It all starts with a train rushing through the night…. Well, actually, it starts when Jon Scieszka, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, writes a cliff-hanger episode and passes it on to the next member of a cast of celebrated writers, who continue the story and passes it on. And what happens between episodes one and 27? Think werewolves and mad scientists, a talking pig, plenty of explosions, a blue Star Wars lunchbox, two meatballs, a whole army of villains and varmints, and one just plain bad egg. Not to mention the predicaments of our heroes, 11-year-old twins Nancy and Joe, raised in a circus, who must find the pieces of a Top-Secret Robot in order to rescue their parents before… tick, tick, tick!

A collaboration between the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book, The Exquisite Corpse Adventure originated as a national literacy project for young people and helped launch the READ.gov website.

With exquisite contributions by: M. T. Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Calef Brown, Susan Cooper, Kate DiCamillo, Chris Van Dusen, Timothy Basil Ering, Jack Gantos, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Steven Kellogg, Gregory Maguire, Megan McDonald, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Paterson (National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature), James Ransome, Jon Scieszka (former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature), and Lemony Snickett.