Gallopade International | Characters Wanted! Press Release
WANTED: Characters to STAR in a NEW Children’s Mystery
ANY CLASS, ANY SCHOOL, USA—Sometime soon, a school class from somewhere in the United States will be selected to STAR in an all-new Carole Marsh Mystery! Gallopade International, award-winning children’s publisher, announces the first-ever contest to choose a class to appear in a real-life published book! The teacher and students will be featured in The Creepy Crawly Classroom Mystery.
This book will be the first in the “You’re the Star! Mystery Series,” according to Allison Fortune, Marketing Coordinator, “As far as we know there has never been such an opportunity before! We anticipate thousands of entries from classes who believe that they and their teacher are truly worthy of playing the role of characters in a major work of children’s fiction.”
Every time the internationally popular author visits a school, bookstore or even when she’s grocery shopping, she is asked, “Can I be in one of your books?” According to Marsh, “Trust me—every kid thinks he or she is a real character—and, you know, they’re right!”
Marsh came up with the idea for a mystery starring a teacher and a classroom of kids after doing school visits. At every school, kids would clamor to be included in a book. The author currently selects children as book characters from applications on her fan club website, www.carolemarshmysteries.com.
“The kids were so jazzed about this concept, that I often ended my school visit program with an impromptu mystery by selecting a teacher, the librarian, the principal, and a few students to come and stand up front with me. Before I knew it, mysterious things would be revealed such as the principal used to be a spy (well, that’s what the kids said!), to real-life cemeteries on school property, or even a mysterious attic in the school, said to be haunted. Also, kids would finish the story I started and send me copies, and they were fascinating. So, this idea was born!”
The contest is easy: teachers and students submit an essay and a photo telling and showing why they’d make great characters in a mystery. But what about writing a mystery starring possibly one adult and thirty kids? “Hmm,” admits the author. “It’s a mystery to me how I’ll pull that off, but I’m sure it can be done and it will be fun and exciting!”
In fact, the author and publisher are so committed to this concept that plans are in the works for subsequent contests seeking a school, a book club and a family for future books. “While it just seems like a lot of fun,” explains Sherry Moss, Vice President of New Product Development, “our goal is totally serious. Getting young readers engaged in reading quality fiction is our passion! And nothing makes a book come alive more than using real places and real kids as characters. Carole Marsh invented this concept and this is our 50th book using this remarkable formula.”
According to Midwest Book Review, each mystery is “a true gem of original, informative and entertaining storytelling.” And, Christian School Products Magazine says that the mysteries “are a great way to incorporate reading into other curriculum areas. Boy and girl characters in every story make these suitable for all kids.”
The Creepy Crawly Classroom Mystery will be published and distributed all across the United States in the spring of 2008 with the winner being named by the end of 2007. The winning class will also receive an author visit by Carole Marsh and a FREE set of mysteries for their class. Contest rules are posted on www.carolemarshmysteries.com or by calling 800-536-2438.
Marsh has been writing for more than 25 years. Her mystery books are all part of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program and a winner of Learning Magazine’s Teacher’s Choice Award for the Family. Carole Marsh Mysteries are available at local book and school supply stores. For more information call 800-536-2438 or visit www.carolemarshmysteries.com.
