Bitopia

New, updated edition of the bullying prevention adventure story that was named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012! Bitopia is a wonderland of fantastical foliage and mysterious creatures. It’s also a place where Venators lurk, vile creatures that relentlessly hunt children. As the only human inhabitants of Bitopia, the children are forced to live in a high-walled city for protection, a medieval metropolis of cold and shadow where time passes but no one ages, a place of no escape. Like all the other children in Bitopia, Stewart arrives there unexpectedly while fleeing from bullies. And, like all Newcomers, Stewart dreams of finding a way back home. Risking exile from the city and the protection that it offers, Stewart and Cora, his Finder, discover a clue to escaping, one that presents them with a terrible choice: face their greatest fear and risk death, or be trapped in Bitopia forever. A fast-paced tale that addresses the problem of physical bullying and intimidation and provides an example to readers of how to get this type of bullying to stop on their own. Ages 10 and up.Author’s note on the second edition: Eight and a half years ago, I lopped off the first chapter of this book at a literary agent’s request in the hopes that she would have a greater incentive to sell it. In other words, I compromised my story for the promise of commercial gain. Although that book did get selected as one of the best novels of the year by Kirkus Reviews, I never felt that it truly represented what I wanted to say. Every time I thought about the book, I got this nagging feeling that I had done wrong by it. That first chapter was so important to the ending in that it personalized and magnified the stakes for Stewart. It gave the story balance. Without that chapter, the book was like a three-legged dog: still lovable, but somehow odd and off-balanced. Further, this story is my own story. No, I was never transported to a faraway place and forced to figure out how to get home. But it is my story of how I learned the secret to stopping physical bullying. And Stewart’s attempt to make friends in the first chapter by showing off coins from his collection is what I did as a kid, bringing coins to school to try to impress my peers. So, for this edition, I restored that first chapter, undid the revisions that were required to make up for the lack of it, and made additional improvements throughout the text. And now the story is once again complete. Is it better? I think so. Is it less salable? I don’t care. This is the honest edition, the way the story is supposed to be.