Random House Children’s Books & 42 Entertainment Creatives Announce Multi-Platform Middle Grade Book Series & Immersive Gaming Experience

Six book series by six bestselling authors be published in 2015

New York, NY (September 9, 2014)—Random House Children’s Books will launch a multi-platform six-part book series and gaming experience beginning in 2015, written by six bestselling authors, it was announced today by Barbara Marcus, President & Publisher, Random House Children’s Books and Susan Bonds, CEO and Co-Founder, of 42 Entertainment and their new venture, Animal Repair Shop, with chief creative Alex Lieu. Mallory Loehr, VP and Publishing Director, acquired rights for Random House from Patrick Carman and Michelle H. Nagler, Associate Publishing Director, will edit the series.

The six-book series will be published on an accelerated schedule over twelve months. The first book in the series, Project Alpha by D.J. MacHale, will release on July 7, 2015, with the second and third books to follow in September and November 2015.

The VOYAGERS books will be written by six authors with more than 10 million books sold among them: D.J. MacHale (Book 1: Project Alpha, On sale 7/7 2015), Robin Wasserman (Book 2, On sale 9/1/2015), Patrick Carman (Book 3, On sale 11/3/2015), Kekla Magoon (On sale March 2016), Jeanne DuPrau (On sale May 2016) and Wendy Mass (On sale July 2016).

“This is a one-of-a-kind project for Random House Children’s Books, and to bring it to market with Susan Bonds, Alex Lieu and their team couldn’t be more perfect,” says Marcus. “We searched for a team of authors and partners who could create an engaging series for young readers that would be both educational and completely entertaining in print and digitally. We believe we have such a series in Voyagers.”

Each of the six books follows a mission to find one of six secret and essential elements that, when properly combined, will create a new power source to save the planet. The elements are scattered throughout the galaxy across mysterious planets and only a spaceship piloted by children can reach them and return to Earth safely. VOYAGERS was developed by multimedia pioneer Patrick Carman, who broke new ground with Skeleton Creek, a popular hybrid of books and videos. Carman was one of the initial wave of authors writing for the 39 Clues series, and has sold more than four million books in 23 countries.

As adventurous young heroes journey into outer space on a mission to save Earth, readers will join the VOYAGERS crew and become part of the narrative via their mobile devices. The online experience of VOYAGERS will launch concurrently with the book series. Codes and clues hidden throughout the books will unlock games, puzzles and videos, and new story threads online. The digital universe of VOYAGERS is being built and rolled out by Animal Repair Shop, a new venture from the award-winning, alternate-reality creators at 42 Entertainment.

“We developed the immersive online experience for VOYAGERS with the goal of extending the adventure beyond the page for readers, so they are not just following the narrative—they become part of the story,” says Bonds.

“The VOYAGERS author team is absolutely incredible, with each one bringing a unique strength to the series, together offering kids all the very best elements of sci-fi, mystery, and action-adventure”, says Nagler. “The books and digital experience are so seamlessly integrated, we know gamers and readers alike will be immediately drawn in to both, and won’t have to wait more than just a few months to get their hands on the next installment.”

VOYAGERS: PROJECT ALPHA (Book 1)
By D.J. MacHale / On sale July 7, 2015
HC: 9780385386586, E: 9780385386593, GLB: 9780385386609

VOYAGERS: GAME OF FLAMES (Book 2)
By Robin Wasserman / On sale September 1, 2015
HC: 9780385386616, E: 9780385386623, GLB: 9780385386630

VOYAGERS: OMEGA RISING (Book 3)
By Patrick Carman / On sale November 3, 2015
HC: 9780385386647, E: 9780385386654, GLB: 9780385386661

VOYAGERS: INFINITY RIDERS (Book 4)
By Kekla Magoon / On sale March 2016
HC: 9780385386678, E: 9780385386685, GLB: 9780385386692

VOYAGERS: ICE WALKER (Book 5)
By Jeanne DuPrau / On sale May 2016
HC: 9780385386708, E: 9780385386715, GLB: 9780385386722

VOYAGERS (Book 6, Title TBA)
By Wendy Mass / On sale July 2016
HC: 9780385386739, E: 9780385386746, GLB: 9780385386753

Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, ebooks, and apps, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. The company’s website, Kids @ Random (randomhousekids.com ), offers an array of activities, games, and resources for children, teens, parents, and educators. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company.

Animal Repair Shop is an original content company that specializes in new entertainment that crosses all platforms and blurs the lines of traditional entertainment products and rollout of those products to market. Founded by the award winning creative team from 42 Entertainment, their fully integrated story worlds leverage over 10 years of experience in actively engaging millions, from the most casual to the most obsessive, including award winning experiences for The Dark Knight, Halo, Pirates of the Caribbean and TRON Legacy.

D.J. MacHale is the author of the bestselling book series Pendragon – Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space; the spooky Morpheus Road trilogy; and the sci-fi thriller trilogy The SYLO Chronicles. In addition to his published works, he has written, directed and produced numerous award-winning television series and movies for young people including Are You Afraid of the Dark?; Flight 29 Down and Tower of Terror. D.J. lives with his family in Southern California. www.djmachalebooks.com

Robin Wasserman is the author of several acclaimed books for children and young adults, including The Waking Dark, The Book of Blood and Shadow, Hacking Harvard, the Cold Awakening Trilogy, and the Chasing Yesterday Trilogy. A former children’s book editor, she lives and writes (and frequently procrastinates) in Brooklyn, New York. www.robinwasserman.com .

Patrick Carman: VOYAGERS series creator and architect, Patrick is a New York Times bestselling children’s author with millions of books in print in 20+ languages across 30 titles. He is known as a top leader in creative development, multi-platform storytelling, and world building. In 2011 he created a popular TED talk on the subject of reaching 21st century readers and has overseen pioneering multimedia brands including SKELETON CREEK, TRACKERS, 3:15, and DARK EDEN. He was also one of the first authors chosen for 39 CLUES. Patrick’s books have been included on over 40 of the most prestigious state, national, and international awards lists. An enthusiastic reading advocate, he has visited more than 1400 schools in the past decade. www.patrickcarman.com

Kekla Magoon is the author of numerous young adult novels including How It Went Down, Camo Girl, and The Rock and the River, for which she received the ALA Coretta Scott King New Talent Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination. She also writes non-fiction, including Today the World is Watching You: The Little Rock Nine and the Fight for School Integration 1957-58. Raised in a biracial family in the Midwest, Kekla now teaches writing in New York City, conducts school and library visits nationwide, and serves on the Writers’ Council for the National Writing Project. keklamagoon.com

Jeanne DuPrau is the bestselling author of the Books of Ember series, which includes The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood, and The Diamond of Darkhold. Her books have garnered numerous awards, and have appeared on more than 30 state lists. The City of Ember was made into a feature movie in 2008. Jeanne lives in Menlo Park, California. www.jeanneduprau.com .

Wendy Mass is the New York Times best selling author of fourteen novels for young people (which have been translated into 14 languages and nominated for 68 state book awards), including A Mango-Shaped Space (which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association), the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, 11 Birthdays, The Candymakers , and 13 Gifts. Her latest books are Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight and Pi in the Sky. Wendy tells people her hobbies are hiking and photography, but really they’re collecting candy bar wrappers and searching for buried treasure with her metal detector. She lives with her family in New Jersey. www.wendymass.co

Author: Gina Ruiz

Gina Ruiz is a writer and reviewer living in Los Angeles. She writes about bookish events, books and graphic novels. She is especially interested in the following genres: Chicano, poetry, literature, fiction, mystery, comics, graphic novels, sci-fi, children's literature, non-fiction, historical fiction, literary fiction. She does not review religious literature, self-help, political or self-published books.

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