And then the big culmination scene happened. You know the one. Pedro finds out he's supposed to have a skit to accompany his big speech. So his tried and true friend, Napoleon, gets up on stage and does the most kick butt impromptu dance of all time.
And then when the music cuts off the entire room grows silent and you're sitting there wondering what's going to happen. And the entire auditorium full of students starts cheering.
And that fast, I was hooked. Been a ND fan ever since. My husband likes it, my kids like it. Every now and then we just need a Napoleon Dynamite night.
It's all good.
So last night, O.S. comes in the kitchen about an hour before Scouts is going to start and asks Husband and I to help him write a speech. They were going to vote on a new Patrol Leader, and he had his heart set on the position. So he got out a piece of paper and agonized over every word. He shot down three fourths of the suggestions we gave, but finally had a good solid speech.
As an afterthought I told him he needed to wrap it up with 'thank you and please--
"Vote for Pedro!" Husband calls out.
I burst out laughing. It was perfect. A solid speech with a dash of catchy wit. It took us a good five minutes to talk O.S. into it. He's a very straight arrow sort of kid, which is usually what you want in an oldest child. But I told him, just this once, to be like Napoleon and go for it. It was a make it or break choice and who knew how it would turn out, but he just might be glad he did it.
I rushed off to Young Women's in a different direction and Husband took O.S. to scouts. Two hours later I came home to a empty house. I started folding laundry, knowing any minute they'd be back. I heard the garage door open and O.S. came trudging up the stairs.
"Did you get it?" I asked.
He looked all dejected and shook his head. Husband followed behind with the rest of the kids. He too looked bummed. O.S. told me it was the Vote for Pedro that made him lose.
Aw, I felt bad.
Just as I opened my mouth to tell him I was sorry, he started grinning and thrust his Patrol Leader patch in my face.
There was great cheering and jubiliation. Pedro had worked after all.
There's a lesson to be learned here.
When you walk through life, don't be afraid to take chances and always remember...
Vote for Pedro
PS: November is the month for giving thanks and we all have much to be thankful for. But my cousin, Erin--this great girl that I hung out with once at a family reunion and still remember twenty some years later-- who is married to this great guy Robison Wells, are having a not so thankful November. Robison is a new author with a brand new YA dystopian, Variant, that has now been named by Publisher's Weekly as one of the best books of 2011. That sounds really happy, right? Here's the unthankful part: Robison has been diagnosed with severe panic disorder. It's causing his brain to be in fight or flight mode constantly. He's working it out, but it's slow going, and he recently got laid off because of it. This has put his family in a hard financial position. Most authors don't make the kind of money you think they do. And this is a bad time of year to be out of money when you're a parent, which Erin and Rob are.
All the authors I know are Book-bombing Rob. That means we are trying to get as many people as possible to buy his book. So if you're up for a great Dystopian--kind of a cross between Matched and Maze Runner--please do me, you and Rob a favor and buy this book. Buy it for yourself, for your kids, for anyone on your christmas list who you think might like being introduced to this new author. (Tres, I'm looking at you;-)
I sure would appreciate it.
--Susan
6 comments:
That does look like a good book. Perhaps I will get it for Scott. He has always appreciated a good dystopian novel.
Tell OS how pleased we are that he is now a Patrol Leader.
Congrats to OS.
Yay for OS!
Good story. Love it. And I got my Variant in the mail. It's shiny and so creepy. YAY!
Oh man, this is hilarious. Love me some ND!!
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