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Genre - Middle Grade Time Travel
Rating - G
More details about the book
What a great idea, I thought. Take page 99
from my novel and talk about it. I checked out page 99 of my book and realized
it was the end of a chapter. There were only 2 ½ sentences on page 99.
Really? 2 ½ sentences? How the heck can I
dissect 2 ½ sentences?
Not to be deterred, I decided to take the
challenge and go with what little I had. So here it is:
The
Miss-Adventures of Amy & Tracy: Dr. Von Thistle’s Curious Concoction is not just a really long title; it’s the first book in a time
travel adventure series for girls. My protagonists are exceptionally bright
eleven-year-old cousins living in the year 1958. I chose to place the story in
the late ‘50s for a couple reasons, one being that it’s such a romanticized
era, but also because I wanted the final book in the series to be in current
times. That way I don’t have to create a future world. I plan sneak in a few
small history lessons, as well. You know, give kids one of those, “Ha! You
learned something and you didn’t even realize it” moments.
Okay, before we get to page 99, here’s what
you should know: my protagonist, Amy, has received a warning from a stranger
who arrived uninvited to their mothers’ gala. The mysterious woman tells her to
stay away from Dr. Von Thistle and to believe in her dreams. This latter part
is important because Amy portends the future through her dreams, and the book
begins with her waking from a nightmare where she sees their mansion go up in
flames. Amy already knows Dr. Von Thistle is dangerous. He charmed his way into
their mothers’ party, then tried to feed Amy and Tracy something from an
inkbottle, possibly some kind of poison. He intends to kidnap them, although
the girls don’t yet understand why. But Tracy, who has the power of
super-speed, disappears into a time portal, leaving Amy on her own to hide from
the evil scientist and his two nutty companions.
The set up is important here, because on
page 99 Amy tells Tracy about the stranger’s warning, and Tracy reminds Amy
that their mothers have invited Dr. Von Thistle to dinner the next night. They
know it’s no good explaining that the famous scientist plans to kidnap them.
Their mothers are both smitten with him, for one thing. For another, how can
they explain that the mad scientist pulled a bottle of ink out of his pocket, so
they freaked and ran off? Or that Tracy disappeared into a time portal to
escape? They can’t. Not without their mothers deciding they need more sleep and
less sugar. So now they’re stuck with a huge dilemma: how are they going to
escape from Dr. Von Thistle’s clutches yet again?
Page 99 is definitely the high point in my
book. Despite the mere 2 ½ sentences, we’re at a place where the stakes are
raised and the situation is not looking promising for the book’s protagonists.
If I’ve done my job right, the reader will keep turning pages to find out
whether or not Amy and Tracy can find a way out of this terrifying mess.
Ah, page 99. You did not let me down.
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