QK1 Match 2: Trapped in My Worst Day Ever vs. Love in the Time of Prosciutto
Title: Love LockedEntry Nickname: Trapped in My Worst Day EverWord count: 43KGenre: upper MG, magical realismQuery:
Anxiety-ridden 8th grader Eve Hollis is trapped in a time loop, reliving the worst day of her life. She never thought her wish for courage would be overheard by a mysterious fortune teller who grants that wish―in the most ulcer-inducing way possible.
Eve’s original plan seemed perfect: tell her secret crush she likes him at the top of the Eiffel Tower, letting the romance of the scene give her the boldness she’s always lacked. But her happy-go-lucky best friend kisses him first, turning the City of Love into the City of Misery. Even worse, a strange fortune teller sells the new couple a love lock, a symbol that their love will last forever. In a fit of jealousy, Eve secretly steals the lock and hurls it in the River Seine.The following morning is incredibly familiar. Too familiar. In fact, the day repeats itself right down to the back-stabbing best friend and stupid love lock. As the same day continues on repeat, getting the boy becomes far less important than getting back home. But unless Eve can figure out what’s keeping her trapped in the time loop and find the courage to make a change, she’s destined to experience the most awkwardly painful day of her life over and over again, forever.Love Locked could be considered a mashup of 11 BIRTHDAYS and Rachel Vail’s WELL, THAT WAS AWKWARD. Fans of Suzanne Nelson’s CAKE POP CRUSH might also enjoy LOVE LOCKED.
First 250, up to 255
The girl’s wish floated on the early summer air, more delicious than the aroma of the fresh-baked bread of the nearby bakery. The fortune teller breathed it in, letting the wish permeate her very bones, inviting it to whisper its secrets and direct her like a compass needle.
A prickling along her skin sharpened into goose bumps as she observed the young teen across the street, the Eiffel Tower behind her. This was the one.
From this distance, the shine in the girl’s eyes could be dismissed as the sun’s reflection, but the woman recognized regret and sadness when she saw it. The other students in the tour group laughed and talked together as they waited, but the girl stood silently, shoulders rigid, and wished for courage.
The fortune teller smiled, wrinkles crinkling. Finally. She reached into her worn bag and curled her hand around an ornate bronze lock, heavy with time and promise. A very special lock, one that would have a new owner before the sun set on this day.
EVE
I never realized before how much the Eiffel Tower looked like a giant middle finger. How very French of it. I wanted to return the salute, but A) I’d never have the guts and B) it might upset Reggie, who was completely fangirling it up over every aspect of Paris.
“Can you believe it, Eve?” Reggie said, staring up at the Eiffel Tower. “It’s so beautiful!” She sighed, clasping her hand to her chest. Unlike me, she actually had a chest.
VERSUS
Title: Time PassagesEntry Nickname: Love in the Time of ProsciuttoWord count: 79KGenre: YA FantasyQuery:
Sixteen-year-old Gemma DiMarco found her forever love in Ben Hartwell. A few magical weeks, and in a flash, they went from “the friend zone” to deliriously in love. When Gemma’s unbalanced ex-boyfriend murders Ben then kills himself, Gemma is left reliving the awful moment day after day, blaming herself. With support from her best friend and her close-knit Italian family, Gemma must come to terms with the guilt and accept what happened. What’s done can’t be undone. Death is forever. But what if she could stop the tragedy from happening in the first place?
When a boy claiming to be her guardian angel comes into the family deli and says he can do just that, Gemma is beyond skeptical. But with a touch, the boy subverts the laws of time and space, and sends Gemma back to the pivotal moment leading to Ben's murder, allowing her to change the outcome.
Back in the present, Ben is alive. But in this altered reality, Gemma’s ex is, too. To protect Ben, Gemma must find and dispose of the original murder weapon before her ex can use it again. Meanwhile, because of Gemma’s time traveling, the family deli is going under and her parents’ once-happy marriage is headed off a cliff. With memories from her new life rapidly replacing the old ones, Gemma soon won’t remember the murder, the angel or changing the past at all. She has only a few days to thwart her ex, get back with Ben, and save her family, before the old memories fade completely and her chance for a happy ending vanishes too.
TIME PASSAGES features the romance of ABOUT TIME meets the whimsy of THE GOOD PLACE. It will appeal to readers of THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig or THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING by Jeff Giles.
First 250:
Exiting the Bart station, I book it three blocks to the deli, late for work again. A breeze too cold for August blows in my face, making me hunch into my jacket. The low-hanging clouds, floating overhead like clumps of dirty cotton balls, do nothing to lighten my mood.
This early, the taquerias and fruit markets along Mission Street are still dark, but light glows from Poulsen’s Bakery. The delicious aroma drifting into the street reminds my stomach I skipped breakfast this morning. Baking bread and spices. Cinnamon.
A memory. Ben and me and a bag of cinnamon rolls. “Still warm, Gemma.” Buttery and sweet, we cut first period to eat them in the park. A cop car drives by and we duck behind the picnic table, fingers entwined, choking back the laughter. It’s so vivid, I’m back there, feeling Ben’s cinnamon-scented breath on my cheek, tasting the sugar on his lips. Remembering feels like a stab to the gut now, raw and fresh, since Ben died last spring.
“Good morning,”
The voice comes out of nowhere, jarring me back to the present. A boy pads along beside me. Tall and dark, a ring of keys jingles on his belt loop.
We’re alone on the street, with the deli still several doors down. I have zero interest in talking to him, so I smile, nod and walk faster. Take the hint, dude.
Nope. He quickens his pace to keep up. Why do boys think they can invade a girl’s space anytime they feel like it?
Anxiety-ridden 8th grader Eve Hollis is trapped in a time loop, reliving the worst day of her life. She never thought her wish for courage would be overheard by a mysterious fortune teller who grants that wish―in the most ulcer-inducing way possible.
Eve’s original plan seemed perfect: tell her secret crush she likes him at the top of the Eiffel Tower, letting the romance of the scene give her the boldness she’s always lacked. But her happy-go-lucky best friend kisses him first, turning the City of Love into the City of Misery. Even worse, a strange fortune teller sells the new couple a love lock, a symbol that their love will last forever. In a fit of jealousy, Eve secretly steals the lock and hurls it in the River Seine.The following morning is incredibly familiar. Too familiar. In fact, the day repeats itself right down to the back-stabbing best friend and stupid love lock. As the same day continues on repeat, getting the boy becomes far less important than getting back home. But unless Eve can figure out what’s keeping her trapped in the time loop and find the courage to make a change, she’s destined to experience the most awkwardly painful day of her life over and over again, forever.Love Locked could be considered a mashup of 11 BIRTHDAYS and Rachel Vail’s WELL, THAT WAS AWKWARD. Fans of Suzanne Nelson’s CAKE POP CRUSH might also enjoy LOVE LOCKED.
First 250, up to 255
The girl’s wish floated on the early summer air, more delicious than the aroma of the fresh-baked bread of the nearby bakery. The fortune teller breathed it in, letting the wish permeate her very bones, inviting it to whisper its secrets and direct her like a compass needle.
A prickling along her skin sharpened into goose bumps as she observed the young teen across the street, the Eiffel Tower behind her. This was the one.
From this distance, the shine in the girl’s eyes could be dismissed as the sun’s reflection, but the woman recognized regret and sadness when she saw it. The other students in the tour group laughed and talked together as they waited, but the girl stood silently, shoulders rigid, and wished for courage.
The fortune teller smiled, wrinkles crinkling. Finally. She reached into her worn bag and curled her hand around an ornate bronze lock, heavy with time and promise. A very special lock, one that would have a new owner before the sun set on this day.
EVE
I never realized before how much the Eiffel Tower looked like a giant middle finger. How very French of it. I wanted to return the salute, but A) I’d never have the guts and B) it might upset Reggie, who was completely fangirling it up over every aspect of Paris.
“Can you believe it, Eve?” Reggie said, staring up at the Eiffel Tower. “It’s so beautiful!” She sighed, clasping her hand to her chest. Unlike me, she actually had a chest.
VERSUS
Title: Time PassagesEntry Nickname: Love in the Time of ProsciuttoWord count: 79KGenre: YA FantasyQuery:
Sixteen-year-old Gemma DiMarco found her forever love in Ben Hartwell. A few magical weeks, and in a flash, they went from “the friend zone” to deliriously in love. When Gemma’s unbalanced ex-boyfriend murders Ben then kills himself, Gemma is left reliving the awful moment day after day, blaming herself. With support from her best friend and her close-knit Italian family, Gemma must come to terms with the guilt and accept what happened. What’s done can’t be undone. Death is forever. But what if she could stop the tragedy from happening in the first place?
When a boy claiming to be her guardian angel comes into the family deli and says he can do just that, Gemma is beyond skeptical. But with a touch, the boy subverts the laws of time and space, and sends Gemma back to the pivotal moment leading to Ben's murder, allowing her to change the outcome.
Back in the present, Ben is alive. But in this altered reality, Gemma’s ex is, too. To protect Ben, Gemma must find and dispose of the original murder weapon before her ex can use it again. Meanwhile, because of Gemma’s time traveling, the family deli is going under and her parents’ once-happy marriage is headed off a cliff. With memories from her new life rapidly replacing the old ones, Gemma soon won’t remember the murder, the angel or changing the past at all. She has only a few days to thwart her ex, get back with Ben, and save her family, before the old memories fade completely and her chance for a happy ending vanishes too.
TIME PASSAGES features the romance of ABOUT TIME meets the whimsy of THE GOOD PLACE. It will appeal to readers of THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig or THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING by Jeff Giles.
First 250:
Exiting the Bart station, I book it three blocks to the deli, late for work again. A breeze too cold for August blows in my face, making me hunch into my jacket. The low-hanging clouds, floating overhead like clumps of dirty cotton balls, do nothing to lighten my mood.
This early, the taquerias and fruit markets along Mission Street are still dark, but light glows from Poulsen’s Bakery. The delicious aroma drifting into the street reminds my stomach I skipped breakfast this morning. Baking bread and spices. Cinnamon.
A memory. Ben and me and a bag of cinnamon rolls. “Still warm, Gemma.” Buttery and sweet, we cut first period to eat them in the park. A cop car drives by and we duck behind the picnic table, fingers entwined, choking back the laughter. It’s so vivid, I’m back there, feeling Ben’s cinnamon-scented breath on my cheek, tasting the sugar on his lips. Remembering feels like a stab to the gut now, raw and fresh, since Ben died last spring.
“Good morning,”
The voice comes out of nowhere, jarring me back to the present. A boy pads along beside me. Tall and dark, a ring of keys jingles on his belt loop.
We’re alone on the street, with the deli still several doors down. I have zero interest in talking to him, so I smile, nod and walk faster. Take the hint, dude.
Nope. He quickens his pace to keep up. Why do boys think they can invade a girl’s space anytime they feel like it?
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