GimmiGela

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 Below is a summary and first 250 pages of my novel...

GimmiGela

MG Contemporary

50,000 words

Summary

            Eleven-year-old Gela Stone learned from her famous mountain-climbing father how to survive in the wild, but after he dies in a tragic accident, Gela must learn completely different survival skills to overcome the grief that turns her family upside-down. Things get even more complicated when she stumbles on random clues that indicate her father’s accident was not as her mother described it, leaving Gela to wonder, how did her father really die and why would her mother lie about it?

The clues turn up everywhere, beginning with a young woman at the funeral who tells Gela, “Your father saved my life,” continuing to the church steps where Gela overhears whispers that will haunt her for months to come:  … crushed to death … two days to find the body … she doesn’t want the children to know. Even a surprise visit from Jangbu, Dad’s climbing partner from Tibet, turns from a comforting reunion into a swirl of confusion.

When ignoring the truth becomes impossible, especially after Gela and her twin brother, Gimmi, discover everyone—including their entire fifth-grade class—has been keeping the secret, humiliation pushes Gimmi and Gela to the extreme. Together they set out to climb the same mountain that took their father’s life, hoping to put an end to the mystery as well as the misery in their lives. But will Gela’s strength and determination be enough for the twins to survive snake attacks, hailstorms and an unplanned overnight stay on a treacherous mountain? 

FIRST PAGE of Book (250 words)

Everest was allowed to carry the challis up to the priest during the funeral. He even lit a candle. That’s what you get when you’re 16, but if you’re 11, like me and my twin brother, Gimmi, it’s a different story. We sat squished between Mom and Aunt Dani, who passed Mom tissue after tissue, knocking me in the head and Gimmi in the face with her arm. It didn’t bother Gimmi, because her sleeve wiped away his tears           at the same time. I didn’t need any tissues, because I don’t cry. Big kids don’t.

Even if they’re girls.

            After an hour of mumbling about how happy we should be because Dad had entered the kingdom of the Lord, Father Tom stepped down from the altar and told us “to go in peace.” He made the sign of the cross over the coffin, folded down the gold-framed photograph of my father—which had been staring at us the whole time—and passed it to Mom. She pressed it to her chest with crossed arms and numbly stared ahead at the men gathering around the coffin. 

Mom nodded to Everest. He swallowed, stood slowly, and without looking at a soul, walked to the coffin. He hesitated for a moment before placing his hands on the smooth dark-brown, shiny wood. On a whispered count of three, they raised it overhead. Everest winced as it came to rest on his shoulder. Mom’s head dropped forward and she curled around the gold-framed photograph, trembling.