About the Author

Alex is 16 and a student at the prestigious St. John's College High School in Washington D.C. where he is an honor roll student and a starter on the school's nationally recognized football team.

At the time he and his father started the book, Alex was eight and struggled with dyslexia. So when he began work on the book, he still could not read. He later enrolled in the Lab School in Washington D.C., which teaches children with learning differences. After 12 months of intensive work there, he was reading at his grade level.


Hal is a nationally recognized political consultant who has worked for candidates at the presidential level all the way down to local offices. His work has won numerous creative awards and he helped pioneer the use of statistical modeling and data mining techniques in the political arena. After becoming discouraged by the negative character of political campaigns, he closed his firm in 2010. He continues to do some consulting and is looking forward to a writing career.

Reviews

"... a brilliant book." -Parents & Kids Magazine, July 2011 "... 372 pages of pure awesomeness ... Some of the best fantasy I've read in a while. ... even though it is a fantasy book, I'm sure a lot of teens can relate to. It gives a great message saying that anyone can do the right thing and that anyone can be the hero." -Reading Teen, May 2011 "...flowing perfectly and always holding the reader's attention. With so many amazing and creative characters, The Sword of Darrow aspires toward the ranks of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter." -Gathering Leaves, June 2011 "... beautiful and amazing ... Alex and his father Hal weave a tale of a love for humanity in the darkest hours with characters that feel genuine. It's a difficult thing for a writer to do, bring characters to life with the breath of words and reach out to the reader, but this is just what they do." -Outnumbered 3 to 1 blog, April 2011

Gr 5-8-For 10 years the people of Sonnencrest endured the cruel and tyrannical rule of the Goblins. Then Princess Babette, the only surviving member of the royal family, and Darrow, a crippled boy, become the unlikely forces in the fight against the oppressors. The authors paint convincing portraits of the characters. Malmut, the Goblin king, is described as having a large and bulbous head "with two tiny eyes planted close together and a hooked nose jutted out far from his face." Babette, with the help of a dwarf named Thor and the wizard Asterux, becomes worthy to be the true heir to the throne. Darrow, a frightened boy who only desires to be free of Malmut, becomes a great leader, both through his gift for words and his talent for galvanizing the peasant army. Training and superior weapons are no match for the passion and desire of the people of Sonnencrest. Readers will be drawn to this fledgling rebellion and follow it to its spectacular success. Magic, monsters, and wizards add to the excitement.-Lana Miles, Jackson Elementary School, Rosenberg, TX (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.