Newt Nemesis

By Ali Sparkes and Ross Collins

Summer camp was going great for Josh and Danny until mad scientist Petty Potts showed up. Sure, her serum turned them into frogs to help them save their new friend Charlie. But the serum didn't completely wear off: all three kids still have frog feet!

They are running out of time to find right antidote before their parents show up. Their best option is to ask Petty to use her S.W.I.T.C.H. formula again. But of course, things don't turn out quite as planned. Do two frogs and a newt stand any chance in a world of hedgehogs, dogs, and poisonous snakes? Josh, Danny, and Charlie are about to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781467740180

Ali Sparkes

Before she became an author, Ali worked as a singer, journalist, magazine editor, assistant to a juggling unicyclist, and comedy columnist on BBC Radio. Ali describes herself as, at heart, an 11-year-old boy, and as a child spent a lot of time building forts, climbing trees, and digging up stuff. 

Book preview

SOCKS. And not just any socks. LONG socks. THICK socks. HOT socks. Socks that had no business being dragged up the legs of any normal person on a day like this.

Camp counselor Amy Jessup was a little worried.

The kids at Outdoor Action Camp were cool. Fashionable. They had the latest footwear and funky, messy haircuts. One of the girls even had a tattoo, it was rumored (although others claimed it was just a lick-and-stick job out of a fashion magazine).

Looking at them, there was no doubt, thought Amy, that they were up-to-the-minute twenty-first century kids.

So what’s with the 1950s Boy Scout SOCKS? she murmured, aloud, staring at Josh and Danny and Charlie, the girl always getting into mischief.

While all the other kids had got rid of their shoes and were wearing surfer-style sandals or flip-flops—or going barefoot—these three were all wearing long gray socks, pulled up to their knees, and heavy hiking boots. And they weren’t going anywhere near the lake or the shallow, winding river where so much fun was being had in the hot sun with dinghies and rafts. Instead, they were huddled under a large oak tree, whispering together.

What are you three up to? called out Amy as she strode toward them. Don’t you want to play in the water? It’s a perfect day for it . . . I’m surprised you’re not eager to get your feet wet!

Ummm, said Josh, while Danny and Charlie plastered wide grins across their faces so fast, Amy was even more suspicious.

Yeah, well . . . actually, said Josh, scratching his short, tufty, fair hair nervously. We were wondering about building a tree house—up there! He pointed up into the impossibly high branches of the oak tree.

Josh, you’d need mountaineering gear to get up this one. Amy laughed. She was nice, sturdy, and jolly with her wavy, brown hair always in a ponytail, and everyone at Outdoor Action Camp liked her.

OK—well go and find a better tree! said Charlie with a bright smile, and she grabbed Josh’s and Danny’s arms and tugged them away while Amy shook her head and shrugged. Kids. Weird. In so many ways.

And these three were weirder than most. As soon as they got around the far side of a small clump of holly bushes, Josh, Danny, and Charlie sat down and sighed. Let’s look again, said Charlie after a few seconds. It might have worn off a bit.

They all rolled their long gray knee socks down to their boots. It looked as if they’d all recently smacked their ankles with bats. The skin was greeny-brown, as if it