As the name implies, Matchup is a children's golf adventure odyssey. Think Dr. Suess meets Indiana Jones, with a hint of Wizard of Oz. Two little boys, Jordan and Zay, compete for the Adventure Land Golf Ice Cream Trophy through 18 action-packed holes around the world and beyond. They play through parched deserts, steep mountains, the Moon, and melting icebergs, dodging bulls, bears, bees, bats, baboons, buffalo and hundreds of other animals. The boys begin the tournament as bitter rivals but, forced to work together to overcome the challenges of the treacherous course, they slowly morph into fast friends.

However, the ice cream trophy is still on the line! With a crowd of fans, media, and golf world dignitaries gathered around the 18th green to witness their final putts, an unexpected twist sends the match into limbo, spinning the rivalry between the two young friends "into a drama for the ages over how this match would end."
Spoiler alert: the finale has been known to bring tears of joy. Matchup educates as it entertains, subtly weaving in many of the key terms, traditions, and history of golf along the course.

The book is a celebration of golf, designed to encourage children of all cultures, colors, and genders to appreciate the beauty and camaraderie of the game. The book also shows how the players master their challenges, find common ground to overcome their differences, and work together to complete the treacherous course.

It's a big book, 8 by 11-inches, with 146 pages and about 120 original illustrations. It's definitely an epic odyssey. While it's geared to kids 5 to 10, golfers of any age will find a lot to enjoy in Matchup at Adventure Land Golf.

Gene Walden, who both wrote and illustrated Matchup at Adventure Land Golf, is a best-selling author of more than 30 books (primarily non-fiction). He is a former newspaper columnist, reporter, and editor, as well as a columnist for Investor's Business Daily, Consumer's Digest, World Trade, The Minneapolis StarTribune, among others, and a contributor to The Wall Street Journal and many other regional and national sites and publications. He has also lectured across the country, including Harvard and MIT.

For Gene, Matchup marks a sharp pivot in his writing career - his first illustrated children's picture book.

"I've been a professional writer my entire career," Gene explains, "first at Indiana University as a reporter on The Indiana Daily Student, followed by stints for newspapers in Richmond and South Bend, IN, and Minneapolis. While I've covered nearly every type of story, from police and politics to sports and celebrities, my primary proficiency ultimately became personal finance. My first book, Winning with Your Stockbroker, was featured by The New York Times atop its list of "best business/finance books of the year." From there I wrote a series of books on stocks, including seven editions of The 100 Best Stocks to Own in America, which was a perennial best-seller, along with several spin-offs, such as The 100 Best Mutual Funds, The 100 Best Small Stocks, 100 Ways to Beat the Market, Marketing Masters, If Not Stocks, What? and others." (More at InvestmentWritingServices.com)

He took a big leap writing and illustrating Matchup, a massive undertaking, with 145 pages, all in rhyme, and 120 original color illustrations. In all, the project took more than two years of steady six- and seven-day work weeks, often 12 to 18 hours a day. Most of that time was spent creating the large, detailed, and often complex illustrations of the two boys playing through 18 holes of beautiful settings and hundreds of different animals.

A competitive amateur golfer, Gene recently launched a new site, GolfCrossFitness.com. A graduate of Indiana University, Gene makes his home in Minnesota.