Jazzy's Choose Your Own Adventure Chapter 15

28. Aug, 2016

When Things Got Weird Part 15

WHAT? I thought she was on our side! I quickly turned around and whispered to Anastasia, "It's Mrs Sweet!"

Anastasia looked stunned and peered in. She yelled. I glared at her and cupped my hand over her mouth, but it was too late. I could hear Mrs Sweet cursing at being discovered and nudged Anastasia and looked pointedly at the front door. She nodded and we stealthily tiptoed out.

I gestured at a blackberry bush nearby. Anastasia slowly shook her head, but I pushed her in. I dove inside at the same instant Mrs Sweet came outside, shouting.

"You had to choose a blackberry bush." Anastasia complained, showing me her many bleeding cuts and grazes.

I ignored her. "Shhh. Mrs Sweet sure is angry, isn't she?"

"Yes, but we should probably be quiet, shouldn't we? We don't want to be noticed."

I fell silent and watched Mrs Sweet searching for intruders. It was only a matter of time until we were discovered…

A shadow fell over our bush. Anastasia and I held our breaths as torchlight shone above us. Mrs Sweet soon seemed convinced that no-one was there and walked away.

Anastasia sighed loudly in relief. I did too as we crawled from the bushes. We realised we should have kept still when we heard humming at the door; it was an annoying tune that my sister always sang in the shower.

Melanie had noticed us. She walked over to us but didn’t say, "hello". She hoisted us under each arm. She was surprisingly strong. There was a crazed glint in her eyes.

"I have them!" My sister yelled. Mrs Sweet returned to the scene, smiling menacingly.

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" She hissed.

"Your two nosey students. What price should they pay for listening in on us?" Melanie grinned.

"Leave them with me. I have a plan for them."

I couldn't believe it. My own sister had turned my best friend and I over to someone I had once trusted. But now my School Principal was a lunatic.

What does Mrs Sweet have in store for Mackenzie and Anastasia? Place your vote in Blog Comments to find out. Your email address will not be disclosed.

A. Send us to remove all the green slime from the school toilets.

B. Take Mrs Sweet's chicken-headed monster (from Part 5) for a walk

C. Sign up for extra homework at school

Share this page

The Cursed Wait

29. Jul, 2016

July 31st isn't any ordinary day - it is Harry Potter's birthday! That's why the WHOLE WORLD is waiting until then for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to be released. And it's not easy…

Harry Potter is my favourite book series. It has wizards, witches, giants and even ghosts. It is set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where teenagers learn all about magic. I just can't stop turning the pages! Harry and his friends face many obstacles through their school years and the movies add to each book's brilliance.

J.K Rowling has a knack for developing great characters. Hermione Granger is a massive brainiac and has absolutely no experience in kissing. Luna Lovegood is a crazy girl who talks about strange, non-existent creatures such as the 'Blibbering Humdinger' and 'Nargles'. Lord Voldemort is the meanest villain I have ever encountered by far. He murders muggles (non-magic people) and half-bloods (half- muggle and half-magic). I have blogged about him in my Vile Villain series HERE.

If you have been following my Facebook page then you will know Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the first book I read in this year's MS Readathon. I ended up reading it in only four days! This story was very emotional; some of the losses were so great that I shut the book and waited a few minutes until bravely picking it up again. What got me through was knowing it was not the end. Another book was just around the corner. The wait for this book has been sooooooo unbearable!

While I have been impossibly waiting I have made some Harry Potter quizzes on the game-making website, Scratch. To test yourself on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows go HERE or try my Harry Potter All-Round Quiz HERE.

Like most bookaholics I will be engrossed in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Sunday. I expect quite a lot. It had better be brilliant. Please listen to 97.3 ABC Illawarra at 7.20 on Monday morning to find out if it is.

Image: Dymocks.com.au

Hooked on Skulduggery Pleasant

10. Jul, 2016

You may already know that I am NUTS about the gruesome Skulduggery Pleasant stories by Derek Landy. I have included its criminals in my Vile Villain series and discussed its heroine Valkyrie Cain in one of my first blogs called, What Makes a Good Heroine? So what is the big deal?

Valkyrie first meets Skulduggery at her uncle's funeral. After a while she becomes his sidekick and they solve mysteries and hunt down villains together. She is a fantastic character who may have attitude and no friends at school, but one thing she does possess is a natural talent for fighting monsters and also… magic.

Yes, there sure is magic in these stories! Valkyrie is an 'Elemental' and also a 'Necromancer', meaning she can control fire, water, earth and the air and also the shadows. So is Skulduggery, a living talking skeleton who is held together with magic. Valkyrie's friend Tanith Low is an 'Adept'. All Adepts have different powers, Tanith's being that she can walk on walls and the roof.

There is also the very strange subject of names. Every person living on Earth has three names. First, there is a given name, the one given at birth. Then there is a taken name, which a person can choose for them self. Thirdly, there's a true name, which most people never find out. This name is magical, but I won't give away more.

Magic? Living talking skeletons? Everyone having three names? This might sound weird, but that's one of the things I like about this series. It's quirky.

Skulduggery Pleasant is also pretty violent in some parts, which while disturbing, adds motive to the storyline. After Valkyrie sees Tanith being tortured, she wants to finish off whoever did it to her. This is balanced by some funny characters; Scapegrace is amusing without even knowing it, but he is boastful and reckless.

Every book begins with a cliff-hanger; book one starts with a murder, the second has Valkyrie hanging off a very high window, the third with another murder and so on. It makes you want to keep turning the pages. The stories all have many ups and downs. When Skulduggery is sucked into another world with crazed gods intent on destroying him, Valkyrie is desperate to save him and gets lonely and upset. She is even more disappointed when Skulduggery thinks that she is a hallucination.

This series is not for the faint-hearted, but Derek Landy gets what 'tweens like. I've read seven of his books and I'm going back for more!

Image: www.skulduggerypleasant.co.uk

Jazzy's Choose Your Own Adventure Chapter 14

26. Jun, 2016

When Things Got Weird - Part 14

I gasped. Anastasia looked over at me.

"Why do you think Melanie was spying on us?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know." I frowned. "Something's wrong, I can tell. Do you think we should follow her?"

"Yes," Anastasia said as she led the way out the door.

We sprinted across the playground and saw Melanie vault over a fence and disappear. I blinked, annoyed at this newfound skill of hers. As we caught up, I gave Anastasia a boost. I caught hold of the top of the jagged wire, scrambled over and looked down at myself. I was covered in cuts, bruises and dirt.

"Do we have to keep going?" Anastasia moaned as I dusted myself off and caught up with her.

"Of course." I snapped. "Look, we're almost there!"

We watched on as my sister crawled through a small opening in the bushes in a stranger's backyard. I overtook Anastasia and she squeezed in behind me.

A tiny, mouldy-looking cottage stood in front of a row of dead trees. Melanie opened up the splintered, wooden door and slithered inside.

After a minute or two I slowly tiptoed forward and gestured at Anastasia to follow. I opened up the door and we stepped inside. A floorboard creaked and Anastasia cursed. I glared at her as we walked towards another entrance. I could hear voices inside so we pressed our ears to it.

"I'm so sorry, Master," cried a voice I recognised as my sister's. "Please forgive me! I gave you the information you asked for, but there wasn't an opportunity to capture them; the group was too big."

"Why should I?" Replied a high, hissing and unpleasant voice which for some reason was familiar. "I trusted you. You didn't bring the girl and her friend. You will pay. You may leave now."

We heard footsteps and Anastasia and I dove to the side in the nick of time. Melanie stalked past us and we watched on, shaking. That was close, I thought.

"Anastasia, did you find that voice familiar?" I asked.

"No," she said. "Why?"

"Never mind." I mumbled, but I looked back through the door and almost screamed.

Who was it I saw? Vote in Blog Comments to find out. Your email address will not be disclosed.

A. Dad

B. Mrs Sweet, the school principal

C. The clown we met in the deserted circus

Jazzy's Choose Your Own Adventure Chapter 13

21. May, 2016

When Things Got Weird - Part 13

I turned around and my eyes bulged with embarrassment. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"We just wanted to check how you're going at school, sweetie pie," my mother replied. There my parents stood, flashing humiliating Hawaiian shirts. I glanced at Anastasia; she was looking amused and petrified at the same time.

"We've heard you've been missing classes; Mrs Sweet told us," my father added.

What would we say? "Oh, we were just, um, in the - in the library!" I lied through my teeth.

My parents stared at me and I could tell that my inexperience of fibbing had given it away. Mum led the way to a deserted classroom and it was obvious that we were in for a long interrogation.

"Tell us everything you've been up to while we've been on holidays," Dad said with a smile.

Anastasia chimed in straight away. "Well, it all began when Kenz got to school with green slime all over her-"

"No, it started with my nightmare."

"Hang on, wasn't there a presence in your chicken pen, first?"

"Was the haunted version of my house real or a dream?" I wondered out loud.

"What about that scary clown who chased us through a creepy circus?"

"I can't believe we walked a tightrope."

"And Mr Quarterbrain's a vampire!" Exclaimed Anastasia.

"Hold on. Let's start at the beginning," Dad intervened.

We enthusiastically unfolded our incredible journey for what seemed like hours. When we were finished they stared at us. There was a long uncomfortable silence.

"Why, your storytelling talent is certainly coming a long way!" Mum laughed uneasily. I gazed at my parents. Why couldn't they believe their own daughter and her best friend?

"But it's true!" Anastasia and I pleaded in unison.

"Is it? This sort of thing never happens." Mum said.

"Why did you lie to us?” Dad demanded.

"We didn't." I argued. "Why would we?"

"We'll finish this at home later, Mackenzie. Goodbye Anastasia." Dad replied. But just as my parents were turning to leave I noticed someone fleeing from outside. Squinting, I tried to make them out. I suspected they had been listening in and nudged Anastasia. She peered out the window and both our mouths dropped open…

Who or what is watching us? Vote in Blog Comments to find out. Your email address will not be disclosed.

A. My Sister

B. The five-legged beast from my dream

C. The clown we escaped from in the deserted circus

NewerOverviewOlder