Legends of the Lost Causes

Description

A band of orphan avengers. A cursed stone. A horde of zombie outlaws. This is Keech Blackwood's new life after Bad Whiskey Nelson descends upon the Home for Lost Causes and burns it to the ground. With his home destroyed and his family lost, Keech will have to use the lessons he learned from Pa Abner to hunt down the powerful Char Stone. Luckily, he has the help of a ragtag team of orphans. Together, they'll travel through treacherous forests, fight off the risen dead, and discover that they share mysterious bonds as they try to track down the legendary stone. Now, it's a race against the clock, because if Bad Whiskey finds the stone first . . . all is lost.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Brad McLelland earned his MFA in creative writing from Oklahoma State University, where he met his writing partner, Louis. A part-time drummer and singer, Brad lives in Oklahoma with his wife, stepdaughter, a mini-Aussie who gives hugs, and a chubby cat who begs for ham. Louis Sylvester is a professor at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. Together with his wife, he enjoys playing tabletop games from his collection of over 1,000 card and board games. Louis enjoys watching western films and reading fantasy novels. He has two dogs that go wild when they hear the word treats.

Praise for Legends of the Lost Causes: A Junior Library Guild selection "An adventure with a Louis L'Amour-esque flair refreshed for today's readers by the thoughtful incorporation of American frontier history and Osage culture. This is an easy read for fans of Westerns like Bowman's Vengeance Road." --The Bulletin "Incorporates aspects of Osage culture and legend into this action-packed series starter. Part western, part zombie flick, this pits scrappy, resourceful kids against some menacing villains--always a recipe for success." --Booklist "The Old West lingo-laden dialogue is pitch-perfect--not to mention contagious. It's rare to see a Western in middle grade fiction--especially one that, like this one, eliminates some of the genre's more harmful stereotypes of Native populations . . . [this] will surely gain more than a few young fans." --School Library Journal