GREAT BAY, St. Martin -- August 8, 2007 -- Claude's Adventure by Wendy-Ann Diaz is now in bookstores such as Dockside and Teacher's Aide in St. Thomas, Book& Bean on St. John, and Treasure Attic Book Store on St. Croix. It's also available at Amazon.com, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

"Claude's Adventure reads like a classic storybook … for the reading and listening public in the Caribbean and wherever children are growing up in a de-centered child's world," states Dr. Gene Emanuel of the University of the Virgin Islands.

This first book by the St. Thomas junior high school teacher takes 14-year-old rude boy Claude from disrupting a present-day classroom through a scary time warp in the Virgin Islands.

Cobzi Cabrera-Sanchez of the New York-based COZBI inc., callsClaude's Adventure "A spellbinding adventure of one boy's possibility for transformation as he grasps the value of the struggles that precede him."

Cabrera, who has herself received kudos from Oprah and Martha Stewart for her creative work, further states that the mystery story is "A necessary and easily absorbed read for this generation ..."

According to St. Martin's senior librarian Blanca Hodge, "Claude, unwilling to behave and pay attention at school, experiences in an extraordinary manner that in other times, people strongly believed in the power of reading and writing."

"With the color illustrations by VI's own Lionel Parsons, Jr. and the wonderful book design by Gina Rombley, Claude's Adventure is certainly for young people between ages 8 to 14 and even later teens.

"It can easily be read to younger children by teachers, Sunday school and community center helpers, storytellers, parents and older siblings," said Sample.

"The exciting new twist of a jumbie or ghost guide and the way Ms. Diaz has weaved in intriguing glimpses of history, geography, language, challenging male role models and how different families are made up, will appeal across generations -- leaving readers in wonder and hungry for more," said Sample.

Claude's Adventure was one of five books introduced at the 5th annual St. Martin Book Fair in June 2007, as part of HNP's 25th anniversary celebration.