Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!
This week, we are revealing CHAPTER ONE of
Super Freak by Vanessa Barger
an MG title presented by Tantrum Books!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of
the post!
Thirteen-year-old Caroline is a freak. Her parents have
uprooted her to a town full of Supernaturals. You’d think she’d be thrilled.
But, with someone without a magical bone in her body, this daughter of tree
sprites feels like even more of an outcast than she has ever before.
To make matters worse, her new home is cursed. But when
Caroline takes to investigating the mysterious and strange happenings of Harridan
House, her BFF goes missing. Seems someone doesn’t want Caroline sticking her
non-magical nose where it most certainly does not belong. Determined to prove
herself, Caroline uncovers a plot to destroy her new hometown.
Undeterred, Caroline can’t give up. But what’s a human
without magical powers to do? Caroline better figure it out fast, before she
loses everything she has ever loved and the whispers she’s heard all her life
prove true: Caroline is a useless superfreak.
Super
Freak by Vanessa Barger
Publication Date: October 13, 2015
Publisher: Tantrum Books
Genre: MG, Fantasy
Chapter One
Twenty-five feet into town. That’s as far as we got before
the first disaster happened. Dad turned onto Main Street, and just as we pulled
up next to Greywolfe’s Spells and Supplies, a huge puff of smoke and flame
burst from the front doors. Shattered glass and a large, hairy man shot into
the path of our over-packed SUV.
Dad slammed his foot down on the brakes and jerked the wheel
to the left, throwing us around the inside of the car. In the back, I covered
my head, expecting the piles of wedged boxes to topple over, burying me in an
avalanche of dishes and teddy bears.
“Caroline! Are you all right?” Mom reached into the back
seat, her horn-rimmed glasses dangling from one ear.
“I’m good. Did we hit him?” I craned my neck, looking to see
out the front window. Dad unbuckled and leapt from the car to help the man who
had flown in the road to his feet.
“I think he’s fine. You’d think he’d at least have the
decency to let out a warning before coming out like that. He could have been
killed! We could have been hurt! Dishes might have fallen on you and broken!”
I rolled my eyes. The dishes would be a high priority.
Mom shook her head, letting loose a shower of tiny green
leaves. It always happened when she was stressed. Dryads weren’t really known
for their calm temperaments. You’d think, being tree spirits, they’d have that
stoic thing going for them. Maybe it was because Mom was a weeping willow, but
calm wasn’t really part of her vocabulary. Dad on the other hand, was solid as
an oak.
Because he was an oak. After unhooking my seatbelt, I slid
from the car. Mom followed suit. Her lips compressed into a tight line and she
shed another couple handfuls of leaves, but for the moment, she contained
herself.
Dad stood, tall and wiry, one arm hooked around a large,
barrel-chested man with more facial hair than I’d seen in my life. Had to be a
werewolf. He pulled away from my dad and brushed at the gravel and purple
residue covering his gray suit.
“Thank you, Mr. …” The stranger held out one hand to my dad.
“George Bennings,” Dad said, shaking the stranger’s hand.
“And this is my wife, Grace, and our daughter, Caroline. We just moved here
from Lost Creek.”
“My name is William Grouseman. I’m thrilled you’ve come to
town, but glad you didn’t pull in a few moments sooner.”
I wanted to warn him that sarcasm was lost on my parents,
but he seemed to get the message when they didn’t share in his chuckle. They
exchanged a confused glance and smiled blankly at him.
He offered his hand to me and I shook it. “Nice to meet you,
sir.”
He frowned, looking between my parents and then back at me.
Mom’s arm curved around my shoulder, nudging me forward. She
sniffed. “She’s just a late bloomer. We’ve got great hopes for her future.”
I sighed. She meant well, but it never failed. Supernatural
people could sense the paranormal on each other. But when they got to me there
was nothing. A void. A great, empty space where everyone expected some sort of
natural magic.
The supernatural had been the normal since 1978 when an
explorer by the name of Albert Merriweather stumbled into a cave in Greece and
found Pandora’s Box, and then opened it. Apparently the myths about the box
were off a little. Instead of holding all the evils of the world, it held all
the magic that had been pulled out of it. Releasing magic out into the world,
well, now every person was a little bit paranormal. It didn’t mean everyone
could cast a spell or levitate. But everyone had something. Kids were tested in
elementary school.
The ones with lots of magic were usually the popular crowd.
The rest of the population lived with it, picking up what they could, where
they could. You could ask to be retested anytime. Sometimes people really did
make progress.
Except me. I hadn’t just tested low, I’d flunked. So badly
they brought in national analysts to make sure there wasn’t someone tampering
with the tests. It was a relief really. I mean, my parents were powerful. Who
wants to try and beat that?
My lack of powers drove my parents batty. Most people
figured I was adopted. Two dryads–tree spirits who could change shape,
manipulate the natural world, and talk to trees–produced a normal child?
Impossible.
My parents were convinced I would show signs as I matured. I
didn’t have the heart to tell them differently, but I really didn’t think it
would ever happen. And that was fine by me. Magic was great–when it worked.
Maybe when I turned forty my parents would figure it out.
Until then, I’d smile and nod when they gave me their speech about reaching my
potential and discovering hidden talents.
I met Mr. Grouseman’s chocolate eyes and gave him a weak
smile before he turned to my parents.
“Ah, well, it happens sometimes. If anyone can draw out her
gift, it’s our teaching staff at the school. I’m the principal at Stein Middle
School.” His eyes moved from them to me. I wished I were small and hidden under
a rock. “You look like you’re about middle-school age. What grade will you be
in?”
I swallowed. This was not how I planned to meet the school
principal. “I’m supposed to start eighth this year.”
“I thought so. You’ll love the school. Excellent courses and
teachers, and the students are some of the best.”
Just like every other school I’d been to. They always said
that. It must be in a rulebook principals get when they start their jobs.
Luckily, that was the end of his conversation with me. He told my parents where
the school was, and what the summer office hours were, then waved at us as he
headed back into the shop.
Mom raised a tentative finger and cleared her throat. “Are
you certain it’s safe to go back in?”
Mr. Grouseman loosed a deep peal of laughter. “Of course! My
nephew runs the store. What you saw was an accident when a new display tipped
over. Have a great day!”
I didn’t buy his story, and I didn’t think Mom and Dad did
either. But clearly he wasn’t going to share family quarrels with the new
people in town. With a shrug, I climbed back into the car, put my cryptogram
book away, and watched the town unfold outside my windows. The buildings wound
around a central park with huge old-growth trees and the county buildings were
the same as they’d been when the town was founded in the seventeenth century.
My Dad gave me tidbits about the history of Hecate Bay for the last two weeks,
trying to pump up my anticipation. History was one passion Dad and I shared.
Spell suppliers, voodoo parlors, psychic readers, and
magical bookstores rubbed elbows with Food Lion, florists, and churches. The
human and the paranormal had merged and become just like the country–an
inseparable mix.
We headed for our new house. As we turned away from town,
the library caught my attention. A huge stone building that, based on the size,
I knew held thousands of books. I started to drool at the prospect. As I
watched the people wandering down the street, and we passed another spell shop
and magical supply store, my excitement began to fade. I thought about what I’d
seen so far, the encounter with my new principal, and the new school year
approaching, and my stomach churned with dread. I knew that no matter what,
Hecate Bay wasn’t the restful small town my parents told me about. I’d hoped
for one of those rare towns populated with only a few magical creatures and big
magical talents. This place, well, I could practically taste the magic in the
air.
I was doomed.
Vanessa Barger was born in West Virginia, and through
several moves ended up spending the majority of her life in Virginia Beach,
Virginia. She is a graduate of George Mason University and Old Dominion
University, and has degrees in Graphic Design, a minor in Medieval and
Renaissance Literature, and a Masters in Technology Education. She has had
articles published in Altered Arts Magazine, has had some artwork displayed in
galleries in Ohio and online, and currently teaches engineering, practical
physics, drafting and other technological things to high school students in the
Hampton Roads area of Virginia. She is a member of the SCBWI (Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), the Virginia Writer’s Club, and the
Hampton Roads Writers. When not writing or teaching, she’s a bookaholic, movie
fanatic, and loves to travel. She is married to a fabulous man, and has one
cat, who believes Vanessa lives only to open cat food cans, and can often be
found baking when she should be editing.
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