
Violence: A man plans a violent uprising which culminates in a siege, albeit with a low body count. When she's not reading, Alexa pretends to be an explorer or detective. Every summer her father goes to Bridewell to consult with the other mayors, and she tags along to scrounge the library for information on the outside world. Precocious twelve-year-old Alexa Daley is the daughter of the mayor of another settlement. Of the settlements, Bridewell is the closest to the Dark Hills outside the wall, which the settlers speculate are full of criminals and monsters. The "Land of Elyon" in the series title is a small nation of fearful settlements, surrounded by a wall. When I'm not writing or creating a story, I spend my free time supporting literacy campaigns and community organizations, fly fishing, playing basketball and tennis, doing crosswords, watching movies, dabbling in video games, reading (lots), and (more than anything else) spending time with my wife and two daughters. Check out DARK EDEN to experience this type of cross-platform project. Currently I'm developing a few new-media projects. Here's a fun note.the books have been translated into approximately two dozen languages. I've been fortunate enough to have had some bestselling series work: The Land of Elyon, Atherton, Elliot’s Park, 39 Clues, and Skeleton Creek. I've written young adult and children's books for Scholastic, Little Brown Books For Young Readers and Katherine Tegen Books/ HarperCollins Publishers. After college, I spent a decade living in Portland, Oregon where I worked in advertising, game design, and technology. Salem, Oregon is where I spent my formative years and I graduated from Willamette University. |y .I have been a lifelong writer and storyteller.

|a Human-animal communication |v Fiction. |a When she finds the key to a secret passageway leading out of the walled city of Bridewell, twelve-year-old Alexa realizes her lifelong wish to explore the mysterious forests and mountains that lie beyond the wall.


|a "This edition is only available for distribution through the school market."-P. |a "First Scholastic paperback printing, September 2005"-Verso t.p. |a The Dark Hills divide / |c Patrick Carman.
