‘The Five Ancestors’ at Next Chapter Bookshop

History inspires greatfiction, and tales of young heroes who succeed against insurmountable oddsoften top best-seller lists. In the collection The Five Ancestors, history and heroism come together in sevencaptivating young adult novels by Jeff Stone. Set in 17th-century China, theselegends bring to life a very real and interesting period of world history in anarrative style that is exciting for readers of all ages. This adventure seriesfollows five young monks, each of whom specializes in a different style of“animal” kung fu.

Random House Books forYoung Readers released the concluding volume, Dragon, earlier this month. Since each story in The Five Ancestors is told from theviewpoint of the main character, Dragonfollows Long, a dragon-style warrior, to the Forbidden City as he tries to saveChina and rescue the emperor. In the closing volume of The Five Ancestors series, Stone weaves a fast-paced, intelligentplot filled with enough action and suspense to captivate young and old alike.

Stone has much in commonwith the characters he created. Like his protagonists, Stone is a martialartist. He holds a black belt in kung fu and trains in other fighting styles asresearch for his books. Furthermore, like the five warriors in this collection,Stone was adopted as an infant. He grew up in Detroit and graduated fromMichigan State University with degrees in English and journalism. The Five Ancestors books have sold morethan 400,000 copies, and Nickelodeon Movies has signed the series to a two-filmdeal.

The Five Ancestors saga is a classic tale of heroesrising from ruin. These five young kung fu mastersDragon, Crane, Snake, Monkeyand Tigerstruggle to uncover the secrets of their pasts as they fight for thefuture of their homeland.

Jeff Stone will visit Next Chapter Bookshop in Mequon todiscuss his newest book, Dragon, onSunday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m.