- Paperback: 278 pages
- Published: 12/4/18
- IBSN: 9781617757112
- e-IBSN: 9781617757136
- Hardcover
- IBSN: 9781617757129
- Genre: Fiction
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The Underdog Parade
During the summer of the drought, a boy must decide if his neighbor’s ark is lunacy or a lifeline.
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What people are saying…
“[Protagonist] Peter . . . is appealing, and readers will applaud his small triumphs.”
—Booklist
“I fell in love with Michael Mihaley’s band of misfit characters. They show us anything is possible with a little bit of faith and a whole lotta heart.”
—Barbara J. Taylor, author of All Waiting Is Long
“In The Underdog Parade, author Michael Mihaley weaves a panoply of issues—including epilepsy, physical disability, and bullying—into a compelling, life-affirming narrative. The seeming simplicity of the story belies the sophistication of the work, and the twists of the story line and true-to-life characters prove delightfully surprising. A treasure for readers of any age, The Underdog Parade promises to be an instant classic reminiscent of works like To Kill a Mockingbird. Crack open this book, and you will not put it down!
—Gary R. Brown, author of The Coney Island Fakir
Description
It’s the summer of the drought, but thirteen-year-old Peter “Nemo” Grady has bigger problems on his mind than the weather. He hates his new home in the exclusive golf club community Willow Creek Landing. His parents are always fighting and he can’t escape the memory of his last seizure—when he flopped around the gymnasium floor like a fish out of water—earning him his dreaded nickname. To top it all off, Peter has no friends, but he receives plenty of unsolicited attention from Chipper, the boy scout super-bully who also happens to be a resident of Willow Creek. His only companion is his little sister, CJ, who thinks she is Wonder Woman.
Peter is all too aware that you don’t need rain in the forecast to have dark clouds overhead.
Things change when he meets his new neighbor, the mysterious Joshua, who predicts the drought will end with a storm of biblical proportions. Peter looks to his visiting, wheelchair-bound Uncle Herb, and his neighbors, Mr. James and Mr. Terry, for guidance as Josh prepares for imminent doom. With each passing day, Peter realizes that sooner or later he will have to rely on the strength of the lamest, most jelly-weak individual he knows—himself.
Part of Akashic’s Oddities Kaylie Jones Books imprint. Oddities Kaylie Jones Books is our experimental line that focuses on unconventional, edgy, risk-taking novels that boldly defy the traditional forms and conventions of the literary novel, with a focus on YA, horror, and mystery. While our primary emphasis is fiction, we will make space for exceptional memoirs with nontraditional elements and themes.
- Subjects: Kaylie Jones Books, Literary Fiction, Oddities KJB, Young Adult/Middle Grade
- Tags: epilepsy, flood, Kaylie Jones Books, Michael Mihaley, Oddities, Oddities KJB, The Underdog Parade, young adult
Book Details
Author
MICHAEL MIHALEY received his MFA in creative writing & literature from Stony Brook Southampton. He is an ELA/special education teacher on the east end of Long Island. He lives in Stony Brook, New York, with his wife Jacqueline, two children, Maddy and Mikey, and his Kentucky mutt, Hazy. The Underdog Parade is his latest novel.