Teenage pop music artist and budding actress Mandy Moore has laid down a new kind of track as narrator of the audiobook Circles in the Stream (Avalon Web of Magic #1) by Rachel Roberts, produced by Red Sky Entertainment and published by Listening Library, shipping May 28. Moore's performance is a key component in a big June promotion for the mass market paperback series. Sony Music Entertainment, Red Sky Entertainment (creators of the book series), Scholastic (publisher of the book series), Listening Library, Clear Channel Radio Networks and Fansrule.com are partners in celebrating the launch of Spellsinger, the fifth Avalon title, which hits shelves June 15.
In Spellsinger, Roberts introduces a fictional girl band called Be*Tween. And in a true case of life-imitates-art, Sony is launching a real-life version of Be*Tween, whose first album and a possible tour are scheduled for next summer. To whet listeners' appetites, Sony has produced a CD sampler featuring two original songs by the band. Also on the sampler CD is one full chapter plus selected excerpts from Circles in the Stream as read by Moore. The samplers—65,000 in all—will be packaged in a separate cardboard sleeve in a display placed near the Avalon books and are free to consumers who purchase any Avalon title.