This week’s best sellers list brings us another adult writer making the crossover into YA. Richard Paul Evans (The Christmas Box, The Letter) debuted at no. 1 this week with Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25. It’s the first in a seven-book series. Yes, you read that correctly: seven.
Here’s more from Evans’ site:
At a time when the YA (Young Adult) genre is flooded with increasingly darker and hostile themes, Michael Vey is an adventure story about hope, loyalty, courage and a son’s love for his mother. With strong, likeable characters, genuinely realistic and frightening villains and “high energy” tension, Michael Vey is a series that will resonate with youths and adults alike.
| This Week | Children’s Chapter Books | Weeks on List |
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| 1 | MICHAEL VEY: THE PRISONER OF CELL 25, by Richard Paul Evans. (Mercury Ink, $17.99.) Special powers prove dangerous. (Ages 12 and up) | 1 | |
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| 2 | THE THRONE OF FIRE, by Rick Riordan. (Disney-Hyperion, $18.99.) The Kanes seek the sun god, Ra; Book 2 of the Kane Chronicles. (Ages 10 and up) | 15 | |
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| 3 | MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN, by Ransom Riggs. (Quirk Books, $17.99.) An island, an abandoned orphanage and a collection of curious photographs. (Ages 12 and up) | 10 | |
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| 4 | MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE, by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts. Illustrated by Laura Park. (Little, Brown, $15.99.) Rafe breaks every rule in the book. (Ages 8 to 12) | 7 | |
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| 5 | NEVER HAVE I EVER, by Sara Shepard. (HarperTeen, $16.99.) Emma’s investigation of her twin sister’s murder continues. (Ages 14 and up) | 2 | |
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| 6 | SUPER DIAPER BABY 2, written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey. (Blue Sky/Scholastic, $9.99.) The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers. (Ages 7 to 10) | 7 | |
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| 7 | THEODORE BOONE: THE ABDUCTION, by John Grisham. (Dutton, $16.99.) The “kid lawyer” uses his legal skills to find a missing friend. (Ages 8 to 12) | 10 | |
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| 8 | THE LYING GAME, by Sara Shepard. (HarperTeen, $16.99.) A long-lost twin impersonates her dead sister to try to solve her murder. (Ages 14 and up) | 8 | |
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| 9 | WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE, by Sarah Dessen. (Viking, $19.99.) A girl rediscovers herself after her parents’ bitter divorce. (Ages 12 and up) | 14 | |
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| 10 | THE LOST HERO, by Rick Riordan. (Disney-Hyperion, $18.99.) A return to Camp Half-Blood and semi-divine characters. (Ages 10 and up) | 44 | |


I really like the sound of Michael Vey. I dismissed it earlier as another version of I am Number Four, but now it’s at the top of my wishlist.