A crime-fighting cheerleader, a brave bat, a luckless lad and teens catching waves are among the diverse cast of characters spotlighted in new spring series titles. Attempting to tap into one or another of kids' interests—and in some cases hoping to tickle their funny bones—publishers have taken some creative editorial and marketing steps as they introduce or add to series. Here are some of this season's highlights.

More Morbid Mayhem

The aptly named Eddie Dickens (think woeful Victorian orphans) returns in Dreadful Acts, Philip Ardagh's sequel to A House Called Awful End, released by Holt last September. Dreadful doings definitely abound in the new caper—due in May with a 75,000-copy first printing—featuring this escapee from St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans: Eddie narrowly avoids being blown up, trampled by horses, hit by a hot-air balloon and arrested—and falls into the hands of a murderous gang of escaped convicts. Like its predecessor, this novel is illustrated by David Roberts.

Readers who chuckled through the inaugural Eddie Dickens tale (which has 36,000 copies in print) will likely find this second tale jolly good fun, as does Ardagh's U.S. editor, Laura Godwin, v-p and associate publisher of Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Godwin, who bought the first book when she spotted it at the 2001 Bologna Fair shortly after it was published in Ardagh's native England, describes the author's humor as "rare, charming and on-the-spot. It's the kind of humor that both an eight-year-old and a grownup think is funny. Philip's writing is over-the-top and literate at the same time."

Godwin explains that Eddie Dickens first sprang to life in letters that Ardagh wrote to his nephew while the boy was at boarding school. "Philip ended up showing these letters to his editor at Faber. She wisely told him this was a book, and that is how A House Called Awful End came to be. And once he got started, he couldn't stop."

Unable to stop, indeed. Ardagh's saga about Eddie Dickens has turned into what Godwin calls "a six-book trilogy, which is quite in keeping with Philip's sense of humor." Reviewers of Ardagh's first story about the ill-fated Eddie Dickens have compared his tongue-in-cheek humor to that of Lemony Snicket, an analogy that Godwin understands, yet qualifies. "I would compare Philip more to Roald Dahl than to Daniel Handler," she observes. "In Philip's world, the kids are never in control—they are total victims of their circumstances. In A Series of Unfortunate Events, the kids seem to have a bit more control and they're able to defeat the bad guys. Eddie Dickens has to deal with crazy adults and their impossible eccentricities and arbitrary rules." Godwin calls it a "wonderful coincidence that while Daniel Handler was writing his books on this side of the ocean, Philip was writing letters to his nephew on the other side of the ocean. It was a simultaneous burst of a similar kind of creativity."

Holt will publish the third story starring Eddie, the prophetic Terrible Times, in September, the same month that Scholastic will release a paperback edition of A House Called Awful End, for which a 75,000-copy first printing is on order. Godwin notes that the two houses are pairing up to plan promotion and publicity for the books (Holt's first such joint campaign), which will include bringing Ardagh to BEA and sending him on an eight-city tour in the fall. "Philip's incredible store of bits and pieces of historical information and irreverent humor make him a fantastic speaker—never mind his six-foot, seven-inch stature and great, giant bushy beard," Godwin says.

And it seems that Holt may well have additional chances to host this good- natured master of the macabre. "We've just signed Philip up for a second series, which is called Unlikely Exploits," Godwin announces cheerfully—perhaps overly so given its grim beginnings. The series starts up in April 2004 with The Fall of Fergal, in which the main character falls out of a window and dies—on the first page. Relatively speaking, Eddie Dickens's circumstances may not be quite so dire after all.

Surf's Up at HarperEntertainment

Rolling out—or in—to coincide with beach season is the surfer-themed Luna Bay: A Roxy Girl Series, a venture co-partnered by HarperEntertainment and Roxy, a unit of Quicksilver Inc. that produces sportswear for girls. California-based Roxy has also paired up with MTV to produce Surf Girls, a reality series in which girls vie to land a slot in a surfing competition. The paperback series, which is entirely independent of the TV show, will debut in May (as will the TV show) with a pair of titles, Pier Pressure and Wave Good-Bye by Francess Lantz, which have a combined first printing of 125,000 copies. One additional title will follow every other month.

"Authenticity" is the keynote of this series, notes Hope Innelli, v-p and editorial director with HarperEntertainment. She explains, "We were thrilled when Roxy came to us looking for a publishing partner for this project. We were very taken by the idea and impressed by Roxy, which is an organization that has their fans' interests at heart, just as we have our readers' interests at heart. Kids these days have access to so much information, and they can easily become experts on whatever topic they're interested in. We wanted to bring the surfing world to them in an entirely authentic way, and knew that Roxy could help us do that."

Getting an authentic narrative voice was also a priority for Innelli, who lined up Lantz to write the novels. "We were familiar with her fiction for the YA market and when we learned of her connection to surfing, we felt it was a perfect fit," Innelli explains. "As a kid, Francess lived in Pennsylvania and was an occasional summer surfer, but now she lives in California and is able to surf more often and loves it. And she has a child who is also a devoted surfer. This is not a series just for girls who live on the coasts but for also those who want to live the surfing life vicariously and who admire the sport for the grace and dedication it requires. We felt Francess would be the ideal author to reach both the couch surfer and those actually involved in the surfing world."

Roxy connected Lantz with some big-name female surfers who spent time talking with the author and who posed for the photos that appear on the novels' covers. The novels focus on five girls who are passionate about surfing, yet balance that love with their devotion to family, friends and school. Each contains a "Surfscope," which Innelli describes as "a kind of horoscope that foresees what will happen in one's surf life and love life."

Though specific promotion plans are not yet in place, Innelli reports that HarperEntertainment will cross-promote the series with Roxy. "They have an enormous retail base and we plan to promote the books through that venue," she notes. "And we will provide books for events that Roxy sponsors, such as surfing contests and surfing camps the company runs, which girls can attend for free to learn the sport." So, once these novels reach readers' hands, there's likely to be some sand sprinkled between the pages.

A Charmer with a Challenge

His name is Hank Zipzer, and he's a creative kid with charisma. Up until now, Hank has gotten by in life by charming his friends, parents and teachers. But when his fourth-grade teacher assigns a five-paragraph essay, the boy, who has difficulty writing a single sentence, panics. Hank, as it turns out, is dyslexic, as is his creator, actor Henry Winkler, whose undiagnosed condition made him a classic underachiever as a child. Winkler, who attended the same New York City public school Hank does, has teamed up with Lin Oliver to write a middle-grade paperback series, Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever, which Grosset & Dunlap will launch in May with Niagara Falls, or Does It? and I Got a "D" in Salami. Hank returns in the fall in a second pair of titles: The Day of the Iguana and Holy Enchilada!

Bonnie Bader, editorial director of Grosset & Dunlap, notes that she was initially hesitant to sign up the series. "There are so many celebrity books out there and we didn't want these books to sell on that angle alone," she says. "But once we read the stories we were convinced. The character of Hank is so appealing and the story lines are terrific and funny. Hank is a likable kid who learns to deal with his learning challenges and comes to terms with his friends, parents and teacher. He's a real character whom readers will feel they could be friends with."

The first printing for each of the debut titles is now 75,000 copies—"and is growing every day," Bader reports. Teachers and librarians have given the publisher positive feedback on the series and Winkler has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the IRA conference next year.

Retailers appear to be equally bullish on Hank. Bader notes that Niagara Falls, or Does It? will be included in Barnes & Noble's summer reading program and that booksellers' response to Grosset's in-store display promoting the series has been "excellent." It features a full-size picture of Winkler standing beside an open locker that holds books, and says, "Meet my new friend Hank Zipzer, the world's best underachiever."

The books' design features a double cover, the outer layer of which resembles lined notebook paper on which the title appears, ostensibly written in Hank's hand. Die-cut to reveal a wee bit of the art (created by Carol Heyer) behind it, this cover opens to a second one displaying an illustration of Hank. But the protagonist is seen only from behind. "We decided not to show Hank from the front," Bader says. "We didn't want to give kids a sense of exactly what Hank looks like—we wanted them to imagine what he looks like for themselves." Perhaps inspiring readers to be as creative as this protagonist is.

Disney TV Heroine Leaps from Screen to Page

"She can do anything!" announces the tag line for a new book series from the Volo imprint of Disney Press, which is banking on the fact that Kim Possiblecan be as successful a book character as she is a television star. High-school cheerleader by day and global crime fighter by night, this heroine made her debut last June in the Disney Channel animated show bearing her name. On the program, after advertising on her Web site that she could do anything (meaning she was willing to mow lawns, babysit and the like), this teen receives e-mails from all over the world soliciting her help fighting crime.

In April, Volo launches the Kim Possible series of paperbacks with Bueno Nacho and The New Ron by Kiki Thorpe, 80-page chapter books aimed at kids seven to 10. Each will have a first printing for the trade of 100,000 copies. Also due out this summer are The Kim Possible Files, a scrapbook by Rich Mintzer, and Code Word: Kim, a book by Irene Trimble compiling codes to break and puzzles to solve.

Though future chapter books (one additional title will appear every other month) may offer original stories, for now the tales will be based on scripts from the TV show, says Catherine Daly, editorial director of Disney Press. "Considering the success we had with books we published based on Lizzie McGuire, when we realized that Kim Possible was going to be just as strong a show, it made perfect sense to do this series," she says. "And it especially seemed like a good idea when it became evident that both boys and girls love the show." Volo also plans to release novelty items based on the show, among them a spy kit, due next year.

As a start-up promotion, the company is issuing trading cards featuring Kim, her sidekick Ron and other characters from the series. One card will be inserted into each of the first four chapter books. The publisher is also creating an activity kit and buttons for retailers and will promote the series on the Disney Channel and Radio Disney. Obviously, the publisher is confident that Kim Possible can do anything—or at least can sell books.

Bat Fantasy on the Wing

Simon & Schuster's Silverwing flew into the American market in 1997, after enjoying soaring sales on author Kenneth Oppel's Canadian home turf. Sunwing followed three years later, and landing in U.S. bookstores last month was Firewing, the author's third adventure about Shade, a young bat on a quest to prove himself to the rest of his Silverwing colony.

David Gale, editorial director of S&S Books for Young Readers, who acquired the series, describes the Silverwing novels as "adventures that are much deeper than most animal fantasies. They have an underlying spirituality to them, as they explore the mythology of the bat religion. These books have a richness to them that reminds me of Richard Adams's Watership Down."

With combined hardcover and paperback sales topping 250,000 copies, the series has been successful in the U.S., but hasn't made quite the splash that it has in Canada, where more than 300,000 copies have been sold of the three titles. Reports Gale, "All three books have remained at the top of Canadian bestseller lists. But we have been especially pleased with the sales of our Aladdin paperback editions of the first two titles in this series. And each hardcover book has done better than the previous one, which isn't generally the case with series titles."

"Oppel has a rabid following in Canada—pun intended," quips Tracy van Straaten, director of publicity for S&S Children's Publishing. Recently, the side panels of millions of boxes of Cheerios distributed in Canada featured photos of the author and of the covers of his books, along with quotes from Oppel. The series' titles have won virtually every major award north or our border, notes Gale, including those from the Canadian Library Association and kids' choice awards. S&S hopes that Oppel (who lives in Toronto but is spending much of this year in Dublin) will visit regional trade shows here in the U.S. in the fall. And his Silverwing saga will receive additional exposure this summer, when an animated TV series will debut on Canadian TV. The show is a joint venture of Canadian and American production companies and does not yet have a signed deal with a distributor in this country but, Gale says, "it looks promising."

And will Oppel pen further adventures of the determined Shade and his offspring? "Well, when we bought Silverwing it was a single title," Gale responds. "The author surprised us with a second and then a third book. We have no contract for a fourth, but if he is willing to do one, we certainly are."

Hip-Hop's the Beat at Scholastic

"Rap & Read along with HipKIDHop," is the promotional pitch for Cartwheel's series of books by hot hip-hop performers, which relate—in rap rhythm—tales delivering social messages. Kids are encouraged to rap along with the accompanying CDs, on which the musicians sing the lyrics presented in the book. The HipKIDHop series' debut titles, released last September, are And the Winner Is... by LL Cool J, which tells of a young basketball player who learns the importance of winning and losing gracefully; and Think Again by Doug E. Fresh, in which a black boy and a white boy become fast friends when they overlook their differences and discover how much they have in common. It appears that kids are quite eager to rap and read: the combined in-print figure for these two titles is approaching 100,000 copies.

The series came to the company through music producer Karyn Rochman, according to Jean Feiwel, senior v-p and publisher of Scholastic Books. "Karyn represents Will Smith, with whom we'd done a book, and she approached us with the idea of doing a project with a hip-hop theme," Feiwel states. "We decided to ask performers to write a new rap with a specific theme rather than use their existing material. Karyn was our liaison to the artists, and we found that many of them are, in fact, interested in reaching out to the community and to children. Much of the public perception of hip-hop and rap is very negative. Whenever anything bad happens in this musical community, such as a shooting, it is front-page news. We'd like to think that the good that these musicians do will get attention, too."

The series has, indeed, attracted ample attention. LL Cool J touted his book on a variety of TV shows, including The Today Show, The View and The Early Show, and both he and Doug E. Fresh made appearances on CNN. The two also drew big crowds at signings (cum performances) at bookstores and toy stores and were slam-dunk hits at the NBA All-Star Read to Achieve celebration in Atlanta in early February. Feiwel, who witnessed the effect that LL Cool J had on his fans, says, "I have never before seen a similar response to an author. People backed away in awe. He is an enormously fun and charming guy—and it doesn't hurt that he stands six feet, 10 inches tall."

Scholastic has a total of six HipKIDHop titles signed up and may well extend the series beyond that. Released last month were the latest installments, each with a 25,000-copy first printing: Hope by Grammy Award winner Shaggy, the tale of a boy raised in a family of little means but lots of love; and Don't Talk to Strangers by Kevi of the pop band 1000 Clowns, which offers tips on what a child should do if approached by a stranger.

So that's the rap—and a wrap.