Penwitch Chronicles

By Jen Lowry

Praylee Parker soon discovers words have much more power than she ever realized. What would a girl wish for if whatever she wrote would come true? Unlimited mint chocolate chip cookies for Grandma and unlimited snow for her! That would mean no school forever, but it would also mean ... a snowpocalypse! Can she save the world with her ne

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781957656229

Jen Lowry

Jen Lowry lives outside of Raleigh, North Carolina and is a proud native of Robeson County. She is the author of a YA contemporary fiction novel, Sweet Potato Jones (2020 with Swoon Romance) and the best-selling Everyday Mom Challenge series. You’ll find her enjoying every second of life spent with her family (preferably in pajamas). If you ask her what she’s reading it’s probably more than one book. Learn more about Jen at www.jenlowrywrites.com and follow her online @jenlowrywrites. The Hartwell Chronicles: Teenage Exorcist  Book Two Release Date – December 13, 2019

Book preview

Chapter 1

There is Magic in the Air

Due to inclement weather, all Fortune City Schools will close tomorrow. Road conditions may be hazardous. Stay indoors unless you have an emergency. Thank you for listening to the A2Z4U radio. Your nonstop airwave of cool tunes from A to Z.

The screeching beep subsides and a new pop song blasts from my yard-sale-find stereo. I jump for joy, still riding the waves of the school-closure announcement. I dig my feet into my carpet and do a tip-toe dance to Monday March, the M song of the day.

No school! No school! I can repeat that phrase all day and not tire of it.

It’s not like I don’t appreciate some parts of the school day, like playing with Dot and Cindy, my best friends since preschool, or hearing Mrs. Longwind act out all the parts in her dramatic readings from Jack’s Tales every day after lunch. There are perks to changing classes too. Fourth-grade year is turning out to be the best yet.

Without knocking, Mom barges in, halting me in mid-air from my riding-the-waves dance moves. Her green eyes survey my messy room. Mom’s hands-on-her-hip routine lets me know she isn’t pleased.

Praylee Parker! What’s all this racket? I’m trying to concentrate.

Mom means she is working on another masterpiece, which usually ends up stored away in the apartment super’s storage garage because she never thinks her paintings are good enough. I don’t know much about art, but I recognize a beautiful painting when I see one. I have a feeling she doesn’t believe in herself. I will, until she can.

I turn down the dial on the stereo a notch. Are you listening to the radio in your studio?

The studio is her bedroom. She demands we call it that out of professional courtesy.

I announce in my radio voice, They called off school tomorrow. It’s a snow day.

Mom raises her hands in protest. Snow? No way. Where have I been the last few days? And why are we having this conversation today? Aren’t you supposed to be at a place for advanced learning and all that jazz?

I point to my kitten calendar tacked on my wall. It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Mom. We honored him last week at school. It was very nice. Dot said a speech. The whole school stood up for her. I was proud.

As the song continues to play, Mom snaps her fingers to the beat. What a fitting song!

She sings along to the anthem.

"We fight for