Title: GIRL OF THE BIG ISLAND

Age Category: Middle Grade

Genre: Contemporary with elements of magic

Word Count: 39,000

Pitch:

An outsider in her Kansas hometown, twelve-year-old Kalea visits her native Hawaii and learns she must protect her grandma’s magic stone from evil spirits or her doomed family will vanish.

First 250 Word of Manuscript:

I bet Dad wouldn’t recognize me. I’ve been drowning in cornfields most of my life, instead of splashing in the turquoise waters of Hawaii. Now’s my chance.

Only eighteen hours and counting until we land on the Big Island. If it wasn’t so embarrassing, I’d break into hip-hop moves right here in the security line.

My ratty gray backpack thump-thumps along the conveyor belt, disappearing into a black hole. I walk into the scanner and raise hands above my head. Do they really think a twelve-year-old carries a nail polish bottle filled with plastic explosives?

“Miss, please step over here.” A balding lump of a man waves me to the side. Maybe he’s craving my secret stash of mango gummy bears.

I glance over at my family, already finished with security. Mom’s helping my kid sister untangle her sparkly pink bracelets.

The bald officer stares me down. “What’s that around your neck?”

I almost answer, “My collar bone,” but no sense messing with security. I pull the leather pouch over my head and hand it to the guard. “There’s a stone inside.”

The guard motions me to get scanned again. This time no problem. He removes the small rock from my pouch and examines it. The gray stone is carved into the shape of a turtle. After showing his companion, he says, “I swear I saw something flashing from her pouch when she was x-rayed. And the screen went blank for a split second, like some weird voodoo caused it.”