Neil Shusterman is coming to Frisco!

Attention 4th and 5th grade parents and students! I wanted to make you aware of an exciting, upcoming author event that will be taking place in our district and also at the Stonebriar Barnes and Noble. Neal Shusterman, author of many young adult books has a new book (reviewed for Grades 5-7) he will be releasing at a launch party in Frisco on February 11, 2014. Mr. Shusterman’s book (coauthored by Eric Elfman) is titled Tesla’s Attic and the review for the book is below. Mr. Shusterman is scheduled to visit Frisco ISD middle schools beginning the week of February 10^th and will be autographing books that are presold to our students. Attached to this e-mail you will find an order form if you are interested in purchasing one of these books for your child. All forms are due to the school librarian by January 31^st. Each Frisco ISD student that pre-orders a book will have their name placed in a drawing for the chance to win a special ticket to attend the Launch Party in Frisco on February 11^th in the evening. Students that have their name drawn will be invited to the Launch Party along with a parent/guardian. This event will be an unforgettable evening with a chance to meet and hear Mr. Shusterman and Mr. Elfman talk about their new book. There will also be a limited number of special addition books available for purchase at the Launch Party as well for those in attendance. Mr. Shusterman will make an appearance at Barnes and Noble on the evening of February 13^th at 7 p.m. We are thrilled about having authors like Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman visit our school district and look forward to our students getting excited about his new book.

Review for Tesla’s Attic by Neil Schusterman and Eric Elfman:

Booklist (January 1, 2014 (Vol. 110, No. 9))Grades 5-7. Everything changed after the toaster hit Nick on the head. It fell from an attic full of junk in the ramshackle Victorian house in Colorado Springs that 14-year-old Nick, his father, and younger brother have moved into from Tampa. Nick disposes of most of the things in the attic at a garage sale. What begins as a story about an adolescent boy coming to terms with his mother’s death—and his guilt about the house fire that took her—quickly takes a turn for the supernatural and sinister as Nick discovers that the items he sold are the magical inventions of Nikola Tesla. And he must recover them before they fall into the hands of a murderous secret society, the Accelerati. The first entry in a planned trilogy, this collaboration between Shusterman and Elfman tempers the scarier elements of Nick’s quest with deft, humorous writing and plenty of the ordinary adventures of a new kid in school finding his niche. Hand this one to fans of Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles or Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn (2004).