Seven (The Series)

Seven grandsons | Seven journeys | Seven authors
One amazing series

When David McLean, beloved grandfather and avid adventurer, dies at the age of ninety-two, he leaves behind a very unusual will that outlines the seven tasks he has set for his seven grandsons. Eric Walters and six other well-known authors—John Wilson, Ted Staunton, Richard Scrimger, Norah McClintock, Sigmund Brouwer and Shane Peacock—bring their signature styles to a series of adventures that take readers from the top of Kilimanjaro to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

Read one. Read them all.
YOU choose the order.

"The great part about this series is that the books can be read in any order as the stories happen simultaneously and separately from one another, while still being linked...This series is going to be very popular with older elementary and younger high-school audiences, particularly boys...The 'Seven' series is a must-purchase for public and school libraries that are looking to add more action and adventure stories to their collections for older children and teens." —CM Magazine

THE BOOKS
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The Books

Seven (The Series)

Use Seven in your classroom

Seven (the series) is a great collection of books to use in the classroom. The varied writing styles, popular authors and compelling storylines provide endless possibilities for group discussion, independent reading and ways to enhance reader engagement.

DOWNLOAD TEACHERS' GUIDE (PDF)

THE AUTHORS

Seven started with Eric Walters and his passion for bringing great stories to kids—especially boys.

Eric's idea was to ask six other well-known Canadian children's authors to contribute a novel each to a series that would be connected by a grandfather's love of his seven grandsons. Eric and the other authors—John Wilson, Ted Staunton, Richard Scrimger, Norah McClintock, Sigmund Brouwer and Shane Peacock—bring their signature styles to a series of adventures that take readers from the top of Kilimanjaro to the bottom of the Mediterranean. Along the way, readers will meet an aging movie star, some comically inept mobsters, a few scary Icelanders and an angry grizzly bear.

Excerpts

Each month leading up to the October 10, 2012, launch, Orca Book Publishers will release an excerpt from one title in Seven (the series). Excerpts can be downloaded in multiple formats, depending on which device you use to read ebooks.

Download IPAD EPUB files if you read on an iPad.
Download EPUB files if you read on an eReading device (not Kindle) or through iTunes on your computer.
Download KINDLE files if you read on an Amazon Kindle.
Download PDF files if you read on a computer.

Become a Seven VIP

Want to stay in the loop with all things Seven? Become a Seven VIP and you'll receive exclusive sneak peeks of the titles in the series (one excerpt per month leading up to the October 10, 2012, release date. You'll also be the first to know about upcoming author events.

Connect with Orca Online

WEBSITE: www.orcabook.com
BLOG: www.orcabook.com/blog

In the News

Seven: the series—an ambitious adventure results in intriguing success
"Seven boys all carrying out tasks left to them by one grandfather, seven stories told by seven authors, seven books published on the same day (October 10, 2012)—it’s an ambitious plan hatched by author Eric Walters, executed by him and six other noted authors along with Orca Book Publishers. And, like the adventures of the seven cousins, it proves an intriguing success...

We all have known and loved series written by one author where we follow characters through different adventures. Several authors have experimented successfully with a series of books covering the same story as told by different characters. Ted Staunton did it in charming Monkey Mountain series for younger readers and Jessica Scott Kerrin recently introduced readers to the characters of her new series, The Lobster Chronicles...The Seven series takes more risks in this regard. Here we have seven authors—each with their own style, their own tone and, of course, their own very different tasks and plots. A reader expecting a certain familiarity from book to book will be surprised by how varied they are. This, however, is also what makes the series intriguing. Like looking through a kaleidoscope, the shift in perspective from book to book offers different (and not always positive) views of the grandfather and the past, as well as a different and exciting adventure, mystery or journey of discovery for the seven protagonists.

One happy effect of the series, of course, is that it may encourage readers familiar with one author to discover six other excellent writers and their books. Every reader will doubtless have his or her own favourite among the seven titles, but all will find an intriguing package of books to savour. Kudos to Orca and the seven authors for taking on this fascinating challenge and rising to the occasion." FULL ARTICLE FROM CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK NEWS COMING SOON

SEVEN AUTHORS FOR SEVEN NOVELS IN NEW ORCA SERIES —Publishers Weekly
"When Canadian author Eric Walters had the idea for an unusual YA series—seven linked adventure novels written by seven authors, all to be released simultaneously – he knew whom to approach: Orca Books, which the writer calls a house that “punches above its weight.” The author of some 80 books for young readers, Walters has worked with publishers large and small, including Orca, and appreciates the fact that an indie house can decide on an unusual project without the layers of approval required in larger houses." READ FULL ARTICLE

SEVEN AT ONE BLOW, by Sarah Harvey —Publishers Weekly
"Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised when something peculiar happened in my seventh year as an editor at Orca Book Publishers. After all, seven is a magical number in fairy tales, and Orca is a children’s book publisher. There are seven continents, seven oceans, seven Harry Potter books. So, Why not a series of kids books about seven cousins? When my publisher, Andrew Wooldridge, asked me to edit “the magnificent seven,” my first question was “How many are we going to publish per season?” His answer: “All seven in October 2012.” I wanted to yell, “Are you insane?” but that’s not the kind of thing you say to your boss." READ FULL ARTICLE

THE COUNTDOWN TO SEVEN IS ON! —School Library Journal
"The countdown to Seven in on! Seven (the series) is coming October 10, 2012. Seven grandsons. Seven journeys. Seven authors. One amazing series... The idea for the series came from Walters and his passion for bringing great stories to kids—especially to boys. Walters’s idea was to ask six other well-known children’s book authors to each contribute a novel to a series that would be connected by a grandfather’s love of his seven grandsons. Since each of the adventures happens at the same time, the books can be read in any order." READ FULL ARTICLE

SEVEN: ORCA'S UPCOMING SERIES —Can Lit for Little Canadians blog
"As obvious as it may seem, the number seven is the key to the whole series. In his will, adventurer and grandfather David McLean leaves seven letters for his seven teen-aged grandsons: D.J., Steve, Spencer, Bunny (a.k.a. Bernard), Rennie, Jim (a.k.a. Webb) and Adam. In the letters, each boy is asked to undertake a specific task that will lead him on an adventure to Iceland, Spain, France, Tanzania or somewhere in Canada. Each book will tell the adventure of one grandson." READ FULL ARTICLE

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Eric Walters on the genesis of Seven

Writing is a fairly solitary profession...

We read each other’s books and get to know each other—but the writing is done alone. I started thinking about a story where a beloved grandfather dies and leaves his grandson the task of spreading his ashes from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Then I wondered, what if he had more than one grandson? What if he had seven? I thought about my favorite writers and their different styles and wondered how each writer would approach this same narrative. Because we wanted strong, original stories and we didn’t want to limit the authors' creativity, the potential writers were told the books could be almost any length and any genre. They were free to craft the entire story with the only caveat being that we had a core beginning—the death of the grandfather—and that individual stories include references to the other books.

We wanted creative, wonderful writers who were flexible and able to write from a male perspective. I made some phone calls.

Some of the writers plunged in before the end of the call. Others needed a day to think it over. In quick succession though, all seven of us signed on and we were off. Instantly, messages started to fly between the writers as we crafted our individual stories and then 'reshaped' aspects to fit in with what the others were writing. For my book, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. There, atop the mountain, I sent a text message to John Wilson, just as the character in my book sends one to the character in John's book. I can only hope that the readers will enjoy these unique books as much as we all enjoyed writing them.”

Watch the Seven Trailer

THE AUTHORS AS PRESENTERS

The Seven Tour brings some of Canada’s most well-known and loved authors into your area. All of the authors are acclaimed for not only their writing, but their effectiveness as presenters who encourage literacy at schools. Here are links for more information about each author’s presentation:

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Endorsements

“Every reader will doubtless have his or her own favourite...but all will find an intriguing package of books to savour. Kudos to Orca and seven authors for taking on this fascinating challenge and rising to the occasion.” —Canadian Children’s Book News

“The Seven Launch was a hit! The authors had the audience totally engaged, and participants all left with a desire to read the entire series.” —Isabelle Hobbs, Library/Media Facilitator, Durham District School

“We were thrilled to have authors from the Seven Series present to our students this wonderful series. The presentations were a lot of fun, completely engaging the students who couldn’t wait to read the books. The Seven Series is flying off our library shelves!” —Margaret Heenan, librarian at Holy Family School in Bowmanville, ON

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Instructions for the Prospective Organizer

It's easy to organize a Seven Tour. Email tour@seventheseries.com to let us know you are interested in hosting a tour, make sure to include the date you’d like. You’ll then receive an information package to send to schools in your area to promote the availability of the authors for the specified date/s. (Not all tours will have all seven authors, as they have individual presentation schedules along with commitments to the Seven tour.)

Individual schools sign up for a chance to host a Seven author presentation during the tour date/s. Once a minimum number of schools are committed to the event, a venue is chosen for the evening event. This minimum is at least two school presentations per day per author. For example, with four authors involved, the Tour looks for eight schools per day in a district. Some authors are willing to present three times in one day.

Individual schools that host the authors during the day will cover the presentation costs of $500 per half day. This fee includes travel and accommodation costs and all other expenses. The authors donate their time for the evening event consisting of readings and q & a.

The organizer is requested to help with promotion of the evening event. Often local booksellers are invited to participate in the book sales at the evening venue, as well as the schools.

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