Journey Into Darkness, 2nd edition, by Narvon author J. Arthur Moore, is currently in production for release in February. It comprises the complete four-book series about Duane Kinkade’s experiences as he searches for his father within the Civil War. This second edition is being released in full color with additional character photos; a reference section including an army organization chart, research bibliography, historic and battlefield troop movements map section; an article about the history behind the novel; and comments from readers and reviewers. The novel will launch at two back-to-back library events, the first in Lancaster County, the second in Chester County; a museum event at Landis Valley Farm Museum Store; and a special event at Silver Bell Farm Antiques on Route 322 in Glenmore.
Youth Services Librarian for Eastern Lancaster County Library in New Holland, Heather Smith, announced that the library will host a book signing and conversation with the author J. Arthur Moore, on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m. Honey Brook Library Director and Youth Services Coordinator, Jennifer Spade, announced the library will host the same on Thursday, March 3, at 7 p.m. Janet Seum, manager of Silver Bell Farm, has set the event for Saturday, March 12, during their second weekend of the month special events, from 1 to 3 p.m. Store manager Terry Kreider at Landis Valley Farm Museum announces that their event will take place on Saturday, March 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. All events will feature displays of Civil War artifacts related to the book, an opportunity to purchase any of the author’s books and have them signed and a chance to ask questions and ask for readings from the works, and discuss the war and the boys who served in it. For all of these events, Journey Into Darkness, 2nd edition, will be premiered at 20 percent off the publisher list price. All other books will be available at a 10 percent discount. Quantities of 10 or more will be discounted 30 percent.
Journey Into Darkness, a story in four parts, 2nd edition, is available in paperback and hardback. Originally published as a four-book series, paperback copies of the series will also be available; hardback editions have been sold out or given to libraries and will not be reordered. Two additional titles, Blake’s Story, Revenge and Forgiveness, 2nd edition, and Summer of Two Worlds, will also be on hand. Both 2nd edition books are in full color. Earlier printings of both books in black and white will also be present for those who want them – in paperback and hardback.
All books have been recognized by Readers’ Favorite five-star reviews and the Mom’s Choice Award for excellence in young adult historic fiction. Screenplays exist for part 1 of Journey and for Blake’s Story. Each has been recognized by the International Family Film Festival as Official Selection. Blake’s Story has received the Bronze Award from the Readers’ Favorite book competition, and Journey has been nominated for the Freedoms Foundation Award.
As it begins, Journey follows Duane Kinkade, his parents, his dog and his best friend, Jamie, from his father’s departure to the war in the spring of 1861, through a season of uneasy calm sharing time with his friend on the family farm, into a summer of unexpected violence with the death of his mother, toward a winter of loneliness, culminating in the spring of 1862 when Duane sets out in search of his father by running away to the war. The novel goes on through two and a half years of the war, researched so that it is also an educational experience, following the story of a young boy through a war that saw service from more than 200,000 boys age 17 and under. The reader will enter the war with Duane at the Battle of Shiloh, where he falls wounded and is treated by a Union doctor and his teenage ward. They quickly become close friends. With his identity concealed, he enters battle with the medical corps at Perryville and Stones River, after which he travels in search of the Confederate Army at Tullahoma, Tennessee. Circumstances lead the boy to Lee’s army in camp outside Fredericksburg. As courier and drummer, Duane serves with the Confederate Army at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Wounded and left for dead on the battlefield at Gettysburg, he is recovered by a preacher and eventually reunited with his doctor friends, with whom he travels through the events of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. Events and a letter about his father send Duane from the war and he journeys homeward with a young friend, the son of a sutler. Duane’s journey comes full circle as he returns to his home where it had all started, a veteran of two and a half years of warfare and battlefield experience.
Researched for historic accuracy, Journey takes the young reader through the war with a peer. It takes the reader into battle on the ground with Duane as it unfolds, into life in the camp and on the road with the boy; in this shared existence, the reader not only shares the life and times with the boy, but learns a detailed history lesson without even realizing it.
As one young reader, 14 year old Isaac Sassa, writes: “I have learned a lot about the Civil War through your books. I find them a lot more exciting than a dry history textbook.” Reviewers concur. “This would be an excellent resource for middle-school American History classes, giving a boy’s eye view of the Civil War and reminding students that kids their own age were caught up in active duty during the war” (Blue Ink review) and, “This book does have a place in schools, I think it would be the perfect adjunct to a Civil War class” (Simon Barrett, Blog News Network).
Published by LitFire Publishing, Journey Into Darkness, 2nd edition, can be purchased through its website, www.acrossthevalleytodarkness.com; at any independent book seller; through an online search by ISBN number, title or author; through book distributors Ingram Distribution or Baker and Taylor; and online by way of Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The author’s works are also available locally through several outlets including Aaron’s Books in Lititz, Irvin’s Books in York, Landis Valley Museum Store, Silver Bell Farm Antique Barn in Glenmore, Chester Country Historical Society and West Chester University book stores in West Chester, and from the author at book signing events and presentations about the real boys of the Civil War. Author J. Arthur Moore can be reached through the contact page on the website.
