Interest in Action-filled Children’s Fantasy Adventure Still Spreading Like Weeds

Aug. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- Ukiah, CA – Interest in the unusual fantasy adventure The Call to Shakabaz by Amy Wachspress is still spreading like weeds. More weeds? The audio book of The Call to Shakabaz, produced by Legacy Audio Books, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, which received a Mom’s Choice Silver Medal, is also spreading like weeds among tweens and young teens. The Call to Shakabaz previously won three national and two regional awards (including Children’s Fiction Finalist USA Book News Best Books 2007). The audio book, released in September 2008, features the versatile voices of Andrew L. Barnes and Adilah Barnes as well as original music composed by Timothy Barnes. The Call to Shakabaz is a five-star favorite on Amazon and was one of the top 10 children’s books sold at Black Oak Books in Berkeley, California in the first months after publication. Reviewers promise that if you like the Narnia books and Harry Potter, you’ll love The Call to Shakabaz.

In The Call to Shakabaz, the recently orphaned Goodacre children travel with their pesky parrot to the distant land of Faracadar on a quest to retrieve the powerful Staff of Shakabaz from the malevolent enchanter Sissrath. When the young protagonists discover that violence is foredoomed to fail against Sissrath, they must use their wits and imagination to defeat him. A terrific romp with cross-generational appeal, this story demonstrates the fundamental principles of nonviolence as practiced by Dr. King and Gandhi within the context of a real cliff-hanger that has the reader hooked from the beginning all the way to the unexpected, magical climax.

The Call to Shakabaz is filled with adventure, colorful endearing characters, magic and enchantment, thought-provoking threads to spark discussion, children on a hero’s journey, and an epic struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Author Amy Wachspress has combined a passion for children’s fantasy stories and a heartfelt belief in the power of nonviolence with a love of African American culture to create a rip-roaring ride with magic, depth, and soul for readers of all ages.    

    “The Call to Shakabaz is a children’s book that is important for everyone to know about. I suggest you buy it and read it together with the whole family.” -- Bev Smith, nationally syndicated talk radio host
    “First and foremost, The Call to Shakabaz is a highly readable, entertaining fantasy that anyone can enjoy. But beyond that, it fills some important holes in fantasy literature. It’s about time that a good fantasy came along featuring characters that African-American children can identify with.”-- Sheila Ruth, Wands and Worlds

The Call to Shakabaz by Amy Wachspress Published by Woza Books
$15.50 US • ISBN 978-0-9788350-2-6 • 6" X 9"  272 pages Trade Paperback
Visit www.wozabooks.com
The Call to Shakabaz Audio Book Produced by Legacy Audio Books, Inc.
$29.99 US  • ISBN 978-0-9779883-9-6  • Available through Follett Library Resources, Quality Books Inc., BCH, Brodart Co., Baker & Taylor, and Legacy Audio Books, Inc.
Visit www.legacy-audiobooks.com

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About author Amy Wachspress:
Amy Wachspress has her M.A. in English and is a published author who works fulltime as a freelance writer. She makes her bread-and-butter income writing grants and in this capacity has raised over $100 million for worthy causes for clients in over 25 states. She is the author of the children's fantasy adventure "The Call to Shakabaz" and her adult novel "Memories from Cherry Harvest Time" is forthcoming in 2012. She and her musicologist husband raised their three multi-talented, multicultural children on forty acres of remote forest in rural northern California. Since the publication of her book Amy has written extensively for online venues and in trade journals. In 2009, she received a grant from the Mendocino County Arts Council to make author visits in the schools, where she and students made fold-out books printed with her Everyday Practices for Young People Who Want to Help Save the World. Amy teaches that creativity is the opposite of violence.