Pitch Wars ALT: VB-3 - THE INCREASINGLY PREPOSTEROUS ADVENTURES OF ATTICUS SWEENY

MENTOR: Stephanie Funk
ALTERNATE: Mike Samonek
TITLE: THE INCREASINGLY PREPOSTEROUS ADVENTURES OF ATTICUS SWEENY
CATEGORY/GENRE: MG Adventure
WORD COUNT: 36,000

PITCH: Dale Fenwicks’ stultifying summer break is disrupted by the arrival of Atticus Sweeny, a larger-than-life eccentric kid bent on adventure. When Dale and Atticus discover an ancient magic carpet, they’re thrust into the center of a centuries-old battle. Dale must find the courage in himself to destroy the carpet before forces of evil can use its power to rule the world.


EXCERPT:
“I told you we’d find adventure, old chum!” Atticus shouted over the cold night air roaring in our ears.

We were ten thousand feet up, plummeting toward the sprawling circuit board lights of the city below. And the only thing that stood between us and the ground was two miles of thin air and a particularly unattractive piece of floor covering that happened, for reasons that will become clear shortly, to fly.

Atticus controlled the carpet, holding the two front corners of it like the reins of a horse, and laughing like a lunatic. I held the back of it in a death grip, terrified I was going to fall off. I had to fall. All logic dictated that we should both slide off and drop to the ground like sacks of potatoes.

But then all logic dictates that rugs can’t fly.

Of course logic doesn’t mean much when you’re around Atticus Sweeny.

Just three days ago, I was a normal kid living in the most boring suburb in the universe, getting ready for another mind-numbingly uneventful summer vacation.

Then he showed up.

And that’s when things started to change.