Post by r.elena.t on Jun 29, 2013 15:20:38 GMT -5
I'm writing memoir and not sure if it will ultimately be slanted middle grade or adult, but currently it's coming out middle grade. Anyway, here is my synopsis.
In the middle grade novel, Two Years Before the Masters, a little, American girl alone in an English boarding school discovers that imagination offers powerful protection, although it is not always enough.
In 1964, Rachel's family abandoned suburban, Middle America for a desert city in Northern Nigeria. She was eleven. Her sister was twelve. Too old for the local school, they were put on a plane to England and boarding school. Her sister was in the "A" class for students going to university. Rachel was in the "Y" class for students going nowhere. Her sister was miserable, but Rachel thrived. Sleeping with sixteen girls in rows of metal frame beds was like living a story about orphans. There was no heat to warm the ancient, stone walls, but centuries of wear made a microscopic country ripe for fantasy when she was made to stare at it, shivering in her nightgown, as punishment for talking after lights out. The whole school occasionally got sick from bad meat, but there were licorice whips and tuppany buns to be had from the sweet shop. Older girls bullied younger girls while the teachers were openly at war with the pupils. This only inspired Rachel and her friends to invent novel ways to break the rules and make punishments fun. She thought no one could hurt her if she refused to feel hurt. Then, a gang of bullies made her their target. For a despised Yank a continent’s distance from home, imagination was no longer just for games.
In the middle grade novel, Two Years Before the Masters, a little, American girl alone in an English boarding school discovers that imagination offers powerful protection, although it is not always enough.
In 1964, Rachel's family abandoned suburban, Middle America for a desert city in Northern Nigeria. She was eleven. Her sister was twelve. Too old for the local school, they were put on a plane to England and boarding school. Her sister was in the "A" class for students going to university. Rachel was in the "Y" class for students going nowhere. Her sister was miserable, but Rachel thrived. Sleeping with sixteen girls in rows of metal frame beds was like living a story about orphans. There was no heat to warm the ancient, stone walls, but centuries of wear made a microscopic country ripe for fantasy when she was made to stare at it, shivering in her nightgown, as punishment for talking after lights out. The whole school occasionally got sick from bad meat, but there were licorice whips and tuppany buns to be had from the sweet shop. Older girls bullied younger girls while the teachers were openly at war with the pupils. This only inspired Rachel and her friends to invent novel ways to break the rules and make punishments fun. She thought no one could hurt her if she refused to feel hurt. Then, a gang of bullies made her their target. For a despised Yank a continent’s distance from home, imagination was no longer just for games.
Early the next morning my appendix was removed - to the chagrin of said matron, who apparently carried right on pretending I wasn't ill even after I went to hospital. 
Now, where did I leave off at?
My latest edition of Straight From Thecliff Chamber 
