The Birth of Damnation

BOOK 1: FAT VAMPIRE

Doug Lee is undead quite by accident – attacked by a desperate vampire, he finds himself cursed with being fat and fifteen forever. When he has no luck finding some goth chick with a vampire fetish, he resorts to sucking the blood of cows under cover of the night. But it’s just not the same.

Then he meets the new Indian exchange student and falls for her – hard. Yeah, he wants to bite her, but he also wants to prove himself to her. But like the laws of life, love, and high school, the laws of vampire existence is complicated – it’s not easy studying Dracula. Especially when the star of Vampire Hunters is hot on your trail in an attempt to boost ratings.

Searing, hilarious, and always unexpected, Fat Vampire is a satirical tour de force from one of the most original writers of fiction today.

AUTHOR: ADAM REX

Adam Rex is the New York Times bestselling author of one other novel, The True Meaning of Smekday. He lives with his wife in Tucson, Arizona. You can visit him online at http://www.adamrex.com

BOOK 2: I AM THE MESSENGER

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That’s when his first ace arrives in the mail.

That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

AUTHOR: MARKUS ZUSAK

Markus Zusak is the award-winning author of The Book Thief, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and Getting the Girl. An international bestseller, The Book Thief has sold over a million copies in the U.S. alone and has garnered worldwide critical acclaim. The New York Times called it “brilliant and hugely ambitious. It’s the kind of book that can be life-changing.” And the Guardian (UK) said: “Unsettling, thought-provoking, life-affirming, triumphant and tragic, this is a novel of breath-taking scope, masterfully told. It is an important piece of work, but also a wonderful page-turner.”

Markus Zusak’s writing career began in high school, where he led a “pretty internal existence. I always had stories in my head. So I started writing them.” He lives with his wife and children in Sydney, Australia, where he is currently working on his new novel for Knopf, Bridge of Clay.

Markus Zusak is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please contact the Random House Speakers Bureau at rhspeakers@randomhouse.com

BOOK 3: JASPER JONES

Charlie Bucktin, a bookish thirteen-year-old, is startled one summer night by an urgent knock on his bedroom window. His visitor is Jasper Jones, and outcast in their small Australian town. He has come to ask for Charlie’s help. Terribly afraid but desperate to impress, Charlie follows him into the night – into a forest glade, where he witnesses Jasper’s horrible discovery.

From that moment on, the secret sits like a brick in Charlie’s belly. He is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion. He locks horns with his tempestuous mother, falls nervously in love, and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend. In the simmering summer when everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.

AUTHOR: CRAIG SILVEY

Craig Silvey wrote his first novel, Rhubarb, at the age of sixteen. It became a bestseller and was chose as the “One Book” for the Perth International Writers Festival. Jasper Jones, his second novel won the Australian Book of the Year Award and was short-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Craig is the singer-songwriter for the band Nancy Sikes! and lives in Freemantle, Australia.

BOOK 4: TEN THINGS WE DID (AND PROBABLY SHOULDN’T HAVE)

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year old wouldn’t jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free> Although maybe “opportunity isn’t the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: “Lied to Our Parents”). But she and her housemate VI are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up “Skipping School” (#3), “Buying a Hot Tub” (#4), and, um, “Harboring a Fugitive” (#7) is a mystery to them. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart, one thing-she-shouldn’t-have-done at a time.

AUTHOR: SARAH MLYNOWSKI

Sarah Mlynowski is the the author of Gimme a Call and Magic in Manhattan series, which kicked off with Bras and Broomsticks. She is also the co-author of How to be Bad and has written several novels for adults. She currently lives in Manhattan and can be found online at http://www.sarahm.com

BOOK 5: WITHERING TIGHTS

Tallulah Casey is ready to find her inner artist. And some new mates. And maybe a boy or two or three. She’s bound for a performing arts program in the wilds of the Yorkshire Dales – eerily similar to the windswept moors of Wuthering Heights.

Acting? Tights? Moors? Check, check, check.

Louis Rennison returns with her trademark wit, a hilarious new cast, and a heroine who is poised to discover plenty of opportunities for (mis)adventures.

AUTHOR: LOUISE RENNISON

Louise Rennison is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of the Withering Tights series and the angst-filled Georgia Nicolson series. She lives in Brighton, the San Francisco of England (apart from the sun, Americans, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the earthquakes). You can visit Louise online at http://www.georgianicolson.com