BWW Previews: Cover and Summary Reveal: Rick Riordan Presents: ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME by Roshani Chokshi

Earlier this year, Disney Hyperion announced a new line of middle-grade mythology novels entitled Rick Riordan Presents.

For the past several years, the best selling books for kids have been Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. Riordan's Greek mythology-based series has gone on to spawn two sequel series, The Heroes of Olympus and The Trials of Apollo. Riordan has also published books revolving around Egyptian mythology (The Kane Chronicles) and Norse mythology (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard). His books are so wildly popular that his fans beg him for more books featuring mythology from other cultures, but he can't write fast enough to satisfy everyone and bring everything to life.

This past fall, Disney Hyperion announced a new imprint, Rick Riordan Presents, to debut in 2018. Riordan is to be curator and find authors whose books featured myths and lore that would appeal to his fans, especially since sometimes, he didn't know much about the culture himself.

The first three authors to debut in the new, widely diverse line were announced this week. All three books will debut in 2018, beginning on April 3, 2018 with ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME by Roshani Chokshi (THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN), followed by two releases on September 18, 2018, STORM RUNNER by Jennifer Cervantes (TORTILLA SUN) and DRAGON PEARL by Hugo and Nebula Award nominee Yoon Ha Lee (NINEFOX GAMBIT). ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME is set to be a quartet, while both STORM RUNNER and DRAGON PEARL are currently slated as stand-alones. All three books are for middle-grade readers and will appeal to fans of Riordan's various novels.

Publishers Weekly previously revealed a synopsis for each already highly-anticipated series:

ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME by Roshani Chokshi:

Chokshi's heroine is a 12-year-old Indian-American girl who unwittingly frees a demon intent on awakening the God of Destruction. (As Percy Jackson might say: "Oops.") Her agent, Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra & Associates, calls it "Percy Jackson meets Sailor Moon with a great wealth of wonderful Indian mythology that is inspired by Roshani's heritage."

STORM RUNNER by Jennifer Cervantes:

Cervantes's main character, Zane, must not only grapple with a family history that connects him to the Mayan gods, but with newly acquired knowledge that his ancestry may have something to do with a leg deformity that requires he use a cane - not the greatest reality for a middle schooler.

DRAGON PEARL by Yoon Ha Lee:

Lee's book, DRAGON PEARL, a standalone middle grade novel, stars Min, a teenage fox spirit whose brother is missing and thought to have deserted the Thousand Worlds Space Forces in order to find the pearl of the title, an artifact that may have the power to save their struggling space colony. Lee says the toughest part of writing for a new audience was working with shorter chapters and a different vocabulary; the idea for the story itself came to him quickly. "I was pretty sure nobody else would come up with a space opera based on Korean mythology," he said.

Today, BroadwayWorld has a full synopsis for the first book in the imprint, ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME, as well as a cover reveal!

Are you ready to take a look?

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Here's the official summary for ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME, out March 27th, 2018!

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from their latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?

One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.

But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.

The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that????????

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