i just met a guy named jason swartz who wrote this book: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920030287.do

http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001798/index.ht...

Scala for the Impatient is really good, but not sure that it's designed entirely for beginners.

For more beginner-centric content perhaps check out:

Learning Scala:

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920030287.do

http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001798/index.ht...

...or Atomic Scala:

http://www.atomicscala.com/