PW #232: Middle Grade Contemporary Adventure/Humor: CANADA OR BUST

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: A. E. Conran

Mentee Name: Colleen Bennett

Title: CANADA OR BUST

Category: Middle Grade

Genre: Contemporary Adventure/Humor

Word Count: 54,000 words

Pitch:

Puny eleven-year-old Hollis Fitcher has one goal—become a pro-wrestling legend! When the WWE announces an open tryout in Canada, Hollis hatches a plan and hits the road in a veggie-oil powered Winnebago with his best friend and lovesick uncle. Battling time, enemy spies, and loose Underoos, Hollis must “deathlock” his impetuous ways or risk not only his wrestling dreams but his closest friendship.

Excerpt:

I knotted my red mask with the yellow lightning bolt behind my ears and peeked out the eyeball holes. It was like he was there, standing on my bed, staring back at me from the mirror.
THE BOLT—the greatest heavyweight WWE champion of all time! And I was his double. Except for my string bean arms. And chalk stick legs. And my teeny peanut head, which I’ve been told looks sorta like an eraser. But none of that mattered. THE BOLT could overcome anything.
“ANYTHING!” I shouted.
I grunted at myself like a gorilla then flexed my beanbag muscles out by my sides. And down towards my feet. And then over my head. “Is he on yet?”
“Nope. Not yet,” Parker T, my best friend, yelled from the den. “But soon. Commercial’s almost over.”
Then, just like he does every time we watch WWE, I heard him pop open a bag of pork rinds (Parker T’s crazy about the rinds) and turn up the sound.
That’s how I knew. Commercial ending. Pork rinds open. Sound up. IT WAS TIME!
I tightened the clasp on the last rung of my gold limited edition WWE championship belt (the one THE BOLT wore when he won the title for the THIRD TIME), making sure it didn’t yank down my sweat shorts again. Then I jumped off the bed into my bellyacher powerslam, grabbed my inhaler, and ran downstairs.