SUPER MIDDLE GRADE MONDAYS
GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY
GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY
Strange Country Day
by Charles Curtis
Welcome to this week's Super Middle Grade Mondays Book Blitz presented by Tantrum Books/Month9books and Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours!
Today, we get up close and personal with Charles Curtis, author of Strange Country Day from Tantrum Books. Be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of the post for your chance to win a copy of the book!
Description
Alexander Graham Ptuiac, the son of an inventor, wants to play for the school’s football team. During tryouts, and under the watchful eye of the team’s coach, he suddenly manifests mysterious superhuman powers. Alexander makes the team, but not before the some ill-intended adults take notice, putting his life in danger.
Alex struggles to suppress and control his strange new abilities, worried about exposing his secret and being kicked off the football team. Then he befriends Dex, a diminutive classmate who can somehow jump as high as ten feet in the air. Seems Alex isn’t the only one at school with a secret.
As the school year unfolds, Alex will find himself the target of bullies, holding hands with his first crush and discovering the shocking truth about himself and his parents.
Praise for the Book
"The only thing stranger than Strange Country Day, are the kids sitting next to you in class. Meet the next generation of mutant superheroes. When you attend this school, you're signing up for a whirlwind of mystery and mayhem. This story captures both the turbulence and confusion of being 13, and dealing with superhuman powers ... a wicked combination. Strange Country Day certainly lives up to its name." ~ DJ MacHale, author of Pendragon and The SYLO Chronicles
"High energy, high-cool adventure! If only all schools were this strange and exciting - but how many of us would survive?" ~ Greg Bear, Hugo- and Nebula-award winning author of Moving Mars and Darwin's Radio
"Great book for the kids!" ~ Roshni
" ... this is an enjoyable read and I think kids (especially boys) ages 8+ will enjoy Alex and his strange adventure." ~ Tonja Drecker
"Great book for my teenage son!" ~ Jason
Guest Post by the Author
Write What You Know
As a young 8th grade writer who published his first story in my school’s literary magazine, I was always encouraged to write what I know.
So when I sat down to write Strange Country Day, I immediately knew my protagonist, Alexander Graham Ptuiac, would be a tall, skinny sports-loving new kid just starting middle school and trying to fit in. That’s because, at the age of 12, I was a tall, skinny sports-loving new kid just starting middle school and trying to fit in.
Alex’s first day of school starts out with a bang: During 7th grade orientation, he’s pulled into a room with his classmates for a ritual known as "Fresh Meet Friday". When the event turns into a riot involving the older 9th graders, Alex discovers he has previously unknown superhero-like powers that propel him to punch the ringleader in the nose.
Unfortunately, my first day of middle school wasn’t nearly as mind-blowing as Alex’s, but I did draw a little bit from experience. I attended a private school where I was one of many new kids faced with making friends with a whole new group of students, many of whom already knew each other. Luckily, there were no hazing rituals I was forced to participate in (unluckily, I didn’t have comic book-like powers, either), but in Strange Country Day, I tried to capture that same nervousness I felt about walking into a – well – strange environment, trying to fit in and attempting to adjust to an increased workload and new schedule.
In the past few years, I’ve often joked about how my interests in those days – I visited a comic book shop once a week to pick up my stack and played the card game Magic: The Gathering every day at lunch – are suddenly trendy now and lamented about how I would have been much happier if I’d been a middle schooler in 2015. But I realize now just how influential both were on my creativity and imagination.
The other huge influence? Sports, of course. I spent countless nights in front of the television (I promise, Mom and Dad, it was after my homework was done ... most of the time) or at one of the many New York stadiums/arenas, taking in any and all Mets, Giants, Knicks or Rangers games I could watch. I always wish I could go back in time and tell my middle school self that one day I’d find myself in the press box at those very same arenas and stadiums. Middle School Charles would be blown away.
The one thing that truly separates me from Alex? With the help of those aforementioned powers, he ends up joining his school’s football team as a quarterback. Despite my love for the game of football, I didn’t have half the athleticism to even begin to think about playing on the gridiron.
But hey, adults – especially authors – are allowed to reimagine their pasts too, right?
About the Author
Charles Curtis is a writer and journalist based in New York City. He has reported and written for publications including NJ.com (where he is currently the site’s sports buzz reporter), The Daily, ESPN.com, ESPN the Magazine, Bleacher Report, TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly. Charles has covered the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, golf, tennis and NASCAR. He has also written about television, film and pop culture.
In addition, Curtis has also written, produced and was featured in videos for ESPN.com and The Daily. He has made radio appearances on stations including 92.9 The Ticket in Bangor, Maine, WLIE 540 AM in Long Island and on morning shows across Canada via the CBC.
Giveaway
Enter the blitz-wide giveaway for a chance to win an ebook copy of Strange Country Day by Charles Curtis.
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