Pitch Wars ALT: VB-9 - MIMI LOST AND FOUND

MENTOR: Gail Nall
ALTERNATE: Pat Martinez
TITLE: MIMI LOST AND FOUND
CATEGORY/GENRE: MG Historical
WORD COUNT: 49,000

PITCH: When dynamite arrives at the Paris Lost and Found, twelve-year-old Mimi ventures to find the source and discovers Paris is wired for destruction. She must save Paris! But if she asks for help and reveals her escapades, she’ll be locked in the abbey orphanage ‘til the end of the war.


EXCERPT:
April 11, 1944

Mimi squirmed under the weight of Mother Katrine’s firm hand, but the more she wiggled, the more Mother Katrine tightened her grip. “Hold still and listen.”

But Mimi had no intention of following orders. She had already endured a too-long prayer and endless warnings about the dangers lurking in the streets of Paris. Mimi broke free, dashed to the end of the courtyard and risked a backward glance. Mother Katrine clutched at her habit and shouted, “The back of your hair looks like an eggbeater whipped it. Get back here!”

Mimi licked the palm of her hand and smoothed her tousled hair.  She blew a kiss and called to Mother Katrine, “Je t’aime.” Then she opened the gate, stepped onto the street of Rue Saint Severin but detoured towards Rue St. Germaine and the Paris Lost and Found. If Mother Katrine chased after her, she would march through the chapel and out the back doors expecting to catch Mimi on Rue Saint Severin - but Mimi would be nowhere in sight.

It had been four years since she had left the abbey all by herself. She skipped past the cheese shop to the flower shop, stopping abruptly to investigate the sudden shift of smells.

The cheese shelves were almost bare and fresh flowers scare, but it was as if the sidewalk had absorbed the pungent smell of Camembert and the sweet scent of a rose. Mimi imagined Camembert on her tongue and smiled—until she noticed a poster hammered into the stone wall.