Welcome to this week’s
Super Middle Grade Mondays Book
Blitz
presented by Tantrum
Books/Month9books!
Today, we get up close and
personal with
Charles
Curtis
author of Strange
Country Day
from
Tantrum Books.
Be sure to enter the giveaway
found at the end of the post!
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.
He can be reached on Twitter:
@charlescurtis82.
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?
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.
Complete
the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
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