Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey

By Shevi Arnold

Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey is a funny and touching middle grade novel about friendship, bullying, school pressure, first love, and learning to appreciate the differences that make us special.

Daniel Tyler and Sandra Day Goldberg are like two sides of the same coin. Dan is an artist and a dreamer who believes everything he reads in books, and Sandy is a practical girl with a strong sense of justice. Yet despite their differences, Dan and Sandy have been best friends since kindergarten.

Now they are nearing the end of middle school, and they must deal with pressure from both one of their teachers and their peers. Their history teacher, Mrs. Fallon--also known as "The Dragon"--seems to enjoy belittling and failing her students. And Jade, the school bully and class queen bee, is trying to pressure Dan to do something he knows is wrong. What's more, Dan is in love with Gwen, and Sandy is beginning to wonder if she still has a place in her best friend's life. Things go from bad to worse when Jade labels Dan the "Geek King of New Jersey" and spreads vicious gossip about him.

Can Dan and Sandy overcome the Dragon? Can they stop the bullying and gossip? Will Dan win Gwen's heart? And how will Dan and Sandy's friendship survive it all?

This touching, sweet and funny children's novel based on the classic Don Quixote will have readers rooting for its heroes and laughing out loud!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shevi Arnold
• Release date: Aug 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781936242047

Shevi Arnold

Until her return to the United States in 2001, Shevi Arnold was the consumer columnist for Israel’s oldest and largest English language daily, The Jerusalem Post. She also worked for that paper as an arts-and-entertainment writer specializing in comedy and children’s entertainment. For four years she edited a comics magazine, and for seven years she was the cartoonist and illustrator of a religious newsweekly. Her educational background includes degrees in English Literature and Theater Studies, as well as a teacher’s certificate. Like Dan and Sandy, she loves to read, but she loves to write, and share her stories with readers, even more. Shevi Arnold now lives in a beautiful little town in New Jersey with her husband and two children. You can find her website at http://www.shevistories.com.

Book preview

Dan Quixote

Boy of Nuevo Jersey

Shevi Arnold

With affection to my fellow FantasyWeavers: Melinda, SR, Tracy, Sarah, Kat, Kate, Ted, Siobhan and Angela, and also to my dear friends on the SCBWI boards, on Twitter, and on Facebook. Thanks!

Shevi

Published by Play Along Media, LLC

© Copyright by Shevi Arnold, 2004

Smashwords Edition 2011.

All rights reserved. The copying and distribution of this book or parts thereof (excluding short quotes for the purpose of review) via the Internet or any other means without written permission from the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized copies of copyrighted books, and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

1 Getting Real

2 The Dragon and the Queen Bee

3 The Knight and the Princess

4 Bewitched

5 Sandy Alone

6 The Wall

7 The Bee’s Sting

8 The Fall and Rise of King Dan

9 Dragon Studies

10 Detention

11 The Road Taken

12 Taking Care of Bees

13 Epilogue

14 About the Author

~chapter one~

Getting Real

No, Dan, don’t! Sandy shouted.

Too late. Dan was already sprinting at bullet speed straight into a brick wall. Sandy tried to grab him, but her hand missed the back of his sweatshirt by a fraction of an inch. She cringed. He crashed and crumbled to the grimy, gray tiled floor of the train station. A white-haired woman screamed. People gathered around.

Should we call an ambulance? someone asked.

Sandy crouched over Dan. The oversized football helmet had twisted around to the other side, and the back of it covered his face. Oh, God, it had better be just your helmet and not your head that’s on backward, Sandy thought.

Are you all right? a conductor asked.

Sandy held her breath. There was a long pause before Dan’s muffled voice replied.

Sure.

He sat up and leaned against the wall. The helmet slid around again so that the opening almost returned to the front, and Sandy could see his familiar freckled face and bright green eyes. She let out a sigh of relief.

You know if you hadn’t been wearing that thing, the conductor said, you could have seen where you were going.

Dan shook his head; the helmet waggled from side to side.

Oh, I knew exactly where I was—

Oh, God, Sandy thought, he’s going to say it. She threw her arms around Dan and stopped him in mid-sentence, crying, Dan, I’m so glad you’re okay!

Yes, but I’ve missed the Hogwart Express.

Sandy’s shoulder and head drooped to one side. When was he going to learn to keep his mouth shut?

What’s the Hogwart Express? asked the conductor.

It’s from the Harry Potter movies, said a man in a brown suit. He snickered, but put a hand over his mouth to hide it.

It’s from the books, said a little woman with little glasses and short, dark hair. It’s a fantasy series by J.K. Rowling. Surely, you’ve heard of it.

The conductor rolled his eyes. You mean to say that this kid ran into a wall on purpose because of something he saw in a movie??

This was nothing. Sandy remembered what Dan had done six years earlier after he read Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking-Glass. He still had the scar on his right arm to prove it. Just one more year of bad luck to go.

Sandy grabbed Dan’s hand and helped him up. He’s delirious, she said. He might have a concussion. We just came back from seeing a football game.

There’s no game today, said the man in brown.

A high-school football game. She tried to look serious but could feel herself blush. This guy was not going to buy it.

Oh, the man in brown replied.

Well, what do you know? He did.

You really ought to be more careful, the conductor said. He held up his hands in an authoritative manner and spoke loudly to the crowd. The boy’s fine. There’s nothing to see here, so just move along.

As the people walked away, Dan got back on his feet and leaned against the wall to steady himself.

"This is like the part in The Chamber of Secrets, he said, where someone tried to prevent Harry from getting to school. We just have to figure out who."

Oh, I know who, Sandy said.

You do? Who was it?

Reality.

Don’t be ridiculous, Sandy. Ow! Dan put his hand to his forehead and blinked. I probably should have got a football helmet that fit better.

No, you should have used your bicycle helmet. Wait a minute, what was she saying?

It’s not as tough as this one, Dan said. And it doesn’t have a faceguard. Anyway, getting back on track, reality is only for boring people. It doesn’t have anything to do with us.

You think so, huh? Here’s a little reality check for you--it’s a school night, and we’ve got a ton of homework.

Who cares? Dan shrugged and started walking back to the train-station exit.

Obviously not you. Sandy followed him. You couldn’t care less that we’re in eighth grade.

So?

So we’re going to high school next year.

So?

So our grades are going to matter.

Yeah, right. Dan laughed. There’s just one high school in this town.

They climbed down the stairs and unchained their bikes.

Yeah, well, you could always get bussed out of district with the special-ed kids.

Give me a break.

Sandy sighed.

Our grades this year matter, because the class we get in high school matters. You don’t want us to get split up, do you?

Dan shook his head, then winced and touched his forehead again.

Are you sure you’re okay? Sandy asked.

I’m fine, he grumbled. Let’s go do our homework.

They pushed their bikes onto the asphalt, mounted them and started pedaling. As they passed Sandy’s house, she reminded herself to call home when they got to Dan’s apartment. She wanted to let her parents know where she was, not that they would be worried. Her parents wouldn’t even be at home. Her older brother Josh had his own cell phone, and her younger sister Rachel hardly ever picked up the house one, so Sandy would leave a voice mail or a message with her older sister Elisa. Elisa would be annoyed at being told something she already knew. Of course Sandy was with Dan. Sandy and Dan were always somewhere together, just the two of them. It had been that way since they were five. Sandy’s mom sometimes said they were two sides of the same coin. Although Sandy and Dan never saw eye to eye, it would be impossible to separate them.

Let’s not do our history homework! Dan shouted over his shoulder. Sandy’s bike lagged behind to make room for a passing car.

It’s going to take us hours, so we’ll do it last! she called back.

They passed houses with jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts, and glow-in-the-dark witches still outside, and two already decorated with reindeer, elves, and waves of red and green lights. The thick branches over their heads had been so beautiful only a month ago, covered in the most dazzling mix of red, green, orange and yellow leaves. In another month they might be full again with sparkling white snow. Now they were neither bare nor beautiful, their spindly limbs like twisted fingers still holding onto a few brown reminders of their former glory. Early November was such an in-between time.

Sandy caught up to Dan at the corner that turned into the apartment complex. Each identical building housed four families and had a small plot of