Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark [Paperback]

Ridley Pearson (Author), Tristan Elwell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 1, 2009 | Age Range: 10 - 11 years | Series: Kingdom Keepers (Book 1)

Featuring a new paperback cover to match hardcover of Kingdom Keepers II:

 

In this fantastical thriller, five young teens tapped as models for theme park "guides" find themselves pitted against Disney villains and witches that threaten both the future of Walt Disney World and the stability of the world outside its walls. Using a cutting-edge technology called DHI--which stands for both Disney Host Interactive and Daylight Hologram Imaging--Finn Whitman, an Orlando teen, and four other kids are transformed into hologram projections that guide guests through the park. The new technology turns out, however, to have unexpected effects that are both thrilling and scary. Soon Finn finds himself transported in his DHI form into the Magic Kingdom at night. Is it real? Is he dreaming?

 

Finn's confusion only increases when he encounters Wayne, an elderly Imagineer who tells him that the park is in grave danger. Led by the scheming witch, Maleficent, a mysterious group of characters called the Overtakers is plotting to destroy Disney's beloved realm, and maybe more.

 

This gripping high-tech tale will thrill every kid who has ever dreamed of sneaking into Walt Disney World after hours and wondered what happens at night, when the park is closed.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Using cutting-edge technology, five Florida teens have been transformed into Holographic Hosts at Disney World. Their images appear throughout the Magic Kingdom, giving visitors information about the various attractions. It all seems to be going well, until the participants begin having disturbing dreams that start affecting their everyday lives. They sneak in after the park has closed, and Wayne, a retired Imagineer, directs them in their fight against the Dark Side, embodied by Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. Audio-animatronic pirates from The Pirates of the Caribbean travel through the Magic Kingdom in the little cars from the Buzz Lightyear ride. The dolls from It's a Small World clamber into the boats and start biting the occupants. Cinderella's Castle is filled with an eye-popping array of staircases, à la Escher. There's a certain coolness factor for the notion that people could be both human and hologram at the same time, and the illicit thrill of seeing all the things you don't normally get to see (both real and imaginary) makes this a must-read for serious Disney fans. However, readers never really get to know any of the characters well, except for Finn, the narrator, and the mystery is so convoluted that it's hard to follow, and even harder to care about. Additional.–Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than a dozen books, including Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far); The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog; Dave Barry's Money Secrets; and Big Trouble. Along with Ridley Pearson, he is the co-author of Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, Escape from the Carnivale, Cave of the Dark Wind, and Blood Tide.



Ridley Pearson, in addition to the Peter and the Starcatchers series with Dave Barry, is the award-winning author of The Kingdom Keepers-Disney After Dark, The Kingdom Keepers-Disney At Dawn, and Steel Trapp. He has also written more than twenty best-selling crime novels, including Killer View and Killer Weekend. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 - 11 years
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423123115
• ISBN-13: 978-1423123118
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (209 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
  • #8 in Books > Children's Books > Mysteries & Detectives
  • #31 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

More About the Author

Ridley Pearson (www.ridleypearson.com), the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Wadham College, Oxford University, is the bestselling author of over 35 novels including, Peter And the Starcatchers (co-written with Dave Barry), the young adult novel, The Kingdom Keepers, and two dozen crime novels including: Probable Cause, Beyond Recognition and Killer Weekend (July 2007). His novel The Diary Of Ellen Rimbauer, a prequel to a Stephen King miniseries, was a New York Times #1 bestseller, as was Peter and the Shadow Thieves (#1 for 6 weeks). Ridley adapted The Diary Of Ellen Rimbaurer for ABC Television; it aired in 2003.

Peter and the Starcatchers is to open as a stage play, off-Broadway in March 2011, under Disney Theatrical.

Ridley is a founding member of, and plays bass guitar in, the all-author rock band, The Rockbottom Remainders (www.rockbottomremainders.com), with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Amy Tan and Greg Iles. The band has raised over 2.5 million dollars for charities over its 18 year history.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My 9 year old read over half in one sitting January 8, 2010

By R. Matteson

Format:Paperback

My sister, a Disney fanatic, got this for my 9-year-old son for Christmas. To my amazement, he sat on the couch the next day and read over half of it in one afternoon. When he brought it to the dinner table we had to tell him to set it aside. He has told me so much about the book I feel like I have read it. I'm sure that our recent trip to Walt Disney World last fall adds to the appeal, as the places and rides are fresh in his memory. He has begged me to order the next book in the series, which is what brought me to Amazon today.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A book that captures a bit of the Disney magic November 16, 2005

By Gale Zasada

Format:Hardcover

Five teens are given the opportunity of a lifetime when they are chosen as interactive Disney Hosts (DHIs) at the famous theme park in Orlando, Florida. Disney has teamed up with a company called Daylight Hologram Imaging to create innovative virtual tour guides, using the teens as models.

Finn Whitman, one of the DHIs, falls asleep one night and has a very weird dream. In this dream, he is in the park talking to an elderly park employee named Wayne, who was also one of Disney's first Imagineers. While Finn is having a very odd conversation with Wayne, he begins to observe some unusual activity in the park. He sees Chip and Dale headed toward Toontown and Goofy going to Frontierland. Now this wouldn't normally be odd in Disneyland, but it is after dark and all of the costumed employees went home hours ago. At this point, Finn is sure he is dreaming because he saw the original cartoon characters. Not only that, but he notices that his own body is glowing. Wayne assures him that it is not a dream, tells him that he must locate the other four DHIs for a special mission.

It seems that the Magic Kingdom is in danger from evil forces within its walls. In order to save the park, Finn and the other DHIs must cross over in their sleep into a state where they are not fully human yet not fully light.

Ridley Pearson does a great job of expressing the thoughts and conversations of his young teen characters. Even as their situations metamorphose into the fantastic, the kids remain completely realistic. Although this book is written for a young adult audience, it would appeal to anyone who has ever experienced the magic and wonder that is Disney.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars After Closing September 22, 2005

By Gene

Format:Hardcover

Largely known for his adult suspense fiction, Pearson follows his popular "Peter and the Starcatchers" with this action packed early teen novel. The author dedicates the novel to all of us who've wondered what happens at Disney World once the park closes. Weaving just a bit of high tech into the storyline, this suspenseful plot propels our hero, Finn, and his friends to discover the truth of the magic behind the closed gates of the theme park. While engaging the reader with ideas of holograms as park tour guides and other near future possibilities, "Kingdom Keepers" will keep you reading until the wee hours. Good clean fun and highly recommended for the 10-14 year olds as well as Disney fans of all ages.