Author Description

Product Description In this spellbinding fantasy novel, newcomer David Whitley has imagined a nation at a crossroads: misshaped by materialism and facing a choice about its future. He has brought to life two children who will test the nation's values-and crafted a spellbinding adventure story that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end. In a society based on trade, where everything can be bought and sold, the future rests on the secrets of a single document-and the lives of two children whose destiny it is to discover its secrets. THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER combines great storytelling with a compelling vision - a many layered adventure with powerful and timely implications. Review “Young readers who enjoy tales of mystery and fantasy will find much to admire in Whitley's story...Simon Vance's thoughtful, unrushed narration is the perfect foil for the book's brooding atmosphere. Vance is a master narrator who brings characters of every type to life.” ―AudioFile“[Simon Vance's] skill is his ability to provide just the perfect pace and emphasis to convey wonder and amazement as well as dismay and disbelief... His almost imperceptible change in pacing, pitch, and rhythm perfectly conveys the author's intent.” ―Voya Voice of Youth Advocates“Charity, greed, freedom, fate and political scheming are all woven through debut author Whitley's richly conceived world. Readers will be buoyed by every small triumph that cannot be recorded in an account book.” ―Publishers Weekly“Exciting and gripping from the first heart-stopping line, this first book in a trilogy takes readers only part of the way to resolving the predictions of the Midnight Charter and its relationship to Mark and Lily. Readers will anxiously await the next installment as they reach the cliff-hanger ending.” ―School Library Journal“Deft world-building and crafty plotting combine for a zinger of an ending that will leave readers poised for book two. Surprisingly sophisticated upper-middle-