ROYAL = Readers of Young Adult Literature, our monthly gathering of adults reading YA books. No need to register or rsvp. Everyone over 18 welcome. Free. Book club selections always 20% off at Spellbound.

Sunday, December 4th  at 4:00pm
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.

Sixteen-year-old Jacob, traumatized by his grandfather’s sudden, violent death, travels with his father to a remote island off the coast of Wales to find the orphanage where his grandfather was sent to live to escape Nazi persecution in Poland. When he arrives, he finds much more than he bargained for: the children from his grandfather’s stories are still at the orphanage, living in a time loop in 1940.

In celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Archie Comics, Spellbound welcomes Nancy Silberkleit, Co-CEO of Archie Comics, on Saturday December 17th from 2 to 4pm.

Nancy will conduct a Creating Comics workshop for kids and adults (RSVPs appreciated). Please be here no later than 2:15 to participate in the workshop. We expect the workshop to last approximately 30 minutes.

After the comics workshop, Nancy will also give a talk about her experiences as a female CEO in the comics industry. She has been profiled in Fortune magazine. As a former teacher and a female CEO, Miss Silberkleit’s speaking platform is an inspiration to women who want to succeed in business and teachers who want to empower students to be self motivators and creators.

This will be really fun event for comics fans of all ages. Nancy will be happy to sign Archie books that are purchased at this event.

ROYAL is our book club for adult Readers of Young Adult Literature.  No need to join ahead of time or RSVP; anyone who is interested is welcome to come.  Generally we meet the first Sunday of the month at 4pm, with exceptions for holiday weekends.  Book club selections are always 20% off until the day of the meeting.

About March’s selection:

Set in the world of the Half-Continent-a land of tri-corner hats and flintlock pistols-the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy is a world of predatory monsters, chemical potions and surgically altered people. Foundling begins the journey of Rossamund, a boy with a girl’s name, who is just about to begin a dangerous life in the service of the Emperor. What starts as a simple journey is threatened by encounters with monsters-and people, who may be worse. Learning who to trust and who to fear is neither easy nor without its perils, and Rossamund must choose his path carefully.

Complete with appendices, maps, illustrations, and a glossary, Monster Blood Tattoo grabs readers from the first sentence and immerses them in an entirely original fantasy world with its own language and lore.

Monster Blood Tattoo Book One: Foundling, by D.M. Cornish
Retail price: $9.99
Only $7.99 at Spellbound through Sunday, March 6th!

Featuring the first book in Rick Riordan’s new series, The Kane Chronicles. We’ll have refreshments, Egyptian themed trivia games and activities, and a costume contest. (Don’t worry if you aren’t an expert on Egyptian mythology yet–we’ll all learn together!) Free admission to the release party with purchase of the book (pre-order or at party).

The Kane Chronicles, Book One: The Red Pyramid
 Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.
   One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a “research experiment” at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them–Set–has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe–a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. Suggested for ages 9 to 12.  
  
List Price: $17.99
Pre-Order Price (until April 30): $14.39 (20% savings) 

Asheville native Hope Larson will be available to sign copies of her new graphic novel Mercury at Spellbound from 1:00 to 3:00 on Saturday, April 17th, and will give us a peek into her creative process. A piece of original artwork from the book will be given as a door prize!

Available in both hardcover and paperback editions, Mercury is an enchanting tale set in a fictional small town in Nova Scotia,  featuring lots of local color and an engaging story that weaves together history, romance, and teen angst.

Tara is starting high school, made even more challenging by the recent loss of her home and belongings in a fire… and by the odd experience of being the new kid in her old school (thanks to a few years of being home schooled). Given a mysterious pendant by her aunt, Tara begins to uncover hidden truths about her family’s past as she settles into her new life.

Simultaneously unfolding is the story of Josey, the first member of Tara’s family to own the pendant… a gift from a handsome, possibly dangerous young man. A hundred and fifty years earlier, Josey lived on the same land eventually marked by the fire-ravaged remains of Tara’s present-day house.  Josey struggles with first love and an overbearing and superstitious mother as her story lays the groundwork for Tara’s exciting discovery generations later.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can still order signed copies by calling us at 828-232-2228 or clicking below.

Calling All Demigods!

We have Olympic fever at Spellbound, but it has nothing to do with winter sports. We’re talking about Percy Jackson and the Olympians!
 
To celebrate the release of the Percy Jackson movie, Spellbound is hosting a Percy Jackson party on Saturday February 20th at 3:00. We will of course be concentrating on the books, but the party takes place a week after the movie’s release so that we can look forward to some spirited book versus movie analysis. (We know it’s going to happen anyway, so why not gather together over some blue food and have at it?!)

Come dressed as your favorite Olympian (or Titan or demigod…) and enter our costume contest.
 
Demonstrate your knowledge of Greek mythology and the world of Percy Jackson.
 
Receive free gifts, such as trading cards featuring favorite characters.
 
Partake of tantalizing refreshments. (Grover reminds us that tin cans are full of minerals.)
 
Enter a drawing to win a free copy of The Red Pyramid, Book One of Rick Riordan’s new series, The Kane Chronicles, which hits bookstore shelves in May!

New Release:

 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide
[With Trading Cards]
by Rick Riordan
$12.99

A fully illustrated, in-depth guide to gods, monsters, and all things Percy Jackson, this novelty companion to the bestselling series comes complete with trading cards, full-color diagrams, and maps.

To order books from the ABC Best Books for Children Catalog, please indicate the number of copies of each book you would like to order. For example:
1 Curious Garden
2 My First ABC
1 BabyMouse: Dragonslayer
etc.

We will contact you within one business day to confirm your order and to take your payment.

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14-year-old Will shares a passion for archaeological excavation with his eccentric father. When Dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth and unearths a secret subterranean society ruled by a cultlike overclass, the Styx. Before he can find his father, Will is their prisoner.  $7.99 paperback (Sequel: Deeper, $18.99 hardcover)

Kate Thompson is the author of one of my favorite YA novels of the last few years, The New Policeman. Now she’s brought her substantial gift for atmospheric and almost lyrical storytelling to a middle grade novel featuring a rascally but loveable street urchin, a legendary highwayman, and the outlaw’s equally legendary horse Black Bess. As the young narrator’s story unfolds we are irresistibly caught up in his tale of how he came to be in possession of this fine mare and his ensuing adventure… but is he telling the truth? By the end of the story, most readers won’t care–they’ll just want to go back and read it again!

The publisher recommendation for this book is for ages 10 and up, but many kids 8 and up will be able to read it on their own, and it would make a great read-aloud for those not quite ready to tackle it alone. The ample illustrations help to plunge the reader into the world of our young unnamed narrator and are well worth poring over by themselves. Duddle’s style is jaunty and whimsical but still rich with detail, showing a wonderful depth of expression on the faces of Thompson’s characters. Coming in at well under 200 pages, this gem is a reminder that good things still come in small packages.

This fourth book in the best-selling series goes on sale Monday, October 12 2009. You can reserve your copy now…just call us at 828-232-2228 or come by the store.  Reserve your copy by August 31 and save $2 off the $13.95 cover price!