Eugene Yelchin, with illustrations by Jeff Stokely.
What does it truly mean to be a hero or a villain?
- Funny Stories: Follow a professional villain who tries to be a hero and find out what happens to the traitor Benedict Arnold in the afterlife (hint: it involves pelican poop).
- Mystery and Suspense: A mother is arrested for murder, a baby emperor is kidnapped, and a boy uncovers a deadly 19th-century scandal. Can you solve the case?
- Action and Adventure: Get behind the wheel for a wild car chase through Moscow, get sucked through a locker into a magical world, and follow a dangerous first crossing into the United States.
- Award-Winning Authors: A can’t-miss collection with original stories from literary superstars including Lemony Snicket, Sharon Creech, Jack Gantos, and Newbery Honor winners.
Jon Scieszka is the National Ambassador for Children's Literature emeritus and the bestselling author of more than twenty-five books for kids, including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, Robot Zot!, and the Time Warp Trio series. Jon founded Guys Read to encourage a passion for reading among young boys, with the philosophy that boys love to read most when they are reading things they love. A former elementary school teacher, Jon lives in Brooklyn with his family. For more great books, more great facts, and more about your favorite authors, head over to www.guysread.com. You'll be glad you did.
Christopher Healy is the author of the Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom and its sequels, as well as the Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem series. He also teaches writing and language arts in New Jersey, where he lives with his wife, two children, and a dog named Winston Bean. You can visit him online at christopherhealy.com.
Sharon Creech has written twenty-one books for young people and is published in over twenty languages. Her books have received awards in both the U.S. and abroad, including the Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons, the Newbery Honor for The Wanderer, and Great Britain’s Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler.
Before beginning her writing career, Sharon Creech taught English for fifteen years in England and Switzerland. She lives in Maine, “lured there by my grandchildren,” Creech says.
www.sharoncreech.com
Deborah Hopkinson is the author of Small Places, Close to Home and Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen, among more than fifty acclaimed works for young readers including picture books, middle-grade fiction, and nonfiction that help bring history and research alive. Deborah lives near Portland, Oregon with her family and a menagerie of pets. You can visit her online at www.deborahhopkinson.com.
Eugene Yelchin grew up in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he trained as an artist and designed sets and costumes for the theater and ballet. His artwork has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and advertisements. He even drew the first polar bears used in the Coca-Cola commercials. He has also written and illustrated many children’s books. His first novel, Breaking Stalin’s Nose, received a Newbery Honor and was named one of the best books of 2011 by The Horn Book, and his novel The Haunting of Falcon House was a Golden Kite Award winner.
