The Ultimate Summer Read: Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz

Book Focus: May/June 2005

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Raven’s Gate: Book One of the Gatekeepers
By Anthony Horowitz
0-439-67995-8, $17.95, Scholastic Press, Ages 9-12

What is it like to work on the thrilling new series, The Gate Keepers, from Anthony Horowitz? Scholastic editor David Levithan tells us about the latest page turner from this acclaimed writer.

To me, Anthony Horowitz's Raven's Gate is the Ultimate Summer Read. It's the kind of book I would've read five times in seven days at camp. The kind of book that you become so absorbed in that your sunblock wears off and you end up with a book-spine tan line. The kind of book that, when you're a kid, you stay up reading long after your parents have gone to sleep. Because you don't have school the next day. And because you have to — have to — find out what happens next.

This is Stephen King for kids. This is that alchemist's mix of suspense and horror that keeps the pages turning. This is Anthony Horowitz at the top of his game. And nothing delivers like Anthony Horowitz at the top of his game. With the Alex Rider series, he's built a wide and loyal following. Now he's going to make it much, much bigger.

All the classic Horowitz elements are here: the propulsive action; the incredibly sympathetic kid characters; the battle between good and a shape-shifting evil; the heart-pounding suspense. But Horowitz weaves in horror, legend, and myth this time around, to create a thrill ride of storytelling.

I could tell you more, but I prefer to let the book speak for itself. The Scholastic school market has always been a fantastic home for Anthony Horowitz — one of the reasons I got into his agent's door was because our Book Fairs sold a spectacular number of Stormbreaker — far more than booksellers did in the first couple of years. Now we have Anthony on our trade list, and the rest, I hope, will be Scholastic history. Because we all know an Ultimate Summer Read never goes out of fashion, even after the summer ends.

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