Books

Books

          Scroll down or click for more info:

Me, Myself, and Him  Read More

Public School Superhero  Read More

Middle School (series)
     Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life  Read More
     Middle School, Get Me Out of Here  Read More
     Middle School, How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill  Read More
     Middle School, Save Rafe  Read More
     
Middle School, Just My Rotten Luck Read More
     Middle School, Dog’s Best Friend  Read More
     
Middle School, Born to Rock Read More

Stranded (trilogy)
     Stranded (book 1)  Read More
     Stranded 2: Trial By Fire  Read More
     Stranded 3: Survivors  Read More
     Stranded: The Complete Adventure (collects the whole trilogy in one book)  Read More

Stranded: Shadow Island (trilogy)
     Stranded Shadow Island Book 1: Forbidden Passage  Read More
     Stranded Shadow Island Book 2: The Sabotage  Read More
     Coming February, 2016: Stranded Shadow Island Book 3: Desperate Measures 

The Viking (series) 
     Saga One through Four  Read More

M or F?  Read More

 

Me, Myself, and Him

By Chris Tebbetts
Perfect for fans of Becky Albertali’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and A. S. King’s Still Life with Tornado, this story of parallel time lines cleverly explores how our choices can change and shape us — as well as the ways in which choices don’t change the core of our being at all.
When Chris Schweitzer takes a hit of whippets and passes out face first on the cement, his nose isn’t the only thing that changes forever. Instead of staying home with his friends for the last summer after high school, he’s shipped off to live with his famous physicist but royal jerk of a father to prove he can “play by the rules” before Dad will pay for college.
Or… not.
In an alternate time line, Chris’s parents remain blissfully ignorant about the accident, and life at home goes back to normal—until it doesn’t. A new spark between his two best (straight) friends quickly turns Chris into a (gay) third wheel and even worse, the truth about the whippets incident starts to unravel. As his summer explodes into a million messy pieces, Chris wonders how else things might have gone. Is it possible to be jealous of another version of yourself in an alternate reality that doesn’t even exist?
With musings on fate, religion, parallel universes, and the best way to eat a cinnamon roll, Me Myself & Him examines how what we consider to be true is really just one part of the much (much) bigger picture.
Order Me, Myself, and Him from: Indiebound or Amazon

Public School Superhero

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Cory Thomas.
Kenny Wright is a kid with a secret identity. In his mind, he’s Stainlezz Steel, super-powered defender of the weak. In reality, he’s a chess club devotee known as a “Grandma’s Boy,” a label that makes him an easy target for bullies. Kenny wants to bring a little more Steel to the real world, but the question is: can he recognized his own true strength before peer pressure forces him to make the worst choice of his life?
Review: Kirkus says, “A smart and kind story with just the right amount of social justice.”
Order Public School Superhero from: Indiebound or Amazon

Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Laura Park.
Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he’s got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school’s oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class-5,000 points! Running in the hallway-10,000 points! Pulling the fire alarm-50,000 points! But when Rafe’s game starts to catch up with him, he’ll have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if he’s finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths he’s been avoiding.
Review: Los Angeles Times
Order Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life from: IndieBound or Amazon

Middle School: Get Me Out of Here!

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Laura Park.
After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He’s been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone.Wrong! It’s more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he’s never done before, he’s going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum. But when his newest mission uncovers secrets about the family Rafe’s never known, he has to decide if he’s ready to have his world turned upside down.

Check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website!
Order Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! from: IndieBound or Amazon

Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Laura Park.
Rafe Khatchadorian, the hero of the bestselling Middle School series, is ready for a fun summer at camp–until he finds out it’s a summer school camp! Luckily, Rafe easily makes friends with his troublemaking cabin mates and bunkmate, a boy nicknamed Booger-Eater, who puts up with endless teasing from the other kids. Rafe soon realizes there’s more to a person than a nickname, though, and Booger-Eater might be the kind of friend you want on your side when the boys from the Cool Cabin attack.

Check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website! 
Order Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! from: IndieBound or Amazon

Middle School: Save Rafe!

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Laura Park.
After a rough summer, Rafe is heading back to the dreaded Hills Village Middle School, the site of the very worst years of his life. And as if that’s not bad enough, he’s learned that he’s going to be held back a year unless he can prove himself on an outdoor survival excursion—complete with dangerous white-water rafting, dizzying rock climbing, and fanatical counselors. Rafe and the rest of the pack of “delinquent” trainees are forced to cooperate as they prepare for the final test: a solo excursion in the deep woods. Can Rafe come out of the experience in one piece? And if he does, will he go home as the same insecure kid?
Check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website! 
Order Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! from: IndieBound or Amazon

Middle School, Just My Rotten Luck

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Laura Park.
Rafe Khatchadorian heads back to the place his misadventures began: the dreaded Hills Village Middle School, where he’s now being forced to take “special” classes. He also finds himself joining the school’s football team—alongside his main tormenter, Miller the Killer! But Rafe has grand plans fo ra better year.  First, he decides to start a super-secret art project that’s sure to rock the school.  Then, if Rafe manages to make a play to save his team, he might have to deal with something completely new: popularity!
Check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website! 
Order Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! from: IndieBound or Amazon

Middle School, Dog’s Best Friend

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Jomike Tejido.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and Rafe Khatchadorian is just trying to live in it. Life in middle school is finally starting to seem bearable-until Rafe spots his grandmother standing in the free-meal line at the local soup kitchen. In order to help bring in more money, Rafe concocts a brilliant plan: a dog-walking business that soon turns into a huge money-making neighborhood empire. He’ll even have extra cash to buy his own WormHole Deluxe Multi-Platform GameBox!
That is, until two terrible twins launch the Great Dog War by sabotaging Rafe’s flyers and stealing his customers. Plus, his bratty kid sister Georgia has skipped a grade, so now she’s in all of Rafe’s classes. Throw a kid a bone!
Check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website! 
Order Middle School: Dog’s Best Friend from: IndieBound or Amazon

Middle School, Born to Rock

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Neil Swaab.
It’s not easy being Rafe Khatchadorian’s sister. He’s got quite a reputation around school, and Georgia’s got it hard enough as is! With a super secret crush on her classmate Sam Marks, a Rube Goldberg machine challenge to dominate, and constant confrontations with vicious Missy Trillin and her evil Princess Patrol to look forward to, Georgia can’t help but throw all her energy into the one thing that makes her happy: her kick-butt, all-girl rock band, We Stink!
When Georgia’s favorite rock band, Lulu and the Handbags, advertise a major music competition where the winner gets to jam with Lulu herself, Georgia will pull all the stops to make sure We Stink wins—even if it means asking her annoying older brother, Rafe, for help! Will his crazy ideas work, or land her in serious trouble?
Check out the MIDDLE SCHOOL website! 
Order Middle School: Born to Rock from: IndieBound or Amazon

Stranded

By Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts

A FAMILY VACATION BECOMES A TEST OF SURVIVAL…..
It was supposed to be a vacation—and a chance to get to know each other better. But when a massive storm sets in without warning, four kids are shipwrecked alone on a rocky jungle island in the middle of the South Pacific. No adults. No instructions. Nobody to rely on but themselves. Can they make it home alive? A week ago, the biggest challenge Vanessa, Buzz, Carter, and Jane had was learning to live as a new blended family. Now the four siblings must find a way to work together if they’re going to make it off the island. But first they’ve got to learn to survive one another.

Order now from IndieBound or Amazon

 

Stranded 2: Trial By Fire

By Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts

THEY THOUGHT IT COULDN’T GET ANY WORSE.  THEY WERE WRONG.
Being shipwrecked on a jungle island in the middle of the South Pacific was bad enough. But now that Carter, Vanessa, Buzz and Jane have lost their boat–and almost everything on board–to another violent storm, it’s like starting over. That means finding food and shelter, making fire for the first time, dealing with the wild boars that roam the island–and of course, figuring out how to get along (and not kill each other in the process). Survival is no individual sport in a place like this, but there’s only one way to learn that. The hard way.

Order now from IndieBound or Amazon

 

Stranded 3: Survivors

By Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts

ELEVEN DAYS DOWN, AND NO END IN SIGHT.  HOW LONG COULD YOU SURVIVE?

It’s been days since Buzz, Vanessa, Carter and Jane were stranded on a deserted island in the middle of the South Pacific. Four kids left to fend for themselves. No adults. No supplies. They’ve managed to make fire and they’ve even found food. But they’ve just lost their only shelter, and quite possibly their one chance at being rescued. Now they’ll have to venture even deeper into the jungles of Nowhere Island just to stay alive. But the island holds secrets of a dark past. With danger lurking at every turn, they must rely on each other like never before it they are going to survive.

Pre-order now from IndieBound or Amazon

Stranded: The Complete Adventure

By Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts
The entire first trilogy in one book, plus all-new special features, including an island map, fun facts, and a new Q&A with the authors.
Order Stranded: The Complete Adventure from: Indiebound or Amazon

Stranded Shadow Island, Book 1: Forbidden Passage

By Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts
A new adventure from the team who brought you STRANDED! It happened to them once. It could never happen again, right? WRONG. Two months ago, Vanessa and Buzz’s dad married Jane and Carter’s mom and they became a family. But their adventure really started just two weeks ago when the four siblings were shipwrecked and stranded on a deserted tropical island for thirteen days. Alone. They thought it was over, but now, they find themselves on a whole new island, and this time, they’re not alone. Getting here was a nightmare. Leaving just might be impossible. Because this time, it’s forbidden.
Order Stranded: Shadow Island, Book 1: Forbidden Passage from Indiebound or Amazon

Stranded Shadow Island, Book 2: The Sabotage

By Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts
How much would you sacrifice? How far could you go? When Carter, Vanessa, Buzz, and Jane found themselves stranded on Shadow Island, they had no idea what they were getting into. Now, one of their group is missing, and the stakes keep getting higher. This is going to be a fight to the finish if they ever want to make it home again. It’s going to take courage. It’s going to take strength. It’s going to take luck. And in the end, one rash decision could change everything–when everything is at stake.
Order Stranded Shadow Island, Book 2: The Sabotage from: Indiebound or Amazon

The Viking

A fantasy adventure series for ages 8 and up.
Zach Gilman finds himself transported way back in time, to a strange world filled with terrifying beasts, equally terrifying foods, and yes, plenty of Vikings. He soon finds himself at the center of a mythological quest that will take him from one end of the Norse mythological universe to the other.
Saga One: Viking Pride Zack Gilman is frustrated with his life in Minneapolis—his football-crazed father, Jock, constantly embarrasses him, the love of his life doesn’t know he exists, and former friend-turned-bully Eric Spangler won’t stop tormenting. It’s enough to make Zach wish he were anywhere but home. But when Zack is suddenly transported to a strange world filled with terrifying beasts, equally terrifying food, and a really big Viking named Jok, Minneapolis doesn’t seem quite so bad anymore And the worst part about Zack’s new situation is that Jok thinks that Zack has come to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead Jok’s tribe to victory against a bloodthirsty chieftain, Erik the Horrible. Still, as weird as this place is…there’s something awfully familiar about it.
Saga Two: Quest for Faith The mild-mannered son of a football-obsessed father, Zack has always been happier staying home and playing with his inventions than sitting in a crowded stadium watching a Minnesota Vikings game. But recently Zack’s world was turned upside down when he was unexpectedly thrown back in time to ninth-century Scandinavia where he met some real Vikings. Now Zack is back in this wild and dangerous ancient world an on his way to the mysterious Jotunheim, the Norse land of the giants, in search of the object that will fulfill the first of his duties as the legendary “Lost Boy.” Only this time, he arrives to find that his Viking friends have all mysteriously disappered…and he’s on his own.
Saga Three: Land of the Dead Back in the ninth century once again, Zack joins the rest of his Viking crew as they set off for the mysterious Norse world of Niflheim, where they must recover the next treasure of Yggdrasil’s chest. They know it won’t be easy, but they find a lot more trouble they’d bargained for. Hel, the ruler of the Viking land of the dead, is determined to keep her new guests imprisoned in her freaky palace forever. She has many tricks up her sleeve—from a hideous flesh-eating dragon to a maze of moving walls to an army of undead warriors—and she’ll use everything she’s got to make sure Zack never makes it out alive….
Saga Four: Hammer of the Gods Mild-mannered Zack Gilman is not your ordinary high school freshman. Once content to hang around his house in Minneapolis inventing cool gadgets and making mix CDs for his crush, Ashley, he now spends half his time in the ninth century with Viking warriors in search of three treasures that will fulfill his destiny as the legendary Lost Boy. Now there is only one more treasure left—and the journey to find it will be Zack’s most harrowing yet. It lies in Asgard: the home of the Viking gods. And once Zack has it in his hands, only Thor himself knows what will happen.
About writing The Viking Working from an idea that originated at the publisher, I spent the first several weeks of this project on research. I read everything I could find about Vikings, Ninth century Scandinavia, and Norse mythology, all of which figure prominently into the story. I was fascinated by the idea of Yggdrasil, the far-reaching tree that connects all the different worlds of the Norse mythological universe. Once I’d read about that, I knew that Zach would follow Yggdrasil from world to world on his quest — just one of the ways that my research informed the story itself. After the research was well underway, and before I started writing Saga One, I worked up a full synopsis for the four-book series. One of the challenges of writing a series is the kind of multi-level structure it needs. Each book had to have its own beginning, middle, and (hopefully satisfying) ending, but the four books also had to work together to tell a larger story, also with its own beginning, middle, and end. What were the questions asked in Book 1 that could only be answered in Book 4? And what were the questions that can be answered—the situations that could be resolved—by the end of Books 1, 2, and 3? It’s a little like solving a giant puzzle, which isn’t always easy, but it can be a lot of fun. Putting together the puzzle of any story, and watching it start to form a whole picture, is one of the most satisfying parts of writing for me.

To order The Viking: Available new and used through various sellers at Amazon. Copies are also available by special order; please contact me here.

M or F?

A romantic comedy for readers 12 and up, co-written with Lisa Papademetriou.
When Frannie is desperate to get the attention of her crush, her fabulous (and gay) best friend Marcus suggests that Frannie chat with him online. Too bad Frannie’s terrified. She won’t type a word without Marcus’s help. In the chat room, Marcus and Jeffrey hit it off. But the more Marcus writes, the more he’s convinced that Jeffrey is falling for him, not Frannie. Whose romance is this anyway? “A modern Cyrano de Bergerac story this is both funny and touching.” (Publisher’s Weekly).

Lisa and I started this book by creating our two characters, Marcus and Frannie. We had an idea of the story, and also knew that we’d be writing it in alternating chapters, telling one story from the perspective of two different main characters: best friends Frannie and Marcus. Lisa would write the Frannie chapters, and I’d write the Marcus chapters.Our first objective was to create a sense of shared history and best-friend-ness for Frannie and Marcus. Lisa and I spent a few weeks emailing back and forth with biographical details for our characters and making up memories for the two of them, so that once we started writing, we’d have an idea of where these two were coming from. It was important for the story that we establish some common ground before we ever jumped into chapter one.Not every writer works from an outline, but since Lisa and I were going to be writing this together, it was important to have an idea of the whole story up front. We spent a weekend together, hammering out the details of the story ahead of time. Nothing was written in stone yet, but we wanted to have a common understanding of where this thing was headed.After that, it became a game of writer tennis. I wrote a draft of chapter one and sent it off to Lisa.  She wrote a draft of chapter two, and sent the whole thing back to me. It went on like that for about six months, until we had a finished draft of the whole book.

By this time in the process of writing any novel, the author (or authors) usually have a slew of different things that need to be fixed, addressed, rewritten, etc. Lisa and I got together again and spent a weekend coming up with solutions and fixes for all of the issues we’d identified along the way. Then we spent another few weeks re-writing and playing more writer tennis, until we had a finished draft to submit to the publisher.

Order M or F? from IndieBound or Amazon