Sunday, April 12, 2015

Team True Grit #3: WHERE I BELONG, YA Contemporary

Genre: YA Contemporary
Title: Where I Belong
Word Count: 80,000
Genre of favorite movie: Pirate Movies

Pitch: 

Straight-A student, Milagros Vargas immigrated illegally. When a Senate candidate mentions her in a speech, Milagros must decide if she’ll risk the danger the media attention brings in order to be a voice for immigrants.

250: 

Who takes weekend trips to Cancun? My weekend consisted of babysitting my siblings. Charlie Wheeler, on the other hand, spent his weekend zip lining and kayaking. He sits in front of me in AP English and was jabbering about it when I walked in.

“Hi, Millie,” Charlie says, turning around.

Polite hellos—that’s as far as we usually go; both of us uncomfortable with how our lives intersect. My mom has been the Wheelers’ housekeeper for seven years.

Nearly every girl in school has had the obligatory Charlie Wheeler crush, and each one of them has subsequently realized that she is out of his league. I had my obligatory crush when I was twelve, and it only occasionally makes its reappearance when he flashes me that orthodontically-perfected smile.

I’m having a pool party next Friday. It’s early dismissal,” he says.

I can’t, but thanks.” Leave it to Charlie to not see the irony of his invitation. On early dismissal days, I babysit because my mother is babysitting his sister. Some of us have priorities we must put in front of pleasures.

“Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.” He gives me a hopeful smile before turning around.

I try not to throw myself pity parties for missing out on standard teenage fare. When I do, Mami tells me of her nineteen-year-old uncle who was arrested for sympathizing with insurrectionists who opposed the Guatemalan dictator. Her teenage concerns were avoiding assault and theft.

Yeah, her teenage anxieties trump mine any day of the week.

5 comments:

  1. This is an instant classic! Please send query +25pp following query guidelines at jdlit.com with the subject Pitch Slam. It'll be the talk of Tinsel Town!

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  2. Blockbuster! Please send query and sample (attached as a word document) to carrieassistant@donadio.com with "Pitch Slam" in the subject line.

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  3. Dark Horse Hit - Query and first 50 pages

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