QK Round 1: A SPARKLING WILDFLOWER versus MIDDLE GRADE LEVERAGE
Entry Nickname: A Sparkling Wildflower Among Giant Stinky WeedsTitle: Blue and the Icky Sticky BoysWord Count: 32,000Genre: Middle Grade
Query:
Beulah “Blue” Warren journeys from one adventure to the next with tons of humor and sass.
Blue spends every waking moment surrounded by smelly ole boys: her three brothers, her father, her best friend - even the family dog...but that's never stopped her from being her usual marvelous self. When she is sent to the principal’s office, she handles it like a boss (even Ferris Bueller would be proud). When the witchy neighbor next door trashes her front yard, Blue doesn’t just get even, she gets ahead. No clean underwear because she hasn’t done the laundry? No worries. That’s what little brother’s Superman underwear is for. Yes, it was fairly devastating when the entire school happened to see them, but some things are unavoidable.
Blue crushes anything that comes her way…until the day she explores the attic. Her mother’s death certificate shows the date she died is the same as her littlest brother’s birthday. Her father has been lying to them all along. Her mother didn’t pass away in a car accident, she died giving birth to Arnie. Blue will need to muster all the strength she has to forgive her brother, trust in her father, and let her mother go once and for all. Maybe her life’s curse – her rotten brothers – will be her biggest blessing after all.
First 250 Words:
I gripped his foot tightly as I wrapped the cord around his ankle. He looked up at me and the fear in his eyes made my hands tremble. I turned his face away so I didn’t have to see his pain. I lifted him over the edge and tried not to think about what I was going to do. What I had to do.
“Noooooo!”
Startled, I lost my hold and he went tumbling over the balcony head first. I winced when his body hit the concrete below.
Splat.
“Mr. Bunny Boo! Nooooo!” Arnie ran out of the room, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Daaaaaad!”
I sighed. That didn’t quite go as planned, but it often didn’t. Mr. Bunny Boo was just another casualty of war. Oh, and my brother’s favorite stuffed animal, of course. I wasn’t surprised when my dad called me downstairs a moment later.
“It was an accident,” I said before my father had a chance to speak. “I was only going to dangle him, I wasn’t really going to let go. It’s just Arnie snuck up from behind and scared me.”
Arnie sniffed dramatically, wiping away his giant crocodile tears. I looked away. Did the kid have to be so darn cute? That wasn’t going to get me any sympathy.
“March right outside and find your brother’s bunny. What were you thinking, Beulah?”
Uh oh. I knew I was in serious trouble when my dad used my real name. But with a name like Beulah, shouldn’t that be punishment enough?
VERSUS
Entry Nickname: Middle Grade Leverage
Title: Team L.O.S.E.R.
Word count: 49,000
Genre: Upper Middle Grade Contemporary
Query:
Eighth grade president, Corbin Webster is used to hard work. But when he’s forced to accept the position as mentor to a team of outcast sixth grade delinquents, reality smacks him upside the head. It is one thing to be told to teach his team right from wrong. It’s quite another to discover that they’re a car thief, a pick-pocket, a hacker, and a girl who cosplays a different character each day and who refuses to answer to her real name.
To foster kindness and team spirit, Corbin has them find a student who needs their help. When they choose a boy whose lunch is stolen daily, Corbin stages an intervention. There they find that this bully is physically abused, and his father controls his family by starving them. In order to get proof of the real abuser’s criminal activities, and to put him away for good, Corbin must use the illegal skills that landed his group on Team Loser in the first place.
First 250 Words:
The early morning light haloed two birds perched in the tree outside our kitchen window. They sang like they were in the opening credits of a Disney movie. Gramps' scrambled eggs were a perfect bright yellow so I scooped them from the pan, and onto his plate. “Come and eat before I throw it away,” I yelled.
“Corbin Webster, do I look like a track star to you?” His cane made crabby thunks on the worn linoleum but he had to duck his head to hide a smile. He might fool the salesmen at the front door, but I knew better. Gramps put the great in great-grandpa. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in some random person’s foster home.
“I don’t need any eggs,” he said. “Coffee is fine.”
“You’ll eat them and like it.” I tried to sound stern instead of worried. “Besides, there’s plenty.” If I didn't watch him, he’d starve himself to make sure I didn't go hungry. “Mrs. Sanchez brought over a dozen this morning when she dropped off the suit. Her chickens lay too many for her to eat.”
“That’s different.” He picked up his fork and shoveled some into his mouth. “It would be a crying shame for food to go to waste.” I finished my coffee and carried my plate to the sink. He whistled low. “Dang boy, you look sharp. Turn around."
I made an awkward spin so he could see how well her alterations had made his old suit fit.
Query:
Beulah “Blue” Warren journeys from one adventure to the next with tons of humor and sass.
Blue spends every waking moment surrounded by smelly ole boys: her three brothers, her father, her best friend - even the family dog...but that's never stopped her from being her usual marvelous self. When she is sent to the principal’s office, she handles it like a boss (even Ferris Bueller would be proud). When the witchy neighbor next door trashes her front yard, Blue doesn’t just get even, she gets ahead. No clean underwear because she hasn’t done the laundry? No worries. That’s what little brother’s Superman underwear is for. Yes, it was fairly devastating when the entire school happened to see them, but some things are unavoidable.
Blue crushes anything that comes her way…until the day she explores the attic. Her mother’s death certificate shows the date she died is the same as her littlest brother’s birthday. Her father has been lying to them all along. Her mother didn’t pass away in a car accident, she died giving birth to Arnie. Blue will need to muster all the strength she has to forgive her brother, trust in her father, and let her mother go once and for all. Maybe her life’s curse – her rotten brothers – will be her biggest blessing after all.
First 250 Words:
I gripped his foot tightly as I wrapped the cord around his ankle. He looked up at me and the fear in his eyes made my hands tremble. I turned his face away so I didn’t have to see his pain. I lifted him over the edge and tried not to think about what I was going to do. What I had to do.
“Noooooo!”
Startled, I lost my hold and he went tumbling over the balcony head first. I winced when his body hit the concrete below.
Splat.
“Mr. Bunny Boo! Nooooo!” Arnie ran out of the room, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Daaaaaad!”
I sighed. That didn’t quite go as planned, but it often didn’t. Mr. Bunny Boo was just another casualty of war. Oh, and my brother’s favorite stuffed animal, of course. I wasn’t surprised when my dad called me downstairs a moment later.
“It was an accident,” I said before my father had a chance to speak. “I was only going to dangle him, I wasn’t really going to let go. It’s just Arnie snuck up from behind and scared me.”
Arnie sniffed dramatically, wiping away his giant crocodile tears. I looked away. Did the kid have to be so darn cute? That wasn’t going to get me any sympathy.
“March right outside and find your brother’s bunny. What were you thinking, Beulah?”
Uh oh. I knew I was in serious trouble when my dad used my real name. But with a name like Beulah, shouldn’t that be punishment enough?
VERSUS
Entry Nickname: Middle Grade Leverage
Title: Team L.O.S.E.R.
Word count: 49,000
Genre: Upper Middle Grade Contemporary
Query:
Eighth grade president, Corbin Webster is used to hard work. But when he’s forced to accept the position as mentor to a team of outcast sixth grade delinquents, reality smacks him upside the head. It is one thing to be told to teach his team right from wrong. It’s quite another to discover that they’re a car thief, a pick-pocket, a hacker, and a girl who cosplays a different character each day and who refuses to answer to her real name.
To foster kindness and team spirit, Corbin has them find a student who needs their help. When they choose a boy whose lunch is stolen daily, Corbin stages an intervention. There they find that this bully is physically abused, and his father controls his family by starving them. In order to get proof of the real abuser’s criminal activities, and to put him away for good, Corbin must use the illegal skills that landed his group on Team Loser in the first place.
First 250 Words:
The early morning light haloed two birds perched in the tree outside our kitchen window. They sang like they were in the opening credits of a Disney movie. Gramps' scrambled eggs were a perfect bright yellow so I scooped them from the pan, and onto his plate. “Come and eat before I throw it away,” I yelled.
“Corbin Webster, do I look like a track star to you?” His cane made crabby thunks on the worn linoleum but he had to duck his head to hide a smile. He might fool the salesmen at the front door, but I knew better. Gramps put the great in great-grandpa. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in some random person’s foster home.
“I don’t need any eggs,” he said. “Coffee is fine.”
“You’ll eat them and like it.” I tried to sound stern instead of worried. “Besides, there’s plenty.” If I didn't watch him, he’d starve himself to make sure I didn't go hungry. “Mrs. Sanchez brought over a dozen this morning when she dropped off the suit. Her chickens lay too many for her to eat.”
“That’s different.” He picked up his fork and shoveled some into his mouth. “It would be a crying shame for food to go to waste.” I finished my coffee and carried my plate to the sink. He whistled low. “Dang boy, you look sharp. Turn around."
I made an awkward spin so he could see how well her alterations had made his old suit fit.
No comments have been added yet.
