about the book
Owen has a mission. He is going to solve the murder of his parents.
Owen is the smartest—and the fattest—seventh grade student at his progressive school. Though the school’s motto is “Compassion—Not Competition,” it is still ruled by bullies and a sadistic phy-ed teacher. Owen spends a great deal of creative energy and time ducking and evading them.
In his spare time, Owen is creating a trap for the thief who steals his Oreos! More importantly, he is designing and building a video time machine, called “Nemesis.” He plans to look back two years-to the date when he hid in the basement and listened to the horrible deaths of his parents.
His quirky sister Caitlin, who has been calling herself “Jeremy,” is still there for Owen. So is Mason Rigg, a transfer student and fellow outcast who, rumor has it, hides a switchblade in his sock. Together they try to figure out why Owen treasures a note that simply says “SLOB.”
And Owen—he just wants Nemesis to work!
about the author
Ellen Potter grew up watching people in the elevator of her New York City high-rise apartment building and making up stories about them. In one story, she wrote about a lady who had an apartment made entirely of chocolate. At night the roly-poly lady nibbled on her bed! By the time Ellen was eleven years old, she knew she was going to be a writer.
Ellen studied creative writing at Binghamton University and wrote while she worked odd jobs. Eventually, she sold articles to adult and young adult magazines. Ellen currently lives in Maine with her husband, son, and three “badly behaving dogs”.
When she writes, Ellen concentrates on the characters and not the plot—she never outlines. She thrills at not knowing what will happen next. She gets up at 5:00 a.m. and writes for two hours each day, often stopping to investigate the refrigerator!
Best advice for young writers? Read like a fiend, write every single day, and remember that writing is cerebral rock breaking-really hard work!
Sources:
Author website
Author interview : Girl in a Swirl
Author interview : Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup
Also by Ellen Potter:
The Humming Room. Feiwel and Friends. 2012.
The Kneebone Boy. Feiwel and Friends. 2010.
read more!
The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter
The three Hardscrabble children are the three kids everyone in town avoids. Even their father avoids them, sending them to live with their aunt by the sea. But their aunt is on vacation. They have the house to themselves, and a mystery to solve: who is the half-human boy who lives in the forest by their aunt’s house?
Schooled by Gordon Korman
Cap Anderson has always been home-schooled, but he is forced to attend public school for the first time when his hippie grandmother falls from a tree and is hospitalized. As a joke, Cap is elected class president. Can the biggest nerd in middle school convince his classmates he’s not so bad?
The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen
What would you do if you found a dead body in your locker? Seventh-grader Dorso Clayman and his best friend, Frank, travel through time to figure out who is playing with time and causing some strange things to happen in their lives.