SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE RACE TO ERAS
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.billdoyle.net/
CITY: New York
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 346
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bill-doyle/b/96a/606 http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/kids_authors_Bill-Doyle-%281072608%29.htm
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1968, in Lansing, MI.
EDUCATION:Georgetown University, B.A. (English), 1991; New York University, M.F.A. (dramatic writing), 1995.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and editor. Sesame Workshop, New York, NY, editor of Kid City, 1995-98; freelance writer, 1995—; Crab Hill Press (application software company), New York, NY, cofounder and writer, 2010—. Also served as a producer for LeapFrog.
AWARDS:Editor’s Choice Award, Children’s Technology Review, for Nash Smasher!
WRITINGS
Author of Nash Smasher! and My Dad Drives a Roller Coaster Car (computer apps), Crab Hill Press. Editor of Time for Kids, 2001. Contributor to periodicals, including Rolling Stone and National Geographic Kids.
SIDELIGHTS
The cofounder of Crab Hill Press, which develops interactive e-books for iPad users, Bill Doyle is also an author of more than a dozen works of fiction for children. Doyle’s “Crime though Time” mystery-adventure series includes titles such as Nabbed! The 1925 Journal of G. Codd Fitzmorgan, and his “Scream Team” series follows the athletic exploits of a band of young monsters. Doyle also chronicles the comic misadventures of an ultra-competitive boy and his family in the “Prizewinners of Piedmont Place” series.
The first installment in Doyle’s “Magic for Hire” series, Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie centers on the adventures of Keats and Henry, cousins who find themselves embroiled in magic and mystery. When the boys need money to purchase new bikes, they find work maintaining a house belonging to Mr. Cigam, an eccentric magician. Along with weeding the garden and sweeping the garage, the boys must also battle a gruesome creature that stalks the home’s enchanted rooms and hallways. Erin Anderson, writing in Booklist, observed of Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie that “Doyle’s reader-friendly and engaging story packs in a remarkable amount of action and fun.”
Part of the “Worst-case Scenario Ultimate Adventure” series, Everest: You Decide How to Survive was co-written by Doyle and David Borgenicht. The interactive work invites readers to imagine themselves as part of the youngest team ever to attempt a climb of the world’s tallest mountain, facing a number of crucial decisions along the way. “The format and subject matter will be especially appealing to reluctant readers,” Eva Elisabeth VonAncken commented in her review of Everest in School Library Journal.
Similarly, Doyle’s Titanic offers “a truly engaging format for historical adventurers of all ages,” according to School Library Journal critic Elizabeth Pelayo. From the “Escape This Book!” collection, Titanic presents audiences with the choice of three characters who board the doomed ocean liner: a passenger, a crew member, or a stowaway. Surviving the disastrous maiden voyage of the ship involves manipulating the pages—cutting, folding, sketching—to complete a number of challenges involving historical figures such as Edward J. Smith, the Titanic‘s captain. “The three difficulty levels show the socio-economic dynamics of maritime travel in 1914, giving fewer chances of survival to stowaways and crew members,” observed a writer in Kirkus Reviews.
Doyle opens a humorous series for middle-grade readers with The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place. Featuring artwork by Colin Jack, the novel introduces Cal Talaska, an energetic youngster who desperately wants to enter a competition sponsored by a local megastore. The top prize in the Wish Shoppe’s Great Grab Contest is fantastic: a twenty-minute shopping spree during which the winners snatch anything they like from the store’s shelves. After convincing his reluctant family members to enter the contest, Cal discovers that the Talaskas will face fierce competition from the wealthy and arrogant Mr. Wylot, who employs Cal’s father.
“Strong family ties and social-class contrasts lie at the center of this sitcom-style farce,” a Kirkus Reviews writer noted, and Booklist contributor Suzanne Harold remarked that the work’s “breakneck pace, outlandish characters, and implausible plot create a funny, light story.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer also applauded the tale, stating that “Cal’s fortitude in the face of adversity may inspire readers to do the same.”
The Talaska family once again hopes to strike it rich in the companion volume Escape from Funland. Eager to win an extreme makeover for their dilapidated home, Cal enters his family in a contest bankrolled by the Funland Fun House. After surviving an intense first round of competition, the Talaskas must locate a treasure cleverly hidden away in a clown-themed amusement park. According to Harold, again writing in Booklist, the narrative “proceeds quickly with wordplay and anagrams adding elements of fun.” Describing Escape from Funland as “a laugh-out-loud adventure,” a Kirkus Reviews contributor predicted that Doyle’s “story will keep readers entertained right from the start.”
Nash Smasher! and My Dad Drives a Roller Coaster Car are among the e-books Doyle has developed for Crab Hill Press. In the former, a rambunctious tyke causes havoc at a birthday party until the host channels the lad’s energy in a productive direction. Users control Nash’s actions by simply tapping the screen of their electronic device. A writer in Kirkus Reviews described Nash Smasher! as “a story app positively festooned with funny special effects and side business.” In My Dad Drives a Roller Coaster Car a youngster yearns to take the controls of an amusement-park ride, just like the adults in his family do. While the technology in My Dad Drives a Roller Coaster Car is appropriate for young users, the “sophisticated look and clever writing … make it appealing for older kids,” according to a contributor in Kirkus Reviews.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 15, 2011, Erin Anderson, review of Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie, p. 57; July 1, 2016, Suzanne Harold, review of The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place, p. 74.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2011, review of Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie; April 15, 2011, review of Everest: You Decide How to Survive; May 15, 2011, reviews of My Dad Drives a Roller Coaster Car and Nash Smasher!; April 1, 2016, review of The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place; January 15, 2017, review of Escape from Funland; January 15, 2019, review of Titanic.
Publishers Weekly, May 9, 2016, review of The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place, p. 70.
School Library Journal, August, 2006, Krista Tokarz, reviews of Nabbed! The 1925 Journal of G. Codd Fitzmorgan and Swindled! The 1906 Journal of Fitz Morgan, both p. 118; June, 2011, Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, review of Everest, p. 143; June, 2016, Wayne R. Cherry, Jr., review of The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place, p. 92; March, 2017, Carol Connor, review of Escape from Funland, p. 124; February, 2019, Elizabeth Pelayo, review of Titanic, p. 58.
ONLINE
Booklist, https://www.booklistonline.com/ (March 10, 2017), Suzanne Harold, review of Escape from Funland.
Bill Doyle website, http://www.billdoyle.net (April 15, 2019).
Metropolitan Museum of Art website, https://www.metmuseum.org/ (August 3, 2016), Masha Turchinsky, “Our Words, Our Stories: Digital Storytelling with Author Bill Doyle.”*
Bill Doyle
(Bill H Doyle)
Bill Doyle grew up in Michigan and wrote his first story--a funny whodunit--when he was eight. Since then he's written other action-packed books for kids. He lives with two dachshund-headed canines in New York City.
Genres: Children's Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy
Series
Crime Through Time
1. Swindled! (2006)
2. Nabbed! (2006)
3. Silenced! (2006)
4. Betrayed! (2006)
5. Iced! (2006)
6. Trapped! (2007)
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Escape This Book!
Tombs of Egypt (2020)
Race to the Moon (2020)
Titanic (2021)
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Fifth Hero
1. The Race to Erase (2023)
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Novels
The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place (2016)
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Chapter Books
Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie (2011)
Stampede of the Supermarket Slugs (2012)
Invasion of the Junkyard Hog (2014)
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Non fiction
Behind Enemy Lines (2009)
Under Fire in the Middle East (2011)
Bill Doyle is the author of Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie and Behind Enemy Lines, as well as many other books for kids--with over two million copies in print. He has also created lots of games for Sesame Workshop, Warner Bros., and Nerf. He says, "My happiest moment as an author was when the genius Master Escapologist sent me a secret message offering me the job to write his incredible books." (No, he's not just saying that because the Master Escapologist is writing this biography!) Bill lives in New York City and San Francisco, and you can find out more about him at BillDoyleBooks.com.
With over 2,000,000 books in print, author Bill Doyle has written critically acclaimed and bestselling children’s books, including Scholastic’s Behind Enemy Lines series and Scream Team series; Chronicle Books’ "Worst Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure: Everest"; Little Brown’s six-book Crime Through Time series; and Random House’s Magic for Hire series, with titles including "Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie" and "Invasion of the Junkyard Hog."
Bill’s latest book series, published by Random House, just kicked off with "The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place."
Bill is co-founder of Crab Hill Press, a developer of children’s interactive storybooks, including the top-ranked "Nash Smasher!'—named one of the 10 Best Children’s Books for iPad by The New York Times and recipient of a Kirkus Reviews Star. Bill’s second Crab Hill Press app, "My Dad Drives a Roller Coaster Car," recently topped USA Today’s list of best kids travel apps. His latest app, "Don’t Open Before Christmas," is a Kirkus Critic's Pick and was selected by USA Today as a Best Holiday App.
Additionally, Bill has served as editor of "Kid City" (aka "Electric Company") at Sesame Workshop and as an editor at "TIME for Kids" and for "SI Kids." He's produced and edited for LeapFrog and has written for "Weekly Reader," "Rolling Stone," Comedy Central, and "National Geographic Kids." He’s developed interactive, digital storytelling projects with large cultural institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History and most recently with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Back in the day, he wrote the interactive screenplay for the video game "Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri."
He is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the Tisch School of Film and Television at New York University where he was taught by the likes of Arthur Miller, John Guare, and David Mamet. Bill currently lives in New York City and you can find more about him at billdoylewritinghub.com.
Doyle, Bill THE RACE TO ERASE Random House (Children's None) $13.99 1, 3 ISBN: 978-0-593-48637-5
The reader joins four young climate heroes to help save planet Earth in this interactive, near-future adventure story.
Everyone knows that Earth is old and dangerous, and it's time for humans to get off the planet. At least, that's the message that the Calamity Corporation has been touting. When 11-year-old Jarrett attends a Climate Club meeting at the home of his classmate Lina, whose parents run the Calamity Corporation, everything goes haywire. Upon touching special spheres secretly created to destroy Earth, Jarrett and fellow club members Malik, Agnes, and Freya are imbued with powers relating to animals, water, land, and air. As they go on the run from evil robots, the heroes require assistance to save themselves and the planet. At three points in the book the reader is required to make a decision that will either end the journey or propel the adventure forward. The nonstop action is engaging, but these interactive elements detract more than add to the story, even if they do fit with the overall theme of how to be environmentally conscious. This tale kicks off a new series, and the ending provides only the barest amount of satisfying closure, leaving much open for future installments. Though characters' races and ethnicities aren't described, the book cover depicts one character as brown-skinned; the others are light-skinned or tan-skinned. It's hinted that Jarrett and Malik's relationship is more than just a friendship.
Full of fun action but not entirely rewarding. (fact files about kids finding ways to help the environment) (Science fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Doyle, Bill: THE RACE TO ERASE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072556/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b5dcc616. Accessed 18 May 2023.