– ONLY $8.99 — CHEAP! – –     ..read more

– – Confession: I’m not sure if this is technically a piece of “fan mail.” The United States Postal Service was not involved, and it did not arrive to me via email. This note was handed to me toward the end of a school visit in Mahwah, NJ.  – – I read the note — those extraordinary thoughts — and I looked at the young girl before me. “Is this for me? To keep?” She nodded, shyly. “Would it be okay,” I asked, “if we took a picture together?” She thought that would be fine. So here we are (note: permission granted by Sorella’s parents). – – Days have now passed, a full week come and gone ..read more

– Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing some excerpts and background info on my upcoming novel, Shaken.  Very briefly, a 7th-grade soccer player suffers a severe concussion that effects her life in profound ways. She gets behind in school, feels stress and anxiety, suffers from panic attacks, and ultimately goes to therapy sessions (including art therapy!) which are depicted in the book. The story is about how Kristy responds to these setbacks, the new friends she makes, the mistakes and the good decisions, too.  – – Light breaks through the curtains, bringing with it a sharp p ..read more

–   Let’s check the mail! It’s funny, thinking of this now, I remember the later years of my mother when she lived in her last house in Greenport, Long Island. Checking the mail — putting on a light sweater, struggling into a pair of shoes, walking down the driveway to the road and the mail box — that was an adventure right there. Then she’d sit, have a cup of tea, light a cigarette, and think about having a little coffee cake later on.  Anyway! Ananya writes . . .    Hi Mr.Preller, I hope you are well. My name is Ananya ____. You recently visited my school (Jericho Middle ..read more

– If her injury means the end of what she loves most, then what’s left?   – – COMING SEPTEMBER 10th ..read more

..read more

  Four new books? Well, ish. I’ll explain.   COMING APRIL 23rd . . . BLOOD MOUNTAIN     Not quite new, but . . . a new cover and new in paperback. Surely that counts for something. Grace and Carter and their dog, Sitka, struggle to survive in a mountain wilderness. Ages 9-up. A Junior Library Guild Selection!   COMING JUNE 25th . . . SCARY TALES: 3 SPOOKY STORIES IN 1 – I’m thrilled about this 300-page collection, which brings together Nightmareland, One Eyed Doll and Swamp Monster in one heart-stopping, fast-paced collection. All for only $8.99. It is literally the ..read more

– – I’ve been slowly, methodically going through the final edits for SHAKEN, my upcoming middle-grade novel (Macmillan, Fall 2024). The book involves a soccer-obsessed 7th grader, Kristy, who suffers from post-concussion syndrome. It’s a story about identity, anxiety, panic attacks, art therapy, new friendships, making mistakes and, finally, coming true to one’s ever-evolving self. Anyway, it’s a great relief to read through all these words once again, months later, and still feel like, yeah, I like this — I’m proud of it — this is what I hoped to say. I’m grateful to my editor Liz Szabla and ..read more

– GOOD NEWS! I’m thrilled to share that Blood Mountain will soon be available in paperback. To me, that’s when books really get a shot at reaching a wide variety of readers. Note: It’s an honor to be compared to Gary Paulsen. The man is legend. This book got compared to his bestselling Hatchet novel in three different reviews. I’d sign up for 1/10th of those sales. Blood Mountain was a Junior Library Guild Selection. = A QUICK RECAP OF THE REVIEWS . . . – “Preller combines brave characters with vivid descriptions of the perilous mountain, grasping readers’ emotions in the same way as Gary Pau ..read more

          I have friends in Istanbul. One particular school, in fact, that reads my Jigsaw Jones books — even ones that are long out-of-print. It’s the story of my career at this point. More books that are out-of-print than there are available.  Oh well! The price of hanging around in this business for nearly 4 decades.  Here we go.  A reader writes . . .  – Dear Mr. Preller, – My name is Pamir. I am 12 years old and I like to play games and I also like to read books. I live in Istanbul and I am studying in Hisar schools .I read your book “THE CASE ..read more