Coming Soon to a Library and Bookstore Near You!

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure
A Progressive Story Game Played by
20 Celebrated Authors and Illustrators

It all starts with a train rushing through the night. . . . Well, actually, it starts when Jon Scieszka, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, writes a cliff-hanger episode and passes it on to the next member of a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who continues the story and passes it on.
 
And what happens between episodes one and twenty-seven? Think werewolves and mad scientists, a talking pig, plenty of explosions, a blue Star Wars lunchbox, two meatballs, a whole army of villains and varmints, and one just plain bad egg. Not to mention our heroes, eleven-year-old twins Nancy and Joe, raised in a circus, who must find the pieces of a Top-Secret Robot in order to rescue their parents before . . . tick, tick, tick!
 
A collaboration between the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, The Exquisite Corpse Adventure originated as a national literacy outreach project for young people and helped launch the READ.gov website. 

Learn more about this innovative project and discover a wealth of coordinating activities and resources on the NCBLA's Exquisite Corpse Adventure Education Resource Center.

What Are Reviewers Saying?

“This book is about two kids from the circus whose parents are in another dimension. Only one thing can open the door between their two dimensions: the exquisite corpse. If you really want to know, the exquisite corpse is a robot - not a key. This book was awesome because each chapter had a different style of writing - like that game where one person starts a story and the next person continues it. I liked all of the chapters because the whole story continues a basic idea, yet it's kind of random. It's fun to figure out where the authors are leading you. On a scale of one to 10, I give The Exquisite Corpse an 11.”
-By Ty (8, almost 9) Cambridge, Massachusetts

“First run in installments on the Web, the pro bono project shifts tone and atmosphere with the author, from Lemony Snicket to Natalie Babbitt, from Linda Sue Park to Nikki Grimes, from Jon Scieszka to Jack Gantos—and who would have guessed that Katherine Paterson would be such a dab hand at egg puns?—but never goes off on self-indulgent tangents.”
–Kirkus Reviews

Available from Candlewick Press
in hardcover, paperback, and audio formats this August.
 
Ask for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure
at your local library or bookstore!