Tag: Scare School

SCARE SCHOOL DIARIES: THE UN-HAUNTABLE HOUSE pub day!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 1 Comment

Today, Scare School Diaries: The Un-Hauntable House is officially out! This is the third and long-awaited (judging by the Scare School Diaries fans I meet on the road, at least, who’ve been asking me about THIS book’s release date since before the SECOND even came out) installment of my series of highly illustrated chapter books. This, of course, is worth celebrating in and of itself. But there’s a reason to celebrate EXTRA hard today, and that’s because The Un-Hauntable House is my 30th published book! Cue the party hat-wearing, noisemaker-blowing emojis.

But back to The Un-Hauntable House specifically — I really think fans of Welcome to Scare School and Forest Frights (the first two books in the series) are going to love it. As with all my ongoing series, I never want to give fans only more of the same. I strive to develop each and every one of my characters from one book to the next, and while I DO want to give fans plenty of what they loved about the stories in the previous books in a series, I also always want to push things forward and give them something NEW too. As such, there are a lot of FIRSTS in The Un-Hauntable House. For instance, the book marks the first time we see HUMAN characters, and the first time we hear about and see Bash and his pals try to scare them. The book also marks the first time we see Mr. Crane show something resembling DELIGHT. (For those of you who are already familiar with the books, you’ll know that’s a VERY BIG DEAL.)

I hope my readers DO find a lot to love about this next story out of the Scare School Diaries universe, and I hope it leaves them hungry for even more. Because I’ve got more coming. Basement Baddies, the fourth book in the series, will be out on March 2nd, 2027. And in case you missed the recent announcement on social media, Scare School Diaries has been extended to include a fifth and sixth (highly illustrated) chapter book AND a trio of early readers as part of a new series called Tales from Scare School.

More on all of THIS fun stuff soon. For now, though — and to finish off my talking about The Un-Hauntable House — here’s my publisher’s writeup about the book:

Bash must haunt a hardy household right out of their home to pass his exam in this third book in the sweet and spooky chapter book series by acclaimed author Jarrett Lerner.

It’s time for the annual Excursion Exam at Scare School, and for Bash, his assignment is a doozy: he must spook every member of the Jones family badly enough that they flee their home! That’s nine humans, a dog, and a cat—a tall order for a young ghost. Even worse, when Bash arrives at the house for the big event, nothing he tries frightens the Joneses! Can he muster up a good enough scare to pass his test?

If you want signed, doodled-in, and personalized copies of The Un-Hauntable House (and/or any of my other books), you can, as always, order them from my incredible local independent bookstore, The Silver Unicorn. Click HERE to do so. Thanks! And also: BOO!

~ Jarrett

COVER REVEAL: Nat the Cat Finds a Map — Plus: New Book News!

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ Leave a comment

In case you missed it, last weekend I revealed the cover of my next (and fifth) Nat the Cat early reader, Nat the Cat Finds a Map. So, without further ado, here it is:

Of all the Nat books, this new one is my personal favorite. I think it does the best job of capturing Nat and Pat’s personalities while also simultaneously taking their relationship to a bit of a new place.

And speaking of venturing to new places, Nat and Pat are bound for a super exciting one: graphic novel chapter books! In 2027, shortly after the sixth Nat the Cat early reader releases, the first two books in this brand-new series will publish. And if you’re disappointed you’ll have to wait that long to see Nat and Pat in comic book panels, next year, I’ve got another graphic novel chapter book series launching. This one is about a new cast of character, the Super Roomies, and I’ll be sharing a bunch more about them soon. In the meantime, though, you can check out the announcement about their graphic novel chapter book series, as well as Nat and Pat’s, below.

All of these graphic novel chapter books are 112 pages, with each page broken up into at least one but no more than four panels. They perfectly fill a hole currently out there in the marketplace, and are thoughtfully designed and carefully crafted to, first of all, be a total blast, and second of all, to help young readers continue to grow. In terms of Nat and Pat, you’ll also get to see THEM grow. Especially Nat, who in each of these books is pushed to emotional places readers have yet to see him in.

In OTHER book news, I recently announced something else: that my Scare School Diaries series of highly illustrated chapter books has been extended, too! Book 3, The Un-Hauntable House, will be out next fall, with the fourth book in the series coming early on in 2027. Here’s the announcement for THAT:

But back to Nat and Pat! Nat the Cat Finds a Map will be out first thing next year, on January 13th (the day after my birthday!), but you can preorder it right now wherever books are sold. As always, if you preorder it from my astoundingly awesome local independent bookstore, the Silver Unicorn, I will sign, doodle-in, and (if you want) personalize your copies. You can do that by clicking HERE.

Okay, I better get back to work. I’ve got a lot of books to finish…

~ Jarrett

TWO Cover Reveals + A Paperback Release Date

~ Jarrett Lerner ~ 1 Comment

I had a very busy October, and that is why I am only coming on here now, in November, to share a whole bunch of very exciting stuff — specifically, a pair of cover reveals (one of which also happens to be a series reveal) and a paperback release date.

First up, the cover reveal for Welcome to Scare School, the first book in my new series, Scare School Diaries:

Welcome to Scare School is a chapter book — but save for its length, it’s very different from most chapter books you’ll open. The book is what my editor, agent, and I have begun to call a “hybrid,” a blend of both written and illustrated elements that are put together in a way that make it difficult to classify according to traditional categories. In other words, it’s not a straightforward chapter book, with mostly text and some occasionally illustrations. And it’s a not a graphic novel, with comic paneling on every page. The book is set up as a diary (that of Bash, a young ghost just beginning his education at Scare School), but while each entry begins with text, it soon gives way to a mix of spot illustrations and comics. In other words, with each page turn, the reader never knows what they’ll see next! I find storytelling in this form the most natural for me (if you’ve ever seen photos of drafts, which I often share on social media, they almost always appear in this way, whether or not the final product is a novel, a graphic novel, or whatever).

I can’t wait to share more about this book (and series!) with you, which comes out on July 16, 2024, but is already available for preorder wherever books are sold. (As always, if you preorder from the Silver Unicorn, I will sign/personalize — and doodle in! — your copies. Click HERE to do that.)

Lastly, here’s my publisher’s description of the book:

Bash, a young ghost who’s never been good at “ghost stuff” is heading off to Scare School, the world’s leading institution for elementary scare instruction, and he’s not happy about it. In fact, he’s kind of scared! His older sister Bella, precocious in every way, was a star student there and he knows the classes are hard and the teachers are tough.

Even before his first day of school, Bash is worried about how he’s going to make it through the rigorous curriculum when he hasn’t been able to get the hang of basics like making himself invisible or passing through walls (without bonking his head!). Will the young ghost get booooted out of Scare School?

Next up, the cover reveal for my next (the third) Nat the Cat early reader: Nat the Cat Has a Snack!

I’m a bit nervous that if I let myself ramble a bit about this book, I’ll end up spoiling everything. So I’m going to limit myself to saying that it comes out on May 7, 2024, but like Welcome to Scare School, it is already available for preorder wherever books are sold. (And also like Welcome to Scare School — as well as all my other books — if you preorder from the Silver Unicorn, I will sign/personalize/doodle in your copies. Click HERE to do that.) Beyond that, I’m going to let my publisher describe the book for you:

Nat that Cat has a snack. Pat the Rat wants a snack. Nat the Cat can share, right? Nat the Cat does not want to share!

And for my last bit of news today, I’m thrilled to share that A Work in Progress now has a paperback release date!

This significantly cheaper and much more portable edition of the book will come out alongside Nat’s newest adventure, on May 7, 2024. I don’t know much about the paperback A Work in Progress beyond the release date, but I know my publishers are currently working on it, and are exploring some pretty cool design ideas. I’ll be sharing more information about it — and the other two books mentioned above — as soon as I can, in addition to more news about all the other stuff I’ve been working on these past handful of months. Oh! How could I forget? The paperback edition of A Work in Progress is, like Welcome to Scare School and Nat the Cat Has a Snack, available for preorder wherever books are sold. And you know the drill, right? Preorder from the Silver Unicorn if you want YOUR copies signed/personalized/doodled in. Click HERE to do that.

And THANKS!

~ Jarrett