Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Query #27: "A Special Someone" by Robbin L.

This query is from Robbin L. for the novel A Special Someone. Thank you, Robbin, for the honour of allowing me to work on and post this!

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ORIGINAL QUERY

During Taylor Schuman’s freshman year in high school, she exposes a secret that unravels like a snagged thread on a prom dress. Taylor’s crushing on her BFF’s stepbrother Kyle. Though he barely speaks to them, Taylor still hopes he’ll ask her to homecoming.

On the hunt to find the perfect outfits for Spirit Week, the girls discover Kyle’s mother’s obituary in the attic. It says she was in a coma for a year before she died. That’s weird, because they were told Kyle’s mother was killed instantly in an automobile accident. Trying to get Kyle to notice her, Taylor shows him the obituary. Tension builds, more like an explosion goes off when Kyle realizes his father lied to him. Except his father’s an attorney -- he wouldn’t lie.

A trip to the library isn’t exactly the dream date Taylor envisioned, but searching for the truth reveals that Kyle’s mother wasn’t the only one who died in the accident. After further digging, the pair discovers, Taylor’s next-door neighbor is the sole survivor from the other car. Taylor is shocked to learn that her neighbor was pregnant at the time of the accident. Taylor uncovers a new secret, a hidden adoption. She confronts Kyle’s father. She knows he’s lying and she has the paperwork to prove it. She must decide whether to tell the truth in order to help her neighbor find her child, at the risk of losing her friends and destroying a family, or stay silent -- which Taylor isn’t prone to do.

A SPECIAL SOMEONE is a YA mystery (70,000 words), a story that deals with complex issues: death; friendship; and why do parents lie to their children?

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GOBLIN-EDIT

Taylor Schuman’s crushing on her BFF’s stepbrother Kyle. Though he barely speaks to them, Taylor still hopes he’ll ask her to homecoming. While hunting to find the perfect outfits for Spirit Week, the girls discover Kyle’s mother’s obituary in the attic. It says she was in a coma for a year before she died--and that’s weird, because they were told Kyle’s mother was killed instantly in an automobile accident.

Trying to get Kyle to notice her, Taylor shows him the obituary. Kyle explodes when he realizes his father lied to him--except his father’s an attorney; he wouldn’t lie. A trip to the library isn’t the dream date Taylor envisioned, but she and Kyle discover Kyle’s mother wasn’t the only one who died in the accident, and that Taylor’s next-door neighbor is the sole survivor from the other car.

Taylor learns her neighbor was pregnant at the time of the accident and then uncovers a new secret--a hidden adoption. She now knows Kyle’s father is lying and she has the paperwork to prove it, but Taylor must decide whether to tell the truth so her neighbor can find her child, or stay silent to keep from losing her friends and destroying a family.

A SPECIAL SOMEONE is a 70,000 word YA mystery that deals with death, friendship, and why parents lie to their children.


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