YA Historical: A NINE DAYS' WONDER

Author's Name: Maria Hossain

Category: YA

Genre: Realistic Historical

Stage of Completion: Revising and rewriting first draft

Preferred Critique Style: A spoonful of Sugar helps the Medicine go down

Cat person or dog person: Definitely dog.

Tea or coffee: How about just Coke?

Short Pitch

England, 1973: Two teens from different backgrounds fall in love while struggling with their personal past traumas. Ned's trying to stop his little brother from attending the same boarding school he was expelled from to avoid sexual abuse he got from its headmaster, while Summer tries to earn forgiveness of his late favorite teacher's mother, an Alzheimer's patient, to forgive herself and find closure. To get what they want, Ned needs to reconnect with his parents and earn their trust back, and Summer needs to remind everything her late teacher's mother felt after her son's accidental death by Summer.

Writing Sample

Day 01

            Words hated me, and the feeling was mutual. They always bullied me, moving and juggling themselves whenever I tried to read. It was their dancing and prancing that brought on the humiliation, the isolation, the failures, and last but not least, the expulsion.
            "Do you know the synonyms of 'excellence'?" He paused to look down at me, his hands on my shoulders. "Distinction... Brilliance... Caliber... Virtuosity... Peerlessness." His grips on my shoulders tightened, before he leveled himself to my ears. "You have no peers..."
            I shook my head and gritted my teeth. No, I wouldn’t let it consume me.
            It was half past six in the evening. I'd bought a ticket to Brighton. An hour to go until the train to Brighton would arrive. Plenty of time before that. So I rang at home to say goodbye to Ted. Rochester, our butler always answered and if he did (I was quite certain he would), I'd ask for my naïve little brother.
            But luckily, Ted answered first. I was awashed with relief.
            "Where are you, Ned?" Of course, he was worried for me. I told him where I was and why.
            "You'll do no such thing, Edwin."
            I almost dropped the receiver, for it was Dad's voice. Had he been eavesdropping all this time?
            I said nothing. But he went on, "If you go to Brighton or any other place without my permission, I swear to God, I'll hunt you down and you'll wish I hadn't."