Ridley Pearson keeps the thrills for a younger audience in his latest, Steel Trapp: The Challenge. The first book in a new series featuring Steven (Steel) Trapp, the novel opens with our young protagonist riding a train with his mother to the National Science Challenge in Washington, D.C. He sees a woman leave a briefcase on board, and his attempt to return it propels him into a complex plot involving kidnapping and blackmail.
Pearson got the inspiration for this thrilling tale from one of his adult books. He said, "I had written a full length adult novel involving my character from Cut and Run, Roland Larson, when I entered into an agreement with Putnam, and they wanted me to start a new series. With the Larson novel on my desk, I elected to retool it to be from the young boy's POV and, quite honestly, it came to life. I loved the process. I had wanted to write an adult-level crime novel for a younger audience (that is, fast paced, high stakes, complicated and challenging) and I realized, like Dorothy, that it had been in my possession all along."
Steven's destination event in D.C. actually exists. According to the official website, Discovery Education's Young Scientist Challenge is the premier national science competition for students in grades 5 through 8. It is designed to encourage the exploration of science among America's youth and promote the importance of science communication. In 1999, Discovery Communications, LLC, launched the competition to nurture the next generation of American scientists at a critical age when interest in science often begins to decline. Over the past nine years, more than 540,000 middle school students have been nominated to participate in the competition, and winners have gone on to speak in front of members of Congress, work with the nation's top scientists, and pursue academic careers in the sciences.
Does Pearson find it difficult to write for children instead of adults? He answered, "I try to NOT think about that. Yes, I leave out the swear words and the intimate sex, but I don't want to dumb down the stories. I try to keep it a book that I would want to read; something that would excite me and hold me in my chair. I've had a nice early response from two booksellers, George Scott in Atlanta and David Thompson in Houston, who are very supportive of the book and intend to sell it to their adult readers as well."
Fans of Pearson will be thrilled to learn that 2008 will see several more books from him. In July, his new Walt Fleming novel, Killer View, debuts. A sequel to The Kingdom Keepers follows in August and another book with Dave Barry, called Science Fair, comes out in October. This fan of Ridley Pearson couldn't be more excited.
Ridley Pearson is the author of 26 books, including a pair of NYTimes #1 best sellers.
ITW contributing editor Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket
Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library
Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle
Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine.
Steven's destination event in D.C. actually exists. According to the official website, Discovery Education's Young Scientist Challenge is the premier national science competition for students in grades 5 through 8. It is designed to encourage the exploration of science among America's youth and promote the importance of science communication. In 1999, Discovery Communications, LLC, launched the competition to nurture the next generation of American scientists at a critical age when interest in science often begins to decline. Over the past nine years, more than 540,000 middle school students have been nominated to participate in the competition, and winners have gone on to speak in front of members of Congress, work with the nation's top scientists, and pursue academic careers in the sciences.Does Pearson find it difficult to write for children instead of adults? He answered, "I try to NOT think about that. Yes, I leave out the swear words and the intimate sex, but I don't want to dumb down the stories. I try to keep it a book that I would want to read; something that would excite me and hold me in my chair. I've had a nice early response from two booksellers, George Scott in Atlanta and David Thompson in Houston, who are very supportive of the book and intend to sell it to their adult readers as well."
Fans of Pearson will be thrilled to learn that 2008 will see several more books from him. In July, his new Walt Fleming novel, Killer View, debuts. A sequel to The Kingdom Keepers follows in August and another book with Dave Barry, called Science Fair, comes out in October. This fan of Ridley Pearson couldn't be more excited.
Ridley Pearson is the author of 26 books, including a pair of NYTimes #1 best sellers.
ITW contributing editor Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket
Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library
Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle
Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine. 
