The Guardians of Knowledge: when the Books Go Bad

Publisher Marketing: What does it take to be a Guardian of Knowledge? Six kids... Lila Bacon, a snarky loner and frequent flyer in after-school detention; Elliot Foufe, a goofball who fears his own shadow--he harbors a deep secret and a past that is unwilling to let him go; Meghan Brown, a perpetually stylish girl, but also an escapee from the "in crowd;" Kayley Hunfd, a lover of learning and writing, who works hard to keep her beloved twin bother in line; Bartholomew Hunfd, who prefers shooting hoops and useless trivia to actually using his intelligence for anything worthwhile; Ham Higgins, a massive football star, who has a secret love for books. Whose lives will be changed... These six kids have no idea that getting trapped in the school library marks the beginning of their training as the Guardians of Knowledge--those people who can travel into books. After escaping from the pages of a book that unleashes the power of Hurricane Andrew, a chain of events begins at Hornet Valley Middle, an otherwise ordinary school with slightly weird teachers, a strict principal, boring lectures, and more standardized tests than you can shake a sharpened #2 pencil at. All sense of normality begins to fade when impromptu food fights erupt between the teachers and students, the teachers start leading sing-a-longs about polygons, rumors abound of werewolves hanging out in the girls' restroom, and the students start to actually laugh at the teachers' jokes. But when other kids begin to vanish inside the library, it becomes clear that the books are taking on a life of their own and that this unlikely group of friends must stop the rogue publications and discover the source of the spreading chaos... As they uncover why they are The Guardians of Knowledge Contributor Bio:  Putnam, Chip After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1993, I have taught high school science for twenty-one years. During this time I have had the pleasure of meeting wonderful and fascinating people over the years that have provided inspiration for many characters in my writing. While the field of science is not the area of expertise normally associated with an aspiring author, I've always been a dreamer and would often enter into a fantasy world of my own imagination at a moment's notice. This love of dreaming, coupled with a passion for books and a tendency to weave storytelling into my lessons, created a desire to write. However, I never seemed to find the time. My life as a teacher, husband, and father seemed to interfere with this goal. Five years ago, however, I decided to follow the encouragements I had given to countless students and follow my own dreams.