Monday, February 12, 2018

How to Be a Stowaway

I usually come here to whine.

No whining today! I'm taking a break from whining. Are you with me?

Nick is home sick from school today. This morning, he worried about what he'd miss. This is high school, chemistry, trig, American literature. Serious stuff. Picture a kid who's dizzy from not being able to breathe properly who sits at the computer trying to catch up on work he's too sick to comprehend. He's on all the steroids except prednisone. By the strength and duration of the virus Mike had last week, I imagine prednisone is coming, but later in the week when we hear bubbling in Nick's lungs.

I get nostalgic when Nick stays home from school. He's more independent that he used to be, even when he's sick. I miss the days when we read him to sleep, a chapter each night from a book we'd chosen together. Some of the books he wanted me to read were hard to get through, but when he picked Roald Dahl, C.S. Lewis, or finally Tolkien, it was a joy. Nick would fall asleep and his chapter would end and I always wanted to read on ahead. Often, I kept reading, my voice quieter and droning its sleep-sleep message. I might have to repeat those pages the next night when Nick said he didn't remember them, but so what?

Did you do that? Do you still?

I wish I could go back in time with a book in hand, Destiny's Gambit by RJ Wood. I'd sit at Nick's bedside to read it to him, chapter by chapter, adventure after adventure. Now that we're past that time, I don't tell my friends that I still read kid's books without being required to, but now you know. When I'm reading a book like this, I almost remember what it was like to be a kid.

I loved Jake this awkward boy in the story who surprised himself with magic he didn't know he possessed. Does it always seem like having a rough time of it leads a kid that way or am I just wishing it were so because I was an awkward girl? This awkward girl still loves characters like Jake.

And now the next book in the series is coming, Beyond the Moon!

Here's where the story is headed:

Beyond the Moon picks up after the battle above the ice planet Nystal, where Earth-kid Jake Flynn and crew have recently escaped from the Crimson Cabal. Their voyages continue on the other side of the galaxy where magic has displaced technology and monsters are real. Jake continues to grow in his new abilities to channel energy and fly tall wooden ships in space, but struggles with having been named the Justicar, a prophesied champion of the light. Pushing forward, he sets course for new planets in search of allies who will stand with him and help stop the cabal from resurrecting a long dead queen. To succeed, Jake must learn more about channeling and how to balance his new and unwelcome responsibilities with the continued search for his missing parents and a way home to Earth.

Aided and mentored by the young Life Magian, Starla Silvertree, her aged protector, Ottomeyer Riversend, and assisted by veteran sailors Jehnna Marik and Captain Billy Goldbar, Jake must make heavyweight decisions with deadly consequences.

Unicorns, ghost ships, pirates, space battles, magi wielding lightning and fire, dinosaurs, and a Valkyrie – Jake must face them all in this epic sword and space adventure. By the end, Jake will take another step toward adulthood, discover truths about his parents’ fate, suffer the death of a comrade, and muster the courage to charge into a final showdown with the terrifying snake-woman, Celia Sable.

I can't wait. You'll find me on the couch, Beyond the Moon in hand, stopping now and then to read something aloud to the consternation of Mike who will probably be in the middle of watching a the mess of politics in the news. He might give me a look. I'll get the hint and curl up with the cat to read quietly.

I'm getting the better deal in this scenario. My imagination will soar through asteroid fields. I'll hear battle commands. And in the end, I'll stow away on the Voyages of Jake Flynn.

Thank you for listening, jules


No comments:

Post a Comment