Disney in Shadow (Kingdom Keepers Series #3)

by Ridley Pearson

Overview

When Disney Imagineers installed hologram guides for the Magic Kingdom, using teenage models they had no idea the technology might backfire. But backfire it did: some nights when the kids go to sleep, they wake up in one of the Disney parks as a hologram. With the adventures set forth in the first books now behind them, Kingdom Keepers 3: Disney In Shadow follows the five teens, Finn, Philby, Willa, Charlene, and Maybeck as they search to find Wayne, their mentor and head Imagineer who has mysteriously gone missing. Concerned Wayne has been abducted by the Overtakers-Disney villains, who along with other Disney characters, take over the parks when the turnstiles stop spinning, and want desperately to steer the parks to a far darker place-the five kids pick up a major clue from a close friend, Jez, whose dreams (nightmares, really) often accurately predict the future. The very few clues from Jez's dream lead the kids into Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot--through imaginary worlds that become real, by imaginary kids who are real. Each clue seems tied to the last, and with the stakes growing ever higher, what starts out as a puzzle ends up as a fight for their lives. Through a transparent paper box, a quest for a sword, rides on Soarin' and Maelstrom, life-and-death encounters with giant snakes, and a devious Maleficent, the Kingdom Keepers not only begin to decipher deeper meanings to the clues, but discover new truths about themselves and their ever-growing friendships.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423151104
Publisher:	Disney Hyperion Digital
Publication date:	03/01/2011
Series:	Kingdom Keepers Series , #3
Sold by:	DISNEY PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE -EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	576
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Author Info: Ridley Pearson is the award-winning author of the best-selling Kingdom Keepers series along with forty other novels for adults (suspense) and young readers (adventure) including cowriting Peter and the Starcatchers. Ridley spends a good deal of his time sneaking around the Disney parks and aboard the Disney Cruise Line ships all in the name of research.Illustrator Info:Tristan Elwell was born and raised in New York City, where he graduated from the High School of Music and Art. He attended the School of Visual Arts on a full scholarship, graduating in 1990 at the top of his class. While at SVA he also worked as a painting assistant to noted photo realist Charles Bell. After college he quickly established his career as an illustrator. In 1994 he joined the staff at SVA, where he teaches illustration and painting. He has done book covers for all the major publishing houses, including Avon, Bantam, HarperCollins, Penguin, Pocket Books, Scholastic, and Tor.

Hometown:

St. Louis, Missouri

Date of Birth:

March 13, 1953

Place of Birth:

Glen Cove, New York

Education:

Kansas University, B.A., Brown University

Website:

http://www.ridleypearson.com/

Editorial Reviews

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.

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)

Kirkus Reviews

Pearson’s new take on book three has not only tightened the storyline by reducing the page count but brought new magic to the literary world with a whole new story.
—Laughing Place

From the Publisher