Book to the future... new-look novel grabs the young
We here at Tyndale hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year! In the meantime, you can check out this article about The Dopple Ganger Chronicles by G.P. Taylor in The Yorkshire Post, the UK equivalent to the Chicago Tribune. The article says the book comes out in January, but it is already available for purchase here in the U.S.
IN a world dominated by the internet, computer games and countless television channels getting children to enjoy a good book can be a challenge for both parents and teachers alike.
But now a Yorkshire author is to launch a new style of adventure story which is winning over reluctant readers at schools around the country.
GP Taylor's latest books, The Dopple Ganger Chronicles, are a mixture of written text, cartoon strips, illustrations and graphics designed to hold the attention of young people more used to gazing into a computer screen.
The books go on sale in the New Year but have already proved to be a major success at schools where they have being trialled.
Mr Taylor said: "I visit schools all the time to promote reading and I have found there is a crisis among 11 to 13-year-olds who do not read - even during the height of the Harry Potter books children were not reading.
"I remember going into a school of up to 200 pupils and asking who had the latest Harry Potter book and 90 per cent of the hands went up, but when I asked who had finished it only about 25 pupils had. "I asked why they had bought it if they weren't going to read it but they were all waiting for the film to come out."Teachers admit this is a big problem. I decided to do some research and found that children in years five to nine found books that were mostly text difficult to keep reading.
"They are the first of a visually stimulated society with pictures, colour and graphics playing an important part of their daily lives. Websites, computer games and the like have had a major effect on this yet books are lagging behind."
The Dopple Ganger Chronicles has colourful graphics surrounded by a black border which Mr Taylor has designed to remind young people of a computer screen."
The way I approached this book was completely different," he said.
"I have kept the text much shorter to keep their attention and the story changes between the written word, cartoon strip and some full page illustrations."
Scarborough-based author Mr Taylor, a former vicar who hit the big time with his best-selling debut novel Shadowmancer, has called his new format "illustronovellas" and plans to produce six books for the Dopple Ganger Chronicles which feature the adventures of twins Sadie and Saskia Dopple and their friend Erik Morrissey at the Isambard Dunstan School for Wayward Children.
The first book in the series goes on general sale in January but has already proved to be a big hit in schools across the country where it is selling out.
Kate Midgley, the head of key stage three English at St Wilfrid's Catholic High School in Featherstone said the book had transformed the attitudes of pupils towards reading."
Around 200 pupils queued eagerly for over half an hour to purchase a signed copy and meet the author personally.
"To see 200 pupils give up their lunchtime and demonstrating such utter enthusiasm and excitement about purchasing and reading a book was beyond fulfilling and made all our hard work more than worthwhile."
Many teachers have reported that you could hear a pin drop as pupils listened to the tales of Sadie and Saskia Dopple.
"We have seen a significant uptake of books in the library; rumour has spread and now pupils from a range of year groups are utilising the library, asking for The Dopple Ganger Chronicles, but also showing interest in other texts if they cannot get hold of these books that are in such high demand."
Mr Taylor hopes this success can continue in the New Year and appeal to a generation of young people who he fears are at risk of missing out on the joy of reading.
Through all the high-scoring victories, bids for a perfect season, wild comebacks, crazed finishes, playoff disappointments and, eventually, a Super Bowl triumph, the enduring image of Tony Dungy is one of calm.
From Tampa to Indy, the sweater-vest-wearing Dungy often looked unflappable amid the storm.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to be successful in the NFL, but there aren’t many doing it Dungy’s way anymore. He’s a throwback in an era of the thrown clipboard; a man who projects decency and respect rather than denigration and rage.
So it’s fitting that what might be his final season as the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach isn’t some smooth ride toward a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Rather, it’s been a spin from disastrous start to white-hot finish that can be credited to Dungy’s ability to stay the course, keep his team together and retain faith that the plan would eventually succeed.
Indianapolis started November at 3-4 and looked like a team whose championship window had closed for good. Seven weeks and seven victories later, it is focused on securing a playoff spot Thursday at Jacksonville so the starters can rest in the final week.
“We’ve now put ourselves on the doorstep,” Dungy said Monday.
No one saw this coming … except Dungy.
When the Colts lost to Tennessee in late October, Dungy didn’t call out his players, he didn’t point blame at assistants, and he didn’t stop believing that anything was possible this season. He softly addressed the disappointment and looked to the future.
“We’ll see what the last nine games bring,” he said that evening. “If we play well and get ourselves on a streak and get going, we can be a playoff team. I think once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen – as we’ve seen two of the last three years.”
Through what should be a Hall of Fame career, one that saw him run a legendary defense in Tampa Bay and a legendary offense in Indy (by giving responsibility to offensive coordinator Tom Moore), his unbending optimism has proven most reliable.
His 135-69 record in 13 NFL seasons ranks him 18th all time in total victories. This should be his 11th playoff appearance, and his Colts have now won 10 or more games in all seven of his seasons in Indy.
It’s more than that, though. Former players swear by him like almost no one else in the league. His assistants are fiercely loyal: In seven years, only three members of his staff have left for any reason.
In some circles, he’s best known as an inspirational, best-selling author. He’s a part of a number of major charities, can’t begin to handle all the speaking and preaching requests, and continues to take the time for his prison ministry.
Advertiser and marketing ratings systems have his likeability among the top 15 celebrities in the country and among the very top in sports.
It might be because he continues to want so little of the credit for his team’s success.
“Our coaching staff has been phenomenal during this run, working with young guys and getting them ready to play,” he said. “It takes everything. It takes talented players able to focus.”
Dungy, 53, has not announced his retirement date, although speculation last January that he was stepping down led the organization to tab associate head coach Jim Caldwell his eventual successor. Dungy can choose when he wants to go. He gets to write his own ticket.
Many expect this to be that final season, at least in Indy. It’s why many of his supporters feared he had stayed a year too long when the team looked off-kilter early. Dungy kept preaching the virtues of time and repetition, especially since Peyton Manning missed all of the preseason because of injury.
It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to not panic and try something drastic. Seasons implode all the time in the NFL.
“It’s the fact we’ve been through a lot together and we rely on those past experiences,” Dungy said Monday. “We’ve got good, hard-working guys who understand the most important thing is winning.
“Because we’ve won so many games, we realize what you did last week doesn’t really have a bearing on what you’re going to [do] next week. We try to keep all that in perspective.
“At 3-4, we knew what the problems were,” he continued. “A lot of it was ourselves and our execution, and that’s what we focused on more so than pointing the finger at someone or figuring out who to blame. A lot of that goes back to the players really listening to the coaches.”
A lot of it goes back to Tony Dungy, again barreling toward the playoffs, again maximizing his talent, again performing a calm, quiet, low-frills job in the middle of this loud, overreacting, look-at-me league.
If this is it for Dungy, if this is his final season, perhaps there’s no better way for him to go out.
Chuck Colson's Commentary: I know what Illinois' governor feels like now
For Tyndale, being located in the Chicago suburbs, the recent news of Governor Rod Blagojevich's arrest and the charges against him hit close to home.
We found this great commentary on CNN by Chuck Colson, former aide to President Nixon and one of our authors. Chuck has written several Tyndale books, including, Justice That Restores, Lies that Go Unchallenged in Media & Government, How Now Shall We Live?, and The Problem of Evil. He is the founder of Prison Fellowship, the world's largest outreach to prisoners. He was imprisoned, himself, for obstruction of justice during the Watergate scandal.
Bill Dallas, a new Tyndale author and another who spent time in prison, shares his story as a white-collar criminal ended up the notorious San Quentin State Prison in his new book Lessons from San Quentin, to be released in February 2009.
Tyndale House Publishers has enjoyed several bestselling runs with faith-based football books and is getting ready for its third touchdown. It signed a contract with Joe Gibbs, NASCAR championship team owner, three-time Super Bowl–winning coach, and member of the NFL Hall of Fame, for a July 21, 2009 book Game Plan for Life.
Gibbs views this book as his legacy message, according to Tyndale, one that he hopes will primarily help men lead more productive, meaningful, and God-centered lives. Author Jerry Jenkins will edit the book and Tyndale is planning a significant marketing budget.
Gibbs commissioned a Washington, D.C. public-opinion research firm to survey men nationwide to determine which issues are most important to the "average Joe." The research identified 11 key, "hot button" issues that men age 20 and older wrestle with, including finances, health, relationships, living a life of purpose, finding the right vocation, and overcoming addiction. To tackle these concerns, Gibbs drafted a team of experts to specifically address each one, focusing primarily on what the Bible says about these issues.
A deeply committed Christian, Gibbs has made no secret of his faith, speaking at numerous prayer breakfasts, advertising Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on the hood of one of his race cars at the Daytona 500, and most recently, dedicating his time and resources to building a special ministry through Joe Gibbs Racing called Game Plan for Life (www.gameplanforlife.com).
Tyndale previous football-related bestsellers included Quiet Strength by Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy. Combined hardcover and paperback sales were more than one million copies. Dungy's next book, Uncommon, will pub on February 17. The publisher also scored a hit with Deanna Favre's Don't Bet Against Me! The memoir by Favre, wife of NFL great Brett Favre, is in its eighth printing, with more than 200,000 copies in print. A third bestseller was The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life by Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel, published this past July.
JOE GIBBS INKS DEAL WITH TYNDALE FOR BOOK TO RELEASE IN JULY 2009
For Immediate Release December 9, 2008
Carol Stream, IL – Joe Gibbs, NASCAR championship team owner, three-time Super Bowl–winning coach, and member of the NFL Hall of Fame, has signed a contract with Tyndale House Publishers to release Game Plan for Life (July 21, 2009). Gibbs will team with Tyndale on the book he considers to be his legacy message, one that he hopes will primarily help men lead more productive, meaningful, and God-centered lives. The book will be edited by author Jerry Jenkins and will be supported by a national media and book-signing tour, as well as a significant marketing budget.
Joe Gibbs has consistently displayed a heart for people and is concerned about the issues facing our society, especially today’s men. To address these concerns, he commissioned a Washington, D.C. public-opinion research firm to survey men throughout the country to determine which issues are most important to the “average Joe.” The research was designed to reveal what men today consider the most essential principles for living a victorious life. The firm’s research identified eleven key, “hot button” issues that men age 20 and older wrestle with, including finances, health, relationships, living a life of purpose, finding the right vocation, and overcoming addiction. To most effectively tackle these concerns, Gibbs drafted a team of experts to specifically address each one, focusing primarily on what the Bible says about these difficult issues.
Game Plan for Life will be an entertaining and insightful book that, in addition to sharing Gibbs’s own story, struggles, and triumphs, will also address some of the key concerns facing men today.
“Coach Gibbs is such a highly respected figure in the sports world,” says Carol Traver, Sr. Acquisitions Editor. “In a way, this really is his legacy book. He has achieved so much in his life—both personally and professionally. I think it’s a great testament to his character that his greatest goal now is to help others do the same.”
One of the most successful coaches of all time, Gibbs coached the Washington Redskins for 12 seasons, leading them to eight playoff appearances, four NFC titles, and three Super Bowl championships. In 1996, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After retiring from football at the end of the 1992 season, Gibbs switched his focus to his NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which has won three team championships under his ownership (’00, ’02, ’05). He returned to coach the Redskins from 2004-07, leading the Skins to two playoff appearances.
A deeply committed Christian, Gibbs has made no secret of his faith, speaking at numerous prayer breakfasts, advertising Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ on the hood of one of his race cars at the Daytona 500, and most recently, dedicating his time and resources to building a special ministry through Joe Gibbs Racing called Game Plan for Life (www.gameplanforlife.com), which focuses on “winning souls for Christ and discipling believers toward living more full and relevant God-centered lives.”
Although Game Plan For Life is centered on helping men live more productive and God-centered lives, Tyndale has achieved remarkable success with football-related titles during the past several years. Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy’s hardcover version of Quiet Strength debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list on July 29, 2007, and moved to the top spot one week later. It reached the top spot on the list on two different occasions and spent 25 weeks in the top 10, the most weeks in history for a sports-related title. According to Publishers Weekly, it was the eleventh-best-selling hardcover nonfiction book released in 2007.
In addition to the success of Dungy’s Quiet Strength, Tyndale House Publishers recently had another football-related hit with Deanna Favre’s Don’t Bet Against Me! The memoir by Favre, wife of NFL great Brett Favre, spent 10 consecutive weeks on either the New York Times hardcover nonfiction primary list (top 15) or expanded list (top 35). It is now in its eighth printing, with more than 200,000 copies in print. Tyndale released The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life by Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel on July 15, 2008, and the book spent eight consecutive weeks on the Times’ “Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous” list (either primary or expanded), reaching as high as No. 3. Tyndale also released Jason Elam’s Monday Night Jihad in 2007, and the second book in Elam’s fiction series, Blown Coverage, releases January 1, 2009.
Tyndale House Publishers was founded in 1962 by Dr. Kenneth N. Taylor as a means of publishingThe Living Bible. It is now one of the premier publishing houses in the industry. Tyndale products include numerousNew York Timesbest sellers, including the popular Left Behind series. Tyndale also publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, and many other resources for church and family. Tyndale House Publishers is located in Carol Stream, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago.
Tomorrow, December 9 is the one year anniversary of the New Life Church and YWAM shootings. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by this tragedy--especially to the Works family, David, Marie, Laurie, and Gracie, who lost their daughters and sisters, Stephanie and Rachel, as a result.
David and Marie Works have written a book about life after losing their daughtersentitled Gone in a Heartbeat (Tyndale House Publishers/Focus on the Family). The book will be available in January 2009.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — After a year of accolades that followed her shooting of a gunman who killed two teenage sisters at her church, security guard Jeanne Assam remains "low key" and says she thinks of the family of gunman Matthew Murray.
"He didn't start off to be mixed up and confused. He started off to be a good person but he went down a wrong path," Assam said during a news conference after a church service Sunday. A former police officer, Assam said that now she is hoping to join the Colorado Springs police department.
Assam shot and wounded Murray after he opened fire at New Life Church on Dec. 9, 2007. Murray then killed himself, ending a spree that killed four people in two cities. Assam said volunteering as an armed security guard at the church remains the highlight of her week.
In the year since the shooting, Assam said, she has received an award from a Second Amendment group, as well as other accolades that include a resolution in the state Legislature. She also met President George W. Bush.
"I don't feel bad about what I had to do," she said. "I'm sad that people died. ... I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It still feels a little surreal for me for some reason."
Murray began his shooting spree at the Youth With a Mission center in the Denver suburb of Arvada just after midnight Dec. 9. There, he killed Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24. Hours later, he drove 65 miles south to New Life Church in Colorado Springs and began shooting as worshippers left a Sunday service. Sisters Rachel Works, 16, and Stephanie Works, 18, were killed. A memorial that includes a stone bench and two blue spruce pine trees will be dedicated on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary. A candlelight vigil is also planned Tuesday in Chisholm, Minn., Johnson's hometown.
"I can't explain why I'm here and two wonderful daughters and sisters aren't here," the teens' father, David Works, told 9,000 people at a service Sunday, with wife, Marie, and daughters Laurie, 19, and Gracie, 12, on stage with him. "All I know is God was with us then and he's with us now."
David Works, who was shot just above the waist and in the leg, has recovered and has returned to work as an IT specialist. After the service, Works said he has written a book in tribute to his daughters.
"You have to rebuild your family again," he said. He said he misses watching Stephanie play chess with Gracie every night, as well as long philosophical talks with Stephanie. He also misses Rachel and her movies.
"There's no playing chess in the evening anymore," Works said, adding that counseling has helped him to not assign his surviving daughters the former roles of Stephanie and Rachel. During his sermon, Pastor Brady Boyd talked about mourning and how the congregation has had to grieve the death of the Works' sisters and the loss of founding pastor Ted Haggard, who resigned two years ago amid a homosexual sex and drug scandal.
"Where death happened, life will spring up," Boyd said, later adding: "The best is yet to come at New Life."
After the service, Boyd and parishioners said Assam's heroics were miraculous. Boyd called it a "David and Goliath" moment.
Wearing a trench coat and carrying an assault rifle, Murray opened fire in the church complex's parking lot and headed into the church. He walked past a playground, which church spokeswoman Amie Streater said was empty that day because it had been snowing, and entered a hallway that led toward the sanctuary past a children's worship area.
Outgunned and stationed near the children, Assam stepped out from a doorway, confronted the gunman and then fired 10 shots from 63 feet away, hitting Murray once in the wrist and twice in a leg. Murray died in the hallway barely 40 feet from where he entered.
"There was no earthly reason why more people shouldn't have died," said June Gordon, 51, with tears welling up as she recalled the horror of the day. "I just know it was God."
"There were too many things to happen that went right for there to have been a coincidence, an accident," said her husband, Russ Gordon. "We really believe that was divine."
In addition to David Works, two others were wounded at New Life. A gray column in the hallway where Murray fell has slight discolorations where Streater said bullet holes had been patched. Assam has said she is writing a book about the role forgiveness has played in her life, but she didn't talk about it Sunday. In the days after the shooting, much was made about her single status, which Boyd said resulted in a flood of e-mails to the church from interested men. When asked if she had met anyone, Assam replied, "No, I have not yet, which is just fine."
Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach Jim Tressel was on the 700 Club yesterday. In case you missed it, you can read a transcript of the interview here or watch it on video.
