The Call by Michael Grant

Sometimes one hero isn't enough-sometimes you need a full dozen. First in a funny, action-packed fantasy series by the New York Times bestselling author of GONE

Mack McAvoy is not an unlikely hero. He is an impossible hero! He is only twelve years old, he has a list of phobias as long as your arm, and he's a bully magnet. That is, until Mack is visited by a golem. The golem looks exactly like Mack, and has been sent to fill in for him while the real Mack sets out to save the world from the evil Pale Queen. To do so, he must assemble an elite team of twelve powerful children from all around the world. The first foe they face is Risky. Risky is pure evil. She gets it from her mother - the Pale Queen - a force of evil to be reckoned with since before medieval times.

Packed with action and humour Magnificent Twelve - The Call ends with a delicious cliffhanger that will have readers craving more.

Michael Grant is the New York Times bestselling author of the GONE series. He has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn't tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in southern California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, and their two children.

Praise for Gone:

"[Gone is an] exciting, high-tension story told in a driving, torrential narrative that never lets up. This is great fiction. I love this book." - Stephen King

"Grant knows exactly what he's doing...it's very exciting." - The Guardian

"A compelling read for teenagers." - The Hit List, Independent on Sunday

"The action is relentless...confident and enthusiastic readers with strong stomachs will find much to enjoy here." - Books for Keeps

"...an excellent mystery, boldly conceived and with a plot teenagers will revel in...it's going to be big." - The Bookseller (Teenage Fiction Previews)