Title: David and the Missing Troll
Author: Janyce Brawn
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Book Blurb:
It’s not the typical Halloween for twelve-year-old David Gonzales. He and Oliver, his ferret friend from the magical land of Drainovia, are thrust into danger when a young troll named Bertha appears in his world. As David and Oliver search the town for her, they encounter more creatures from other realms. Trouble increases when David and his friends fall through an enchanted painting without their teleporting hats. They land in Faire Haven, where an evil creature called the Umbersnatcher terrorizes fairies and unicorns. Can David defeat the Umbersnatcher and restore peace in Faire Haven? Can he figure out how to get his friends and himself back to their homes before the portals close and Halloween ends? [Tales of the Teleporting Topsider (Book 2) Juvenile Fantasy (rated G for ages 8-12 and up)
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
“David, wake up,” Oliver whispered into my ear, “We have a problem.”
“Wha…?” I opened my eyes and looked around my darkened room. The digital clock on the nightstand showed it was 3:00 A.M. Oliver, my ferret friend from the magical kingdom of Dranovia, leaned over my head.
“Oliver? Did you teleport here?” I sat up quickly and turned on my bedside lamp. “It’s the middle of the night. What’s wrong?” I straightened my blanket turning to look at the ferret.
Oliver took off his teleporting hat to wipe his brow. “One of the trolls is missing. It’s Red Herring’s daughter, Bertha. They were getting their family home altars ready to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, you know, the Day of the Dead, when she went to get some special bugs from the giant frogs and never came back. It’s a possibility that she came up to your world.” The ferret hopped from one paw to the other.
“Wait, sit still and tell me why you think she came up here.” I crossed my legs under myself and patted the blanket in front of me.
Oliver sat, crammed his hat back on his head then clasped his paws together. “The mama frog told Bertha about the dried pinto beans you gave her and how wonderful they were. She thinks that Bertha got hold of a teleporting hat and came here.” Oliver rubbed his eyes. “I can only guess how she got one of those. Maybe from the drainosaurs since the knowledge of their construction has become more widespread. Even the Plumberians use them now.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen, heard or smelled anything like a troll since I was in Dranovia. She would’ve come through my kitchen sink, right? I mean, if she was looking for me, that’s how she’d have to get here. Right?”
“Well, actually, she could’ve come through any of your sinks depending on which door she went through.” Oliver scratched his chin. “Have you noticed anything strange?”
“I don’t think so. When did she go missing?” I climbed out of my bed, slipped my feet into a pair of slippers. I grabbed my robe from the chair by the window.
“I think it was last night. You know those stupid trolls, they usually have to make a big stink about everything but, this time, Red Herring tried to find her himself. The dumb troll thought the frogs had hidden her. It wasn’t until we heard the frogs yelling that we found out. I came as soon as I could.” Oliver hopped off the bed.
“Let’s go into the kitchen but, we have to be very quiet. I don’t want to wake anyone.” I glanced in the darkened hallway then beckoned the ferret to follow.
We passed the bathroom and Oliver paused to sniff. He stopped and tugged at my robe. He whispered, “Wait I think Bertha was here.”
I turned on a light and saw large clumps of mud in the sink. “Gee, she sure is messy.” I scooped out the mud. “Let’s follow her tracks.”
I tiptoed down the semi-lit hall following Oliver, whose nose was twitching, setting his whiskers swishing back and forth. Kitchen cabinets were opened, and several boxes lay scrunched and ripped apart. Cereal and rice were scattered all over the floor. Oliver followed the muddy tracks that led him to the back door. “She went outside,” he whispered.
“What a mess. My mom will think I did this.” I grabbed a broom and quickly swept the cereal, rice and mud into a dustpan then put it in the garbage. I quietly closed the cupboard doors. “Let me get dressed and find a flashlight.” I hurried to my room. Throwing my robe on a chair, I dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. I took a flashlight from my desk drawer and ran to the kitchen. “Okay, I’m ready. Will she come with us when we find her?” I unlocked the back door and stepped out onto the porch.
“I don’t know. She knows that ferrets live in Drainovia and that we can talk so if she sees and hears me, she might. Let’s find her first.” Oliver climbed up to my shoulder.
Shining my flashlight around the back yard, it reflected off the slide and I noticed a large dent. “How big is Bertha?” I walked over to the slide and looked on the ground around it. A depression at the end looked as if someone had landed on their butt then dug four holes at the bottom trying to get up.
“Um, maybe as big as you? She’s about 10 years old too.” Oliver jumped down and peered under the slide. “Seems she likes your candy.” Oliver pointed to a pile of candy wrappers. “I wonder how long ago she was here.” He scampered back up onto my shoulder.
“She had to have come after we all went to bed last night otherwise my parents would’ve noticed. I think they went to bed at 10:00 and you came at 3:00 A.M. so, anytime between that. It means she could have a 5 hour head start. If she was coming for pinto beans and didn’t find them at my house, would she know to go to a store?” I swung the flashlight around to the front of the house. “Since the fence goes around the back, she’d have to go this way.” I walked around the front yard. The streetlights gave the area a soft glow. We glanced up and down the street. No Bertha. A cat howled in the distance.
Oliver scratched his head, “I don’t know if she knows what a store is, an outdoor market, yes, but not a big store. Trolls don’t generally like closed in spaces.”
“There’s an outside market but I doubt they sell pinto beans. I guess we can head over there. It’s closed now though.”
A black cat darted across the street toward us. The hair on the cat’s back stood up as if he had stuck a paw in a light socket. It paused then gave a shrill meow and ran past. “Good thing I’m not scared easily ’cause that was weird,” I muttered. “Do you think it was Bertha that scared the cat?”
“Could be. Let’s see where it came from.” Oliver held onto David’s sweatshirt.
I jogged down the street, stopping at the corner. Oliver pointed. “Go right, I can see her muddy footprints going to that house with the broken gate.”
“That’s old Mrs. Broomstagle’s house. She’s as batty as they come. Hope she’s a deep sleeper if Bertha is there.”
We stopped at the gate. Lights in the house were on and we could see Mrs. Broomstagle with another large figure sitting at a table. The old woman poured milk into two glasses. The other figure turned toward the window.
“It’s Bertha,” gasped Oliver.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
David and the Missing Troll happens at Halloween and brings Bertha, the troll from Trollsylvania, up to David’s world. He must take her home but as he does, he falls through an enchanted painting into Faire Haven where he must defeat an evil creature called the Umbersnatcher before he can return Bertha to her fearsome troll father, Red Hair Ring. Fighting evil and magic, David’s second adventure is sure to excite a reader at every turn of the page.
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Author Biography:
Janyce Brawn is a retired K-12 English as a Second Language and Spanish teacher who also has a degree in Art. She uses her art training to illustrate magazines and books. With a vivid imagination, Janyce has been writing and drawing since she was a little girl working on handwritten stories and crayoned pictures for books with her twin sister. Her Boston Terrier is always curious about what she’s doing at her desk and sticks her short nose into everything, thinking she is helping create characters and scenes. Janyce’s stories and books focus on family values, being kind, and following the Golden Rule to help others through fantasy adventures. When Janyce isn’t writing or drawing, she likes to read, go boating on the nearby lake, or visit with family and friends.
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Thank you, Janyce, for sharing your book in our Middle-Grade & YA Event!