P.J. Davis's Blog

The time has finally arrived. From now until March 17th, 2024 you can pre-order the ebook version of Nemesis and the Vault of Lost Time for just 99 cents. If you are an ebook reader, or have a Kindle account, be sure to get on the list. And in case you’re wondering just what the book is all about, here’s a little synopsis…

“…it’s hard to prove the world’s most important substance is missing when no one knows it’s gone.”

“Substance? What substance?” asks thirteen-year-old Max Kellerman. “Why time itself!” exclaims the strange professor who Max meets in the back of his uncle’s bookstore. In fact, he says, time is being sucked out of every living person by invisible thieves and stored away in a deep, dark netherworld.

Could the professor possibly be right… or just plain crazy?

It depends on whether Max can unravel the mysterious clues in the tattered manuscript the professor leaves behind. With the help of his best friends Derek and Samantha, Max begins a quest to find this dark realm and to discover its hidden secrets. But with the time clock ticking and the professor gone missing, Max uncovers a truth he never thought possible.

Max must unravel the mysteries of Nemesis to save not just his world, but the very fabric of time itself.

The last of the illustrations are also complete and the talented Mr. Thomas Peacock is to thank. If you enjoy middle grade fiction, or know that special someone who does, be sure to sign up now.

Preorder Now

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Did you have a favorite book growing up? Most of us do, that one story you couldn’t put down, that gripped hold of you and wouldn’t let go. For me it was Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. It was a series actually, a set of “who dun its” that had me at the edge of my seat with every book I could get my hands on. At one point I actually jumped when reading a paragraph. I guess that speaks to an overactive imagination.

But if had to choose one book in particular, it would be The Twenty-One Balloons by William Penne du Bois. I must have been in fifth grade, Mrs. Brinkman’s class, when I discovered it. That’s when my love of stories took over. And this one really delivered. It was the tale of a balloonist attempting to circumnavigate the globe when he crashes on a remote island, one filled with an assortment of quirky millionaires that left the world behind to live in a private paradise of their own making. The only problem is their island had a HUGE volcano. And so the story takes a very number of very decided twists and turns. I was mesmerized, I could picture myself on that island, meeting those strange characters, and exploring what they had built. The book had won a Newberry Award which sent me on a mission to find more.

Another was the classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Again it was a story of adventure and misadventure. An older sister and little brother that run away from home and find refuge in, of all place, a museum.

And then, or course, there are all the Roald Dahl books. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach top my list of favorites. The only thing better than finding that oh-so-perfect book is finding a comfy spot to read it. For me it was the upstairs guest room above the garage at grandma’s. No one around, a snack on the table, and a few hours to simply delve in.

What are your favorite middle grade books? Some of that depends on when you grew up. I asked around and I heard a few mentioned as I prepared to release Nemesis and the Lost Vault of Time. Some of the fan favorites are listed below (in no particular order…)

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Holes by Louis Sacher

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Any and all of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys detective series

The Phantom Tollboth by Norton Juster

If you have a favorite middle grade book, leave a comment and I’ll add to the list. Happy reading!

The post Middle Grade Fiction: Classic Stories That Endure appeared first on PJ DAVIS.

Well the day is almost here! The day I share the a thing or two about a few very special kids I happen to know… Max, Derek and Samantha. It seems they have a story to tell but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ll suffice it to say they have been on a journey. But it didn’t start that way.

Like most kids, they go to school, do their homework, all the ho hum stuff that makes life so boring at times. Which makes them a bit restless, you might even say curious, about things outside of ever day living.

Do you ever have those kind of thoughts? “What if” thoughts? “I wonder” thoughts? “What if I were to…” thoughts? or even “What would happen if I…” thoughts?

If I know anything at all about Max, and I do happen to know a couple of things, he’s that kind of kid and that kind of thinker. And if you think like that, wonder like that, imagine like that, well, you might try a thing or two. You might open a door that leads somewhere…

But I digress… this post is about the book launch, and it’s just around the corner. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to sign up for notification and I’ll be sure to let you know when the book arrives.

The post It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Launch Time appeared first on PJ DAVIS.