Below is an introduction to a new Middle Grade Series I am working on Lucy and Jack. The first book is A Summer of Pranks.
Intro
Lucy leaps into the air and tucks her knees to her chest. Her arms
radiate round and round like propellers slicing the air. She is airborne. And
then - gravity reaches up and grabs her. She hugs her knees and falls through
the air. Ssppplllllaaashshshshshshsh! The water slaps her skin, and a wave of
water rises around her. It curls slightly before it falls heavy on Betty and
Jack.
Her brother, Jack, yells, “Whoooooa!” and clutches his belly. He
laughs while rolling on the warm wet cement.
Betty, on the other hand, is not laughing.
Lucy's babysitter, Betty, sits seething on a beach towel draped
over a lounge chair. Her dripping cell phone is perched at her ear. Pulling it
away, she glares at Lucy. Her mouth is scrunched together, and her perfectly
crimped blonde hair hangs - now, perfectly drenched. Tiny streaks of pink water
bleed over her white bathing suit from her newly dyed highlights. Her face is
red, and Lucy swears steam is rising from her nostrils.
Slinking lower into the water, Lucy keeps one eye barely over the
edge of the pool – watching. She can feel heat in her cheeks as they push her
wide eyes into narrow slits. Her hand slips from the edge of the pool to block
the bubble of laughter trying to escape. Lucy holds her breath and sinks to the
bottom of the deep end.
Brandy Mello © 2017
