Lucky Agent Contest

As part of my search for an agent, I'm entering The Lucky Agent Contest, sponsored by http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/. Contestants are asked to send the first 150-200 words of a middle grade or young adult novel plus a logline (a one sentence description of the work). It occurred to me that it might be fun for some of my non-writing friends to see a sample of my writing for kids, so I'm posting it here as well.

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Title: The Totally Weird Substitute

Logline: Ethan, a third grader who loves order and routine, must adjust to an eccentric, free-spirited substitute when his structured teacher leaves to have her baby.


Opening:

My sister said a third grader can’t drop out of school just because his teacher is leaving to have a baby.

My mother said she wouldn’t quit her job to home school me.

My father said I had to go to school even if I felt like throwing up.

“What if the substitute mixes up the order of the subjects?” I asked Dad on the way to school. “What if she never watches the clock and keeps teaching all through lunchtime and I faint from hunger? What if the teacher is a man who makes me play soccer at recess?”

“Stop worrying. You’ll be okay,” he said. He stopped the car in front of the school.

“What if she won’t let me take a bathroom break and I can’t hold it? What if we get a teacher who makes me miss recess if I don’t finish my work and I never—”

“Ethan!” he interrupted. “Calm down. Take a deep breath.”

I tried to breathe like he showed me, but it didn’t help. My breath came hard and fast as I got out of the car.

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So what do you think? Would you keep reading? If you have comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

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If you or someone you know is interested in entering this contest, or if you want to know more about it, go here.