CRITICS AND READERS LOVE THE BOOKS OF UMBER TRILOGY:
ACCLAIM FOR BOOK 1, HAPPENSTANCE FOUND
Named to the BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2010 list by the Bank Street Children's Book Committee. “Catanese
dazzles in the first of
the planned Books of Umber series by wittily subverting genre
tropes. Happenstance, a boy with strange green eyes, wakes up in a
cave with no memories of who he is or anything about the fantastic
world in which he lives. He soon encounters Lord Umber, an
adventurer who seems familiar with our world as well as his own, and
his two companions — a brute cursed to be forever truthful and a
one-handed artist and archer... As the group attempts to learn about
his origins, they're forced to confront a supernatural assassin and
secrets from Umber's own mysterious past. Catanese
packs a lot into the
book: rich
characterizations, well-choreographed action sequences and genuinely
surprising twists at the end. An auspicious start to the series.”
- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) “Catanese’s
forte is in defining the features of
the colorful imaginary world he
creates, which is part
steampunk, part fairy tale, and has a surprising contemporary twist.
Merpeople, leviathans, and sorceresses mingle with Mozart, mirrors,
and elevators in this unusual culture . . . a
cinematic quality that will be enjoyed by a wide range of fantasy
readers.” - The Horn
Book Nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award. Nominated for the Pacific Northwest Library Association's Young Readers Choice Awards. Nominated for New Hampshire's Great Stone Face Book Award 2010, sponsored by the Children's Librarians of New Hampshire. Nominated for Hawai'i's 2010 Nēnē Award, given by the children of Hawai'i for the best children’s fiction book. Nominated for Indiana's Young Hoosier Book Award. A Horn Book recommended title for fantasy and science fiction. Named to ALAN’s Picks, April 2009. ALAN’s Picks is a monthly book review column that “highlights the latest and greatest in YA Lit.” (ALAN is The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents.) Named to the Kid's Indie Next list, Spring 2009. “Inspired recommendations for kids from Indie booksellers.”
|
ACCLAIM FOR BOOK 2, DRAGON GAMES
“This is
a true roller coaster of a book,
starting with sea-giants and ending with soul crabs (surely one of the
creepier inventions in recent literary history), with plenty of loops
and drops and zero-g moments in between...Catanese has
imagination to spare, with new
wonders around every corner....Familiarity
with the first book isn’t necessary, but readers will want to get their
hands on it after reading this one.” - School Library Journal Audio book (featuring reader Richard Poe's wonderful performance) nominated for the Young Adult Library Association's 2012 Amazing Audiobooks list. |
ACCLAIM FOR BOOK 3, THE END OF TIME
“(The) fantastic conclusion to P.W. Catanese’s riveting fantasy trilogy. The author again raises questions about morality and the depths of friendship, and does it with compelling characters and wonderful world-building.” - School Library Journal Audio book
(featuring reader Richard Poe's brilliant performance) nominated for the
Young Adult Library Association's 2012
Amazing Audiobooks
list. |