The Sword of Darrow (35 page)

Kim Justice

Kimberly Carmona

Kinsler Haden

Kip Olson

Kolby Sumlin

Kristen Valentine

Kyla Dermody

La Tifiana Roberson

Larissa Looney

Lauren Ahern

Laynee Abbott

Leonard Kovacs

Logan Gregory

London Terry

Luke Epley

Maddie Alva

Madeleine McGowan

Madison Navarro

Madison Wissing

Maire Mellor

Makenna Marshall

Mark Kittelson

Mason Adams

Mason Houston

Mason Roth

Matthew Blanton

Matthew J. Washington

Matthew Leek

Matthew Woodring

Maxwell Roman

McKenzie Ochoa

McKinlee Reynolds

Mike Harris

Mikey Staffieri

Morgan Espich

Natasha Moore

Nate Whitworth

Nathan Tate

Nathan Wells

Nicholas Barth

Nicholas Kircus

Nicky Truong

Nolan Anderer

Olivia Johnson

Paige Schweighardt

Parker Doyle

Patrick Kelly

Patrick Mellor

Paul Bennett

Philip Becker

Phillip Brackins

Quinn Keith

Raymond Smith

Reagan Haydon

Rebecca Hinojosa

Reese Alexander

Reiley Hansen

Rhys Soto

Ricky Lopez

Rose Boller

Rowan Ostrowicki

Ryan Hubbard

Sara Elizabeth Saldana

Sara Verstuyft

Sean Hinckley

Sean Holler

Seth Epley

Shane Cunningham

Shaunn Greenlee

Shelby Schmidt

Skylar Meadows

Spencer Tabor

Sydney Bertrand

Sydney Espich

Sydney Morgan

Tabatha Hughes

Tai Chandler

Tatiana Patton

Taylor Larsen

Theodore Knight

Trinity Harris

Tristin Massey

Tryston Obevoen

Ty Gressett

Yesenia Delgado

Zachary Carlson

Zachary McFadden

Zion Ash

Utah

Abigail Hill

Ady Jakins

Alex Holling

Allison Russell

Austin Van Dyke

Bailey Stevens

Baleigh Ames

Ben Silvia

Ben Tuinei

Ben Wenzel

Benjamin Belnap

Brad Talbot

Braden Roberts

Breck Pratt

Briana Bartholomew

Britney Shunn

Brooke Elizabeth De Palma

Brycen Mackay

Caitlin White

Cameron Buss

Carli Hogan

Chaz Greenfield

Christina Dario

Christopher Fish

Christopher Nielsen

Daniel Lee

EJ Reives

Elijah Belnap

Elijah Gehring

Elijah Reives

Eric Anderson

Ethan Neas

Evan White

Hazel Faccenetti

Hunter Douglass

Jacob Maag

Jacob Ward

Jakob Kempema

Jared Harwood

Jared Johnson

Jennifer Erickson

Jessica Felter

Joseph Hall

Kailee Tea

Kaitlin Bowman

Kaitlynn Wicker

Kaleb Myers

Kaylee Belnap

Khristapher Memmott

Kylie Saxton

Lance E. Shunn, II

Matthew Maag

Megan Headrick

Nicholas Kirby

Noah Jones

Paige Tanner

Rachel Wilcox

Sam Kottler

Sariah Schriever

Satchel Sproul

Shale Goodrich

Statton Davis

Summer Van Moorlehem

Sydney Korzep

Sydney Mayhew

Talia Kottler

Tyler Newman

Tyler Tea

Victoria Stephens

Weston Schirado

Wriley Renouard

Zack Elzey

Zoe J. Pankratz

Vermont

Eva Rocheleau

Nathan Fraser

Simon Bohan

Virginia

Abigail Harvey

Alexander “Xander” Will

Alexander Kauffman

Alexandra ‘Ally’ Thompson

Alexandra Paxton

Alyssa Hodum

Andrew Basden

Ashton Leigh Will

Austin Quick

Bethany Duffer

Brandi Pleasant

Brandi Shaffer

Briana Forest-Russell

Caitlyn Marie Knutson

Caitlyn McDaniel

Catherine H. Tadlock

Chantal Miles

Chase Robert Ables

Cherokee Rice

Christian James Mulcahy

Connor Johnson

Daniel Laux

Derek King

Devon Wyatt

Emily Helfrich

Eric Filer

Eric Cheatham

Erik Covington

Evan Boger

Gabriel Meadows

Gabriella Rocha-Fernandez

Gabrielle Alger

Gregory Harvey

Gretchen Baldwin

Hunter Smith

Jack Olsson

Jacob Garner

Jacob Willis

James Boe

Jeremy Christian

Jonathan Cauthen

Joram Stanley

Joshua And Cameron Darnell

Joshua Cauthen

Kennedy Broy

Kiana Perrigan

Kieryn Burton

Kyle Forren

Kymberlyn Mitchell

Kyra Brindle

Mackenzie Cecil

Madison A Stockman

Marcus Dean

Michelangelo Mansfield

Nathan Faust

Nick Papakostas

Phyllis Davis

Riley Russell

Robby Mau

Ronald Collins

Roshan George

Samia Mansfield

Samuel Huber

Sarah Crites

Sequoia Tiemeyer

Shea Courtwright

Taya Gray

Taylor Erin Evitts

Taylor Maroney

Tim Layton

Tyler Smith

Veronica Holmes

Zachary Rodrigues

Zack Sandklev

Zoe Tilman

Washington

Aaron Jackson

Abby McGowan

Abby McGregor

Alainnah Knight

Alex Sugi

Alexandra Chance

Alisha M Hayward

Amaya Udager

Anthony Fontes

Arereona Murray

Aria Freiwaldt

Aric Pasquier

Bradford ‘BJ’ Weber

Branden Spurlock

Brianna Houtman

Brittani Ann Vombaur

Cade Paullin

Caitlin Bertelsen

Caitlyn Crocker

Cary Bonnett

Christianna Valnes

Clarice Bean

Cody Redinger

Cooper Graves

Devon Baldwin

Devon Piovesan

Easton Mathews

Eitan Younker

Emma Johnson

Ethan Bertch

Ethan Edwards

Ethan Redinger

Ethan Rego

Evan Werner

Everett Lund

Felicity Buss

Gabriel Hammond

Gaeble King

Ilan Coberly

Jacob Crowder-Funk

Jake Gray

Janessa Heimbuch

Jarod Miner

Jeffrey Niquette

Jeremy Snyder

Jerry Balch

Jon Mitchell

Joseph Fontes

Joshua Dougall

Joshua Gelderman

Josie Richey

Kaia Kihn

Kaitlyn Marie Orosco

Kaleo Redman

Katie Shabatina

Keely Franchini

Kelten Rimmasch

Kierna Sprague

Laura Nutter

Lily Price

Lindsey Pasquier

Lucia Mathews

Madelyn Johnson

Maren Ferris

Masada “Sadie” Younker

Matthew Houston

Michael Jarvi

Morgan Pasquier

Naoki Masuda

Nataly Green

Nathan Waggoner

Olivia Pineda

Owen Hughes

Paul Bruemmer

Riley Banta

Robert Payton

Sarah Standley

Savion Collins

Scott Nutter

Sean Bonnett

Sean Melton

Tabatha Hale

TaMara Smith

Taylor Christopherson

Taylor Wight

Tea Serack

Townsend Judd

Tyler Oliver

West Virginia

Aidan Zampino

Aiden Jones

Alexander Anderson

Alia King

Andrew Jones

Bailey Dubinsky

Bethany Grace Null

Bradley Anderson

Caleb Lamb

Cheyanne Bonds

Dennis Aliff

Derek L. Ballengee

Emily Amos

Izabella King

Kaitlin Morrison

Kayley Mason

Matthew Robert Heavener

Mitchell Lee Shepard

Rose Weikle

Sarah Fresquez

Serena Zampino

Sydney Wiley

Trevor D. Jones

Trevor Matheny

Zachary Shepard

Wisconsin

Abigail Gehring

Anna Holley

Anthony Piotrowski

Anya Grace

Austin Ramiah Casey

Ben Mighall

Bryce Nelsen

Bryn Disch

Caleb Willy Richter

Cameron Pauli

Carter Dieckhoff

Cedric Blackmore

Chanel Juedes

Christian Dirks

Cody Blauwkamp

Cody Nitardy

Corbin Desjardins

Cory McCabe

Dallas Palosaari

Damon Braatz

Deacon Leer

Devon Gaber

Dustin Palosaari

Dylan L. Hoard

Emily Blomquist

Emily Gehring

Emily Winkler

Emily Wolfe

Emma Laskowski

Emma Theisen

Ethan Burns

Ethan Townsend

Gracie Holley

Jack Lila

Jacob Kostelecky

Jared Wondra

Jarod Quigley

Jonah Luksich

Joshua Moczynski

Juell Jahnke

Kaden Cabe

Kaitlin Bonesho

Katya Mikhailenko

Kayleigh Bonlander

Kiara Hardy-Wright

Kylie Schedler

Lauren Coffield

Lily Belle Lowndes

Madeline Gehring

Madeline Mews

Max Parmaker

Maximillian Niebler

Maxximus Thorson

Maya Cubias

Megan Baumgartner

Megan Rinehart

Micah Rivers

Milo Brunette

Morgan Marie Peters

Nate Breitzmann

Nathan Bigna

Nicholas Hapka

Nicole Witbrod

Nikole Blomquist

Noah Treptow

Olivia Zietlow

Paul Couillard

Reid Kuenzi

Robert Murray

Ryan Dicke

Ryan Palosaari

Samantha Ploeger

Samantha Poborsky

Samantha Schiereck

Seth Stariha

Shauna Opseth

Shaynea Haakenson Johnson

Sophia Caitlyn Donnermeyer

Steven Noffke

Tara Holte

Tristan Moctezuma

Warren Misek

Zachary Clark

Zackary Smerchek

Zaynab Hassan

Wyoming

Allison Hirdning

Kassidy Morales

Logan Brown

Michaella Christensen

Noah Achenbach

Ruben O. Colon

Sebastion C. Leeper

Tanner Jones

Ty Ramirez

The creation of
The Sword of Darrow
is a remarkable story itself. Alex is very creative but has a learning disability and did not learn to read until age nine. So until Alex learned to read, Hal and Alex engaged in two activities. Hal read books to Alex, and the two of them would tell “me-you” stories. In these stories, Alex would bring a set of characters and a situation, and they would take turns telling the story. Over a period of three years, these stories became an obsession.

One day, when Alex was eight, Hal finished reading him
The Hobbit
. Alex said, “Papa, let’s not tell anymore me-you stories. Let’s write a book.” So Hal told Alex to bring him a set of characters, which he did. They devised a plot and outlined twenty-five chapters. For each chapter, they would meet and discuss the plot and contents. Hal would write the narrative and read it to Alex, who would make comments. Hal would write revisions, and then they would repeat the process for the next chapter. In all, the first draft of the book took about two years.

Over the next six years, the authors rewrote the book several times and marketed it to a number of publishers. In August of 2010, BenBella Books read the manuscript and agreed to publish the book.

Today, Alex is an honor-roll student at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., where he is the starting center on their varsity football team.

Alex Malchow

Alex is 16 and a student at the prestigious St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C., where he is an honor-roll student and a starter on the school’s nationally recognized football team.

At the time he and his father started the book, Alex was eight and struggled with dyslexia. When he began work on the book, he still could not read. He later enrolled in the Lab School in Washington D.C., which teaches children with learning differences.  After 12 months of intensive work there, he was reading at his grade level.

Hal Malchow

Hal is a nationally recognized political consultant who has worked for candidates at the presidential level all the way down to local offices. His work has won numerous creative awards, and he helped pioneer the use of statistical modeling and data mining techniques in the political arena. After becoming discouraged by the negative character of political campaigns, he closed his firm in 2010. He continues to do some consulting and is looking forward to a writing career.