MG Thriller: My Paper Route and Other Deadly Things

Pitch: Twelve-year-old papergirl and sleuth Kazuko Jones knows the Athen’s Kidnapper is on her route. But in a botched rescue attempt, her BFF is swiped, and Kazuko must spring him free before he disappears forever.

Genre: Upper Middle Grade Thriller

Title: My Paper Route and Other Deadly Things

Word Count: 45,000

Special Question: Kazuko would choose to be Rey because she’s all about saving herself and others. Also, because running while holding hands is stupid.

First 250 Words: Mom let me keep the paper route even though kids in our town were disappearing. It was a tough sell, but I convinced her that I had lots of gambaru, which is Japanese for the ability to slog through the mud pits of life or something. She was distracted by my clever language skills and didn’t suspect a thing about my detective work. It was always about the detective work.

But even girl detectives got nervous about kidnappers roaming their town before sunrise. So when I delivered papers I rode my bike fast like an oni chased me—a red one with black horns, a dark mane, and a crooked mouthful of yellow Lego teeth—all while keeping my eye open for suspicious characters. I rocked at multitasking.

I stood on the pedals when I turned the corners of our biggish neighborhood, swerving to straighten the wheels of my baby-blue Schwinn cruiser, the crunchy sound of gravel loud in the still air.

At dawn, the fall sky in Athens, Idaho was the color of purple velvet and smelled like wet dirt and smoke, probably from people using their fireplaces for the first time. No one turned their porch lights on this soon after summer so the streets were crowded with dark shadows. Only one house on this side of Morningside got the paper, so I imagined the block was a haunted alley and rode my bike in the middle of the road to avoid all the hiding places.