Penguin Young Readers Group released the first chapter of the new John Grisham book today, marking a new leg of the bestselling legal-thriller writer’s career: Children’s book author.
In a deal that took him away from long-time publisher Doubleday, Grisham will be penning a series of books aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds, called Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. The first chapter can be found on the book’s website. The whole book goes on sale May 25, with a first print run of 1 million copies.
Here’s the description of the book from Penguin: “THEODORE BOONE: Kid Lawyer follows the adventures of a 13-year-old amateur attorney who unwittingly becomes involved in a high-profile murder trial. The book takes place in the small city of Strattenburg. There are many lawyers in town, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk–and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much–maybe too much–he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.”
The concept is enticing, but one bit of advice, Penguin: This is exactly the opposite of the kind of website kids enjoy. There are no games, no interactive features, and it doesn’t crash my computer when I try to load it.