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The Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark by Ridley Pearson, Gary Littman (Read by)

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Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Pub. Date: August 2005
ISBN-13: 9780641755170
Series: The Kingdom Keepers Series
Edition Description: Bargain

Other Formats:
Paperback - Reprint
Audio - Unabridged, 5 cassettes, 6 hours
Compact Disc - Unabridged, 6 CDs, 6 hours

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Synopsis

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.

Publishers Weekly

For anyone who has imagined what goes on in Walt Disney World after the gates close to the public, Pearson's (Peter and the Starcatchers) tale and Littman's authentic-sounding narration, in middle-schooler Finn Whitman's voice, offer a suspenseful all-access pass to the Magic Kingdom behind the scenes-filled with action, technology and a tricky (and implausible) riddle. Finn lands a cooler-than-cool opportunity after he becomes a model for a new breed of "holographic hosts" (Disney Host Interactive/Daylight Hologram Imaging) at Disney World. But the experience gets weirder than weird when Finn and the other four DHIs find themselves transported to the park via their nighttime dreams and must save the Magic Kingdom from Disney witches and villains called "Overtakers" by solving a puzzle said to be left behind by Walt himself. Littman reads at a smooth pace, speeding up along with the story's tension. He nails realistic kid-like reactions and dialogue even though listeners might find much of the plot hard to believe (and some of the plugs for Disney a bit over the top). Ages 10-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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Biography

Whether it's crime thrillers for adults or adventure stories for young readers, bestselling author Ridley Pearson brings imagination, suspense, and an impeccable eye for detail to all his award-winning fiction.

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Customer Reviews

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Reviewed by Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" for TeensReadToo.comby TeensReadToo

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November 02, 2008: Five young teens living in Florida get the opportunity of a lifetime--they're each going to be turned into a DHI, or a Disney Host Interactive, to guide visitors throughout the park. The five teens--Finn, Charlene, Willa, Philby, and Maybeck--are a varied assortment of ethnicities, and all attend different schools. As Maybeck states, they're "the Orlando assortment pack." When Philby points out that DHI also stands for Daylight Hologram Imaging, the kids get a little worried that maybe the people at Disney aren't telling them everything there is to know. And that turns out to be quite an understatement.

One night when Finn falls asleep, he finds himself in the park after closing-- in his DHI, or hologram, body. He meets an old man named Wayne, one of the original Disney Imagineers, who informs Finn that he and his other four DHI friends have been chosen for a mission. A mission to save the park from the Overtakers, a group of once-benign Park characters who have taken on power and are intent on spreading their power outside of the borders of Disney World.

What at first seems like a fantastical dream soon turns to reality, when the attractions at the Park begin coming to life when the DHIs cross over into the Magic Kingdom while sleeping. They're attacked by animatronic pirates from The Pirates of the Caribbean, the dolls from It's a Small World try to capsize their boat, a dinosaur fossil from the Thunder Mountain ride comes to life and starts chasing them. And then there's Maleficent, the witch from Sleeping Beauty, who appears to be all too real--and determined to stop the kids from solving The Stonecutter's Quill, the fable that Walt Disney passed along to save the Park from the Overtakers.

THE KINGDOM KEEPERS is definitely an imaginative read, full of action, adventure, and suspense. For anyone who has ever visited the Magic Kingdom, you'll recognize the settings immediately. Even if you're not a frequent visitor of Disney World, this is one book that will bring the magic--both good and bad--to very realistic life.

What an Adventure!by Anonymous

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October 04, 2008: Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark has to be one of the most interesting, addicting, funny and original books I have ever read. It takes place all around the Disney Orlando Resort. The book tells about the journey of 5 teens who were chosen to be the first DHI?s, Disney Host Interactive, but suddenly the new technology backfires and, when they went to bed, the kids find themselves in Magic Kingdom at night. The only way out of the park wasn?t to wake up, but to push a special remote that had one single red button. How weird is that? Now Finn, Charlene, Willa, Philby and Maybec have to figure out what is going on with the DHI system and put a stop to it, that is with the help of Wayne, one of Disney?s first Imagineers who had the remote, and try to stop the over-takers from destroying the park and the outside world. The only clues they have to stopping this chaos are found scattered all around the park. After looking in at attractions in Magic Kingdom in ? A new perspective? the teens finally glue the pieces together to solve the mystery. They find the original plans to Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney?s own personal pens to revel what his original plans were for the park. As they dropped a single drop of ink from the pen onto the plans everything in the park light up and fire works burst out into the sky at night. Then Wayne pushed the red button one more time.

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Fact File

Name:
Ridley Pearson

Also Known As:
Wendell McCall

Current Home:
Divides his time between the Midwest and the Northern Rockies

Date of Birth:
March 13, 1953

Place of Birth:
Glen Cove, New York

Education:
Kansas University, B.A., Brown University

Awards:
Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship at Oxford University, 1991

Biography

Crime may not always pay, but crime fiction always sells, and Ridley Pearson is one of the stars of the genre, the kind of writer whose royalties keep his family fed and cover a few extras as well (like, say, his own airplane). Yet Pearson didn't spend his youth dreaming of bestsellerdom. His first ambition was to be a musician, and he spent most of his twenties writing and performing folk-rock songs. The idea that he might become a novelist came later. As he explained in a Barnes and Noble interview, he was reading a Robert Ludlum novel when "a voice spoke up from inside me and said, 'I can do this.'" (Once he began writing and discovered firsthand the skill involved in crafting a cohesive thriller, he realized how much he had presumed!)

Pearson is renowned for fast-paced, thrill-a-minute suspense novels that include "a rare humanism and attention to detail" (Publishers Weekly). In a Greenwich Magazine interview he called his work "aerobic fiction, because I hope to get your heart pounding and get you turning pages." Entertainment Weekly dubbed him "the thinking person's Robert Ludlum."

As his fans know, Pearson works hard at nailing the details of forensic investigation and police procedure. In Undercurrents (the first novel in his Seattle-based Lou Boldt mystery series) his research was so thorough -- he consulted an expert in oceanography -- that the book helped convict an actual murderer. A Washington state prosecuting attorney happened to be reading it while working on a case similar to Pearson's fictional one: A woman's body had been found in a bay, and at first it appeared that she had committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. The oceanographer mentioned in Pearson's acknowledgements was called in as an expert witness to help prove that, based on tidal currents, the woman must have been dead before the time her husband claimed to have last seen her. Due largely to the expert testimony, the victim's husband was convicted of second-degree murder.

Of course, there's more to a Pearson novel than research. "Just what is it about Ridley Pearson that makes him the best damn thriller writer on the planet?" mused Bill Ott in BookList. "We've celebrated the forensic detail, the taut plotting, the multidimensional characters, and the screw-tightening suspense, but lots of fiction writers do all that. Here's a theory: Pearson is a master at manipulating opposites. His stories are forever jumping from high concept to small scale, from positive to negative charges, manipulating our emotions and minds with their polar hip-hopping."

When he's not writing, Pearson still makes music -- he's the bass guitarist for the Rock Bottom Remainders, an amateur rock band made up of professional writers including Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan, and Mitch Albom. (The group's motto, coined by Barry: "We play music as well as Metallica writes novels.")

It was while Pearson was in Miami to play with the Rock Bottom Remainders that he told Barry about his idea (actually, daughter Paige's idea) for a prequel to Peter Pan. The two authors had such a good time hashing out possibilities over breakfast that Pearson asked Barry to write the book with him. Published in 2004, their clever collaboration Peter and the Starcatchers became a huge bestseller, spawning two sequels (Peter and the Shadow Thieves in 2006 and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon in 2007) and a series of spin-off children's chapter books.

Even though Pearson thoroughly enjoys crafting juvenile fiction, his adult fans need not worry that he's abandoned his high-voltage crime novels. Indeed, he has said that writing gives him the same "adrenaline rush," no matter which audience he is targeting: Readers of all ages appreciate the imagination, suspense, and an impeccable eye for detail he brings to all his fiction.

Good to Know

Pearson calls himself a workaholic, "not so much by desire as out of necessity," since he reserves a lot of time for his two young daughters. His hobbies, which he now defines as "something you once did and no longer have the time for," include recreational tree climbing, fly-fishing, backyard volleyball, snow boarding -- and, of course, bass guitar in his rock band. An avid reviser, Pearson says, "I'm said to have a nervous, worrying disposition, but rarely feel I live up to that description -- perhaps internal calm is expressed as external nervosa."

Pearson loves to travel, especially to southern France, with wife Marcelle and second child Storey, who is adopted from China. We're certain to do a good deal of international travel in the years to come. He also attends local symphony and theater. But his "favorite avocation is to spend an evening around our dining table with two or three other couples. This, I feel, is where many of the world's ills are solved, and many souls restored. Mine, especially."

Feature Interview

In the summer of 2004, we asked authors featured in Meet the Writers to give us a list of their all-time favorite summer reads. Here's what made Ridley Pearson's list:

My all-time favorite writers:

Fodor Dostoevsky (especially Crime And Punishment)

John D. McDonald

William Shakespeare (comedies, the King plays)

Mark Twain

Frank Baum (Oz series)

W. B. Yeats (poems)

Some favorite books (recent and otherwise):

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Grand Hotel by Vicky Baum

World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester

Ship Of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Nobel House by James Clavel

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John LeCarre

A Place Of Execution by Val McDermid

In A Dry Season by Peter Robinson

John Adams by David McCullough

Eye Of The Needle by Ken Follet

Atonement and The Innocent by Ian McEwan

Shakespeare by Michael Wood

Lake Of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ridley Pearson took a break from his hectic schedule to answer a few questions from us:

What was the book that most influenced your life?

Of all the great books I've read -- and there are SO many! -- it seems somewhat sacrilegious to credit a Robert Ludlum as being the most influential to my writing, especially when I don't recall the title. But I do remember clearly that it was while reading a Ludlum one day in the late 1970s that a voice spoke up from inside me and said, "I can do this" (this seems so presumptuous now, given how hard it is to write a cohesive novel).

As a child of 10 or 12 I had experienced a similar moment while reading one of the Landmark Book historical novels -- I remember being in awe of the idea that someone had written this book I was reading -- I remember the smell of the binding glue and the pages, the ink, and thinking I'd never be smart enough to write a book myself.

I think the Ludlum showed me it isn't "smarts" so much as hard work. My fellow band mate (from The Rockbottom Remainders) Stephen King said to me recently, tongue-in-cheek, "Ridley, I think inspiration is overrated." We were talking about our current books -- we'd both hit stumbling blocks at the same time -- and Stephen wasn't waiting around for divine intervention. He was going to climb back into the chair and start writing. And that's what I do, too: I run right over the stumbling blocks instead of allowing them to halt my advance.

What are your 10 favorite books?

As a writer you are asked this all the time, and honestly, I typically won't answer it. A day later you think of another much more important title; you realize you left off a deserving friend; this is challenge I'd rather not face. That said:

Crime and Punishment. While on the Fulbright in Oxford, I picked this up, having been "afraid" of the Russians, believing them "over my head." Nonsense! This is, without a doubt, the greatest thriller ever written.
The Old Man and the Sea had a profound effect on me as a teen. Don't know how it would strike me today.
A World Lit Only by Fire remains perhaps my all time favorite history.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Again, a novel read as a teen, but one that activated my imagination in ways books before it had not.
Shakespearean plays -- studies in grace, character and drama. Can't be beat.
The Kentucky Cycle, a play by Robert Schenkkan. I read this in the past five years. The voice, the dialogue, are sensationally clear and sharp.
The Stand, a classic pitting of good against evil. Rarely can a book grip me to the point as this one did. I was afraid to pick it up and continue reading. I was afraid not to read it. Powerful stuff.
A Place of Execution. Hits the mystery novel dead on.
Presumed Innocent and Personal Injuries. Legal thrillers, literary novels, don't get any better; and the first person, present tense of Presumed Innocent broke new ground.
Anything by Barbara Kingsolver. I would read her grocery lists and love it.
Anything by Dave Barry. Way more than just funny (which they are) Dave's work gives one insight into our culture and our own foibles in ways few other journalists, much less humorists, are capable of. And, oh yes, never end a sentence with a preposition.

Who are your favorite writers?

TOO MANY TO LIST! A few are...

Mystery/thriller authors: Dennis LeHane; Michael Connelly; Jeff Parker, Peter Robinson; Val McDermid; Elizabeth George

History/biography authors: William Manchester; David McCullough

Contemporary fiction authors: Barbara Kingsolver; Scott Turow; Stephen King; David Long

From Barnes & Noble

In this fantastical novel, Disney's Magic Kingdom suddenly becomes a bit eerie. Finn Whitman and four other teens have been hired as Disney World guides, but with an odd twist: With cutting-edge technology, they have been transformed into hologram projections capable of leading guests around the park. What begins as an exciting theme park job turns into a virtual nightmare as Whit and his pals attempt to thwart an uprising by a menacing group of Disney villains.

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

William Jeys, Teen Reviewer - VOYA

This book is about a group of kids picked to be DHI's (Disney Host Interactives). Everything is normal until they start having weird dreams that aren't really dreams at all. I liked the book because it has an in-depth story line and imagination. It is written in a way that had me thinking that I was there, watching what was going on. I think people who are into fantasy with a little bit of sci-fi will enjoy this book. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Hyperion, 325p., Ages 11 to 18.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Thirteen-year-old Finn and several of his friends become holograms at Florida's Disney World and then find themselves literally pulled into nighttime adventures in the theme park. Ridley Pearson's fantasy (Disney Editions, 2005) is fast paced and technologically savvy. Finn and his friends make repeated forays after hours into the very guts of such Disney icons as Tom Sawyer's Island, It's a Small World, Adventure Mountain, and other rides both tame and wild as they lay siege to Maleficent, an evil witch whose minions are at work to destroy the Disney mystique. The kids hang out at the park looking for signs and signals that will aid them in their nighttime quest for securing Disney power. Their parents are mildly suspicious, but Finn and his pals are fast talkers, willing to face their nighttime nemeses alone, rather than bringing in adult forces. Gary Littman reads with a variety of accents, some of which are less successful than others, and it's easy to differentiate among both kids and adults. Given how much Disney has seeped into the very core of Americana, most listeners will be able to understand the references and will know for whom Maleficent is a foil. While the details about why one would become a hologram for Disney are slighted, the sleuthing aspect of the tale has universal appeal.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

When Finn is selected as the model for a holographic guide in the Magic Kingdom, he never imagines it will pit him against the evil forces plotting to destroy Disney World. Along with the four other teens who act as Disney's holographic hosts, Finn appears in the Magic Kingdom in his dreams. There, an old Disney Imagineer tells the five they have been specially selected to save Disney World. The evil forces of the Overtakers-Disney's villains, led by the witch Maleficent of Sleeping Beauty-are coming to life to destroy first the Magic Kingdom, and then the world. Luckily, Walt Disney wrote a riddle long ago that can be solved to defeat the Overtakers. As they study the puzzle, the heroes battle witchcraft and living animatronics in the theme park's after-hours. Though the adventure makes cunning use of Disney's mythos-a scene in which the "It's a Small World" dolls attack the adventurers while singing their famous song is chilling-flat characters and an anticlimactic finale detract from the cleverness. (Fantasy. 11-13)

The Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark by Ridley Pearson, Gary Littman (Read by)

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Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Biography

Customer Reviews

Reviewed by Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" for TeensReadToo.comby TeensReadToo

What an Adventure!by Anonymous

Fact File

Biography

Good to Know

Feature Interview

From Barnes & Noble

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

William Jeys, Teen Reviewer - VOYA

School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

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The Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark by Ridley Pearson, Gary Littman (Read by)

BUY THIS ITEM

FIND & RESERVE AN IN-STORE COPY

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Biography

Customer Reviews

Reviewed by Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" for TeensReadToo.comby TeensReadToo

What an Adventure!by Anonymous

Fact File

Biography

Good to Know

Feature Interview

From Barnes & Noble

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

William Jeys, Teen Reviewer - VOYA

School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

Customers who bought this also bought

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