"A strong . . . new trilogy, invoking just a little  Harry Potter  and  Series of Unfortunate Events  along the way."— Realms of Fantasy Siblings Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.   Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about.   Until now.   Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey through time to dangerous and secret corners of the world . . . a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is true—what they do can change history, and it's up to them to set things right. "A new Narnia for the tween set."— The New York Times "[A] fast-paced, fully imagined fantasy."— Publishers Weekly "Echoes of other popular fantasy series, from "Harry Potter" to the "Narnia" books, are easily found, but debut author Stephens has created a new and appealing read . . ."— School Library Journal , Starred Review Amazon Best Books of the Month, April 2011 : With a timeless writing style that invokes thoughts of children’s fantasy classics such as Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , author John Stephens weaves a gripping tale of mystery and magic into The Emerald Atlas . His enchanting prose and spot-on wit can only be described as both hip (Stephens was previously the executive producer of Gossip Girls ) and Dickensian, a delightful combination that will both engage young readers with its relatable nature and fascinate them with its aberrant charm. If Stephens's comic finesse and archetypal writing style aren’t enough to engage young readers, they will no doubt be captivated by the plot. Stephens's complex formula for time travel and fascinating explanation for the disappearance of the magical realm is so convincing that readers might begin to believe that there is, in fact, far more to the world than meets the eye. Thought-provoking and enchanting, The Emerald Atlas has the makings of a children’s classic. -- Jacqueline Segall Amazon-Exclusive Q&A with Author John Stephens Amazon: You started off in television, co-producing and writing for The Gilmore Girls and The O.C. , and then moved on to be the executive producer (and occasional writer and director) for Gossip Girls . After establishing yourself in Hollywood, what inspired you to change your course and write a children's book trilogy? John: Honestly, sometimes I ask myself that question in the reverse. How did I ever end up in Hollywood? The truth is that writing novels was my first ambition, and given my druthers when I finished grad school, I probably would’ve gone off and just written books. The only problem was that at the time I was pretty bad at it. I really kinda stunk. As it turned out, I needed another decade of learning the craft before I was ready to write a novel. And, fortunately, writing for Hollywood turns out to be a great training ground. You learn how to work on a schedule, tell a satisfying story, build character, construct scenes, you develop a feel for dramatic momentum…and you get to tool around the Warner Bros lot on a golf cart, which is kind of awesome. In fact, writing and producing television was so much fun I kind of forgot about writing books for a while. That is, till the day I read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and realized that all I wanted to do was write children’s fantasy novels. And luckily by then I had the skills to pull it off without embarrassing myself. Though I do still miss cruising around the lot on golf carts. Amazon: The whole time I was reading The Emerald Atlas , I kept thinking what a great movie it would make. Are there any plans for a film version? John: I hope so! Wouldn’t that be awesome? Unfortunately, at present, if people are making plans, they haven’t told me about them. Amazon: I loved the characters of Kate, Emma, and Michael. They were all so relatable. I felt as if they were kids I had met before. Were your three young heroes inspired by anyone in your life or from your childhood? John: Kate not so much (though she does share a name with my younger sister). Her closest inspiration came from a character in the movie Not One Less by Zyang Yimou, where this young girl is put in charge of a schoolhouse in rural China, and the teacher tells her that she’ll be paid if all the children are there when he returns. Well, of course one of the kids, this little rapscallion, runs away, and she has to track him down to this big city. And the job of finding this kid in this huge city is OVERWHELMING and yet this girl is unbelievably tenacious. I just loved that sense of incredible strength in someone so young. Emma is partly inspired from a friend of mine, a writer I worked with who can be incredibly combative and feist