The Samantha Granger Experiment: FUSED - Softcover

Townsend, Kari

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1402240422 ISBN 13: 9781402240423

Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers, 2010

Synopsis

After Sam is fused with her cell phone, she's ready to conquer the world! Or at least the 8th grade...

When Samantha Granger touches a meteor while talking on her cell phone, her life is changed forever: her body now has all the capabilities of her phone (GPS, phone, text, camera). She secretly calls herself a "Digital Diva" as she rushes to answer emergency calls. But will her identity be discovered when sparks fly (literally!) between her and Trevor, her dreamy crush? Samantha has to get a handle on her abilities and quick, because when Trevor and a group of friends get lost in the forest, Sam is the only one around to save them.

About this title

About the Author:

Kari Lee Townsend lives in Central New York with her very understanding husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter, who keep her grounded. Kari has a masters in English Education and has been both a winner and finalist in several online writing contests, including the Amazon Breakout Novel Contest.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

From Chapter One: Zapped!

"Oh, my God, you're not going to believe this!" I spoke in my cell phone to my best friend, Melody Stuart, as I cut through the woods from her house to mine. Thank you, fashion gods, for the layered look. Shivering, I buttoned my short, blue velour jacket over my long black-and-silver sparkly tanks to keep out the September evening air.

We lived in the Adirondack Mountains, and the setting sun had made the path home hard to see. I'd been a Girl Scout since forever. This should not be happening to me! "I'm lost," I said.

"Again?" Melody the Drama Diva shrieked right on cue. I'd moved to Blue Lake from the West Coast at the beginning of summer and had been nervous about meeting new friends. But when I showed up to soccer camp the first day and saw that Melody wore the same vintage ribbon as me around her ponytailed hair, I knew I'd met my partner in crime.

"Samantha...how do you get lost? You, Ms. Queen of Technology, who gets the latest everything. Doesn't your new cell phone have that built in find-my-way-anywhere thingy?"

"Yeah, but my mom works for Electro. She practically gets all that stuff for free."

"You're lucky."

Mel wished she had parents like mine: ones who bought her whatever she wanted. Hers never gave her anything except their time.

"No, you're lucky," I said. "I'd love to have a brother or sister."

Mel was the oldest of five children, with an at-home mom and a teacher for a dad. They might not have a lot of money, but they did a ton of family stuff. I'd trade all my electronics to have my parents back together.

"Quit changing the subject. How did you get lost again?"

I groaned. "I know I have this awesome phone and everything. But the extra navigation thing doesn't do me much good when I'm too busy texting and talking to you to remember to turn it on. The phone's got all these crazy functions and apps. I still haven't figured out how to use half of them."

"I'm surprised your mom gave you something so high tech. It's not like any cell phone I've ever seen."

"I was surprised, too, but whatever. It's mine now." I hit the speaker-phone icon and stepped over a fallen tree trunk, trying not to snag the green satin ribbon on my black leather ballet flats as I sat down to program the GPS feature for home.

"My getting lost is your fault, too, you know."

"Nice try, genius." Melody's voice rang out even louder through the speaker, making her tone anything but melodious.

"I try," I said, grinning.

"Well, try harder. This one is all you, Dorothy." She snorted. "You'd better click your heels and follow the yellow brick road home before your mom sounds the alarm. I've seen how she gets when you miss curfew."

"You have no idea." My mom is the queen of sophistication. A top executive with a calm but aggressive manner. She never loses her cool about anything, except when it comes to my safety. She wouldn't stop short of turning the town upside down to find me. "See you in school tomorrow."

I hung up, still holding my fully charged, top-of-the line little friend as though it were Dorothy's ruby-red slippers and my ticket home. My phone was my life. What if someone special wanted to text me? I was officially a teenager now. My eighth-grade year. New home. New school. New friends. I just wanted to be accepted, to fit in. And, okay, to experience my first kiss. I'd even picked out the perfect boy.

Trevor Hamilton.

I sighed dreamily as I stood and wiped off the back of my low-rise jeans, and then held the GPS feature of my phone up before my eyes. Squinting, I struggled to see the map since I didn't have my glasses on and I'd turned the volume down. That annoying, monotone talk-like-I-have- an-IQ-of-10 voice drove me nuts. I'd rather take my chances following the highlighted route, even if I did wind up in Oz.

The colorful fall leaves, twigs, and acorns crunched beneath my feet, and the smell of pine hung heavy in the air, reminding me of the cleaner Gram used. I picked up the pace, knowing my mom would call out the cavalry if I was more than five minutes late. The last thing I wanted was for Trevor's dad, Sheriff Hamilton, to come to my rescue-again!

A light up ahead caught my attention, and I prayed to the god of have-pity-on-me that it wasn't a search party with a flashlight. As I walked closer, I wilted. No Sheriff Hamilton in sight, just...well, I wasn't sure. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen.

I came to a stop and stared at an enormous hole in the ground with a bright blue-green light shining within. I needed to get home, but curiosity grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. Like discovering where your parents hid your Christmas gifts and trying to resist the urge to take a peek.

I crept forward, trembling a little. Maybe some new kind of rare gem was down there, and I would be the first one to discover it. I'd be famous. Now that would definitely make the other students at Blue Lake Junior High think I was cool.

I hurried my steps until I stood on the edge of the hole and then blinked rapidly. What the heck was it? The rock inside the hole was huge and sort of looked like a crystal, but it glowed so brightly that it hurt my eyes. It smelled like the time my mom forgot she had eggs boiling. I was no science dork, but it didn't take a genius to figure out this thing wasn't "of this world." A need to know what it felt like settled over me. The crystal looked sort of watery, yet solid. Just one little touch. What could it hurt? I touched the tip of my finger to the freaky, glowing crystal-type thingy.

Not a good idea.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1402240422
• ISBN 13: 9781402240423
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208