Akiko in the Sprubly Islands (11 page)

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR AND
I
LLUSTRATOR

Mark Crilley
was raised in Detroit, where his parents sometimes wondered if he wasn’t from another planet. After graduating from Kalamazoo College in 1988, he traveled to Taiwan and Japan, where he taught English to students of all ages for nearly five years. It was during his stay in Japan in 1992 that he created the story of Akiko and her journey to Smoo. First published as a comic book in 1995, the bimonthly Akiko series has since earned Crilley numerous award nominations, as well as a spot on
Entertainment Weekly’s
“It List” in 1998.
Akiko on the Planet Smoo
, Crilley’s first work of fiction for young readers, was published by Delacorte Press.

Mark Crilley lives with his wife, Miki, and their son, Matthew, just a few miles from the streets where he was raised.

D E L A C O R T E   P R E S S

Published by Delacorte Press
an imprint of
Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036

Copyright © 2000 by Mark Crilley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

Akiko, Spuckler Boach, Poog, Mr. Beeba, Gax, and all other characters contained within, their likenesses, and other indicia are trademark Sirius Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

The trademark Delacorte Press
^®
is registered in the US. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crilley, Mark.

Akiko in the Sprubly Islands / written and illustrated by Mark Crilley.

p.  cm.

Summary: Ten-year-old Akiko and her newly made friends survive a skugbit storm, crash in the Moonguzzit Sea, and are captured by the army of Queen Pwip as they continue their mission to rescue the son of the king of the planet Smoo.

[I. Science fiction. 2. Life on other planets—Fiction. 3. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 4. Japanese Americans—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.C869275 Ak 2000

[Fic]—dc21                     00-029518

eISBN:  978-0-440-41863-4

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