Calib laid a trembling paw on his heart, which hammered to the beat of the jubilant cheering. He savored all the happy faces that beamed back at him.
To those who knew how to listen, the heart had many important things to tell. And at that moment, Calib’s heart told him that he was a Christopher mouse: brave, strong, and wise.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Firstborn books are intimidating creatures. In taming one for myself, I relied on the fiercest warriors in the land. I owe them the largest ales and my deepest gratitude.
To my editors Kamilla Benko, Andrew Harwell, and Alexandra Cooper—my sword, my bow, and my ax. Without you, a Balrog would have eaten me.
To the beacons of light at Paper Lantern Lit: Lexa Hillyer, Lauren Oliver, Tara Sonin, Alexa Wejko, and especially, Rhoda Belleza, who shone a ray on me first. To Stephen Barbara for finding the perfect home for Calib and company.
To the mighty HarperCollins team: Rosemary Brosnan and Olivia Swomley in editorial. Kim VandeWater and Lauren Kostenberger in marketing. Olivia Russo in publicity. Andrea Pappenheimer and her team in sales. Erin Fitzsimmons and Katie Klimowicz in design. And a special thank-you to Lindsey Carr, whose illustrations brought the story to life more beautifully than I could have imagined.
To my agent Wendi Gu, whose emails are magical manna.
To Danielle Rollins, who set me off on this path of many wonders.
I am indebted to the works of Brian Jacques and J. R. R. Tolkien. Bless the public libraries of Jonesboro, Douglasville, and Villa Rica, Georgia, for stocking them.
To my parents, everything I am was made possible by your sacrifices and your love.
To Kyle, keeper of my heart, all this happened because you believed it could.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Kyle Campbell
JULIE LEUNG was raised in the sleepy suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, though it may be more accurate to say she grew up in Oz and came of age in Middle-earth. She works in book publishing as a digital marketer. In her free time she enjoys furtively sniffing books at used bookstores and winning at obscure board games. Her favorite mode of transportation is the library. You can visit her online at www.jleungbooks.com.
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CREDITS
Cover art © 2016 by LINDSEY CARR
Title lettering by DAVID COULSON
Cover design by KATIE KLIMOWICZ
COPYRIGHT
MICE OF THE ROUND TABLE #1: A TAIL OF CAMELOT. Text copyright © 2016 by Paper Lantern Lit. Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Lindsey Carr. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938973
ISBN 978-0-06-240399-5
EPub Edition © September 2016 ISBN 9780062404015
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16 17 18 19 20 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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