New Multi-Platform Time Travel Adventure Series Infinity Ring™ Launches With Global Promotional Campaign From Scholastic

NEW YORK, Aug. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education, and media company, today announces a massive worldwide campaign to promote INFINITY RING^™, a new multi-platform time travel adventure series for children ages 8-12, launching on August 28^th simultaneously in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand with "Book 1: A Mutiny in Time" by New York Times bestselling author James Dashner.  As the pioneering force behind the groundbreaking and international bestselling The 39 Clues^® series, Scholastic expands its innovative multi-platform publishing program with Infinity Ring, a fully immersive reading experience which combines books, an interactive "Hystorian's Guide" map, and an online game experience where readers travel back in time to "fix" history.

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Starting today through August 27^th, Scholastic has unlocked a special advance sneak peak of the action-packed 3-D Infinity Ring online game on www.infinityring.com. During the two-week sneak peek period, kids who play and register online will earn a special "Pioneer Medal," a digital reward for being an early adopter of the online game. The full game site experience, which will allow kids to play as main characters from the books, launches August 28, 2012. To preview the online game introduction video, click on this link.

The global promotional campaign kicks off in the United States with comprehensive television, online and print advertising throughout the fall season, as well as a national "Infinity Ring Rewrite History" classroom writing contest sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs. The winning classroom will get a visit from Infinity Ring author and series architect James Dashner. The campaign also includes a national multi-city publicity tour featuring James Dashner who will make appearances in schools, bookstores, and libraries throughout the U.S. For a list of author events that are open to the general public, click on this link. Scholastic Canada will launch the series with an event in Toronto featuring author James Dashner, and has a major national print, video and social media campaign continuing throughout the fall. In the United Kingdom, Scholastic will supplement its social media and online efforts with thousands of Infinity Ring booklets to be distributed at amusement parks and heritage sites throughout the fall season. Each booklet will contain Infinity Ring sample chapters and a "QR code" directing users to the Infinity Ring online game site. Throughout August and September, Scholastic New Zealand is planning a massive television and magazine advertising campaign through partnership with a popular national kids' television show, local magazines and newspapers. In Australia, Scholastic will promote the series through a dedicated social media campaign and advertising in national magazines.

"As a leader in groundbreaking multi-platform publishing, we know that kids want to read for fun and it is our mission to help them find books that are relevant, exciting, and multi-dimensional," said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade. "Infinity Ring is a great example of innovative storytelling and we are excited to introduce this wholly integrated reading experience to kids around the world."

About Infinity Ring series:

History is broken and three kids must travel back in time to set it right. Told in seven books and seven interactive online game episodes, Infinity Ring invites readers to travel back in time to fix the "Great Breaks," moments in history that have gone terribly wrong. Each book in the series contains a free "Hystorian's Guide," a collectible map and game guide that provide readers the information they need to set history back on track in the fully immersive Infinity Ring online game experience. The Infinity Ring online game continues where the book leaves off. Each online game episode, while standing on its own as a complete adventure, ties in to the on-going plotline of the Infinity Ring books. In the online game, players explore realistically designed historical locations, while meeting and talking to historical figures.

About "Infinity Ring Book 1: A Mutiny in Time" by James Dashner:

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel -- a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring -- they're swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course. Now it's up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak's missing parents while they're at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny. For more information about "Infinity Ring," and to download digital images, visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/InfinityRing.

Scholastic, a leader and innovator in multi-platform publishing, broke new ground in September 2008 with the launch of The 39 Clues^®, the first series of its kind in the publishing industry which includes an integrated combination of books, collectible cards, and an online game. The phenomenally popular franchise maintains a massive global following with readers in all 50 states and 191 countries, and with the online game which has attracted more than 1.9 million registered users to date. There are currently more than 15 million copies in print worldwide for The 39 Clues series of books.

Visit Scholastic at our online media room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.  

SOURCE Scholastic