MOLLY GUMNUT RESCUES A BANDICOOT - MG
Dear Mystery Agent,
Molly Mavis Gumnut adores all animals, but not when they’re bad. When her neighbour’s cat attacks a baby bandicoot, eight-year old Molly rescues the tiny creature and takes it home to bandage its wounds. She falls in love with the long-nosed critter she names Furble, but Daddy says it’s illegal to keep a bandicoot as a pet.
Molly has no choice. She doesn’t want to go to jail, so she hands Furble over to her grandmother, a member of a wildlife rescue. Grandma promises to let Furble get better before she releases him back to his territory. But that’s where the big, mean cat lives. Molly can’t let Furble get hurt again. There’s only one solution: Molly kidnaps Furble and takes him on a journey to find him a safer home. Trouble is, now Furble is in even more danger, and so is Molly.
MOLLY GUMNUT RESCUES A BANDICOOT is a completed 32,000 word MG adventure novel.
I’m an active member of a wildlife rescue in
Thank you for your time and consideration. My full manuscript is available upon request.
Sincerely,
This seems like an exciting tale, but the voice is a little young for MG, I think. (Here's I'm thinking of terms like "bad" for animals, and "Daddy" for Dad and "big, mean cat."
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I like the title and think that adventure novels are always attractive -- and the fact that the rescued animal is a bandicoot gives the novel a unique slant on the child and animal tale.
Good luck!
Most kids in the MG range read up, and an eight-year-old protagonist is probably a little young for MG. I think this sounds very cute, and the animal rescue is a good issue to get into kid books. I'm not sure how the first sentence (the part about "not when they're bad") really works with the rest of the query. I think you could go straight into her rescuing the bandicoot from the cat and it'd be a better hook.
ReplyDeleteI love the voice of this - Molly sounds like a stinker, which kids can identify with.
ReplyDeleteI'm very curious as to what major danger she gets herself, and the bandicoot, into. Good hook as far as I'm concerned.
Good luck with this.
I like this query. The plot is explained well. I worry about the voice and age of the protag, could you have her be a year or two older. I'd like to know why she's in more danger as well.
ReplyDeleteI think this sounds interesting, exciting and full of scenery. The query is easy to follow and informative. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteMolly sounds like she could get into a LOT of trouble! I think kids would love a story like this, mainly becasue of the animals. Even kids from other countries would like it, I think. Kids always like learning about things, especially animals that are not common to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment about "but not when they're bad". I think the query would be stronger without it. Unless, of course, Molly gets into a tangle with some bad animal which would be a main part of the story. I'm assuming you mean the cat next door. Is he/she a really bad cat that kills a lot of innocent animals?
Anyway, I love your idea here. And the fact that you work with wildlife, yourself, gives you a unique perspective.
Good luck. I'd love to see this in print. I bet it would have some great illustrations that kids would love.