Sometimes our greatest moments of enlightenment come from our worst mistakes.
When life supplies eleven-year-old Tommy Grant with some unfavorable circumstances intruding on his otherwise tranquil life in rural 1980's Ohio, he retreats into the spell-binding Order of Cosmic Champions. When he discovers that the largely successful animated program and toy line is holding a nationwide ''Create-A-Character'' contest where applicants submit their action figure designs, Tommy knows he has to enter as surely as he knows his own name.
But when Tommy's character design fails to win the contest, he finds his world crumbling from all sides. And there is only one way he knows to fix it.
What follows is a whirlwind coming-of-age adventure of righting wrongs, overcoming perilous obstacles, confronting our inner demons, and challenging the limits of reality. In this waxing nostalgic and imaginative fantasy, readers will discover what excitement lies waiting when you take risks and conquer your fears. Only one question remains: In the final hour when you heed the call, the courage to give your all, will you stand or fall?
Sometimes our greatest moments of enlightenment come from our worst mistakes.
When life supplies eleven-year-old Tommy Grant with some unfavorable circumstances intruding on his otherwise tranquil life in rural 1980's Ohio, he retreats into the spell-binding Order of Cosmic Champions. When he discovers that the largely successful animated program and toy line is holding a nationwide ''Create-A-Character'' contest where applicants submit their action figure designs, Tommy knows he has to enter as surely as he knows his own name.
But when Tommy's character design fails to win the contest, he finds his world crumbling from all sides. And there is only one way he knows to fix it.
What follows is a whirlwind coming-of-age adventure of righting wrongs, overcoming perilous obstacles, confronting our inner demons, and challenging the limits of reality. In this waxing nostalgic and imaginative fantasy, readers will discover what excitement lies waiting when you take risks and conquer your fears. Only one question remains: In the final hour when you heed the call, the courage to give your all, will you stand or fall?
Time had stopped. That was the only reasonable explanation
for Tommy Grant’s continued imprisonment behind the
wooden school desk, its surface etched with lamentations. He
read them for the thousandth time. Tony rulz. I’m sick with pac mania.
Skool food suks. Tammy Toots. He ran his fingers over the peace signs
and hearts, wishing for an end to the drudgery. No other day had ever
been as long.
Tommy dispensed with courtesy and peered over his shoulder to
steal a glance at the time. The round clock mounted on the back wall
was surely a cruel joke set upon the students, ensuring swift punishment
for anyone brazen enough to check it during class. But this wasn’t any
regular day, and the teacher’s scorn held no sway over Tommy. This,
after all, was the last day of elementary school. What could old Mrs.
Tither possibly do? As soon as the bell rang, he’d be gone from that
place, and he’d never look back. Mrs. Tither could scream and threaten
a trip to the principal’s office all she wanted. None of it would matter.
Tommy’s bravery paid off as he discovered only five minutes remained
in his tenure at Golden Pines Elementary.
The teacher didn’t even glance his way, which was weird for old Mrs.
Tither—Withered Tither, as she was referred to in hushed tones on
the playground—who was usually ever vigilant. So much as an implied
note-pass was known to set her flying into an almost comical rage, her
floral dress spinning around her wide frame like a helicopter propeller.
Her face twisted into a flushed mask of indignity, deepening the creases
and crevices of wrinkles as if to prove she was actually withering away
before their eyes.
A worn copy of To Kill a Mockingbird whirred in the VCR, though
no one paid the stuttering picture much mind. There had been rumors
leading up to the last day that some teachers would show The Karate
Kid. Other students claimed they’d get to see Flight of the Navigator.
Tommy dug those kinds of movies—ones like The Goonies, Explorers,
and Stand by Me. There was a new one he’d been dying to see called The
Monster Squad, but he’d have to wait until movie night.
Now even Withered Tither was checking her wristwatch. Time had
grown short indeed. A quick check over his shoulder confirmed, yes,
less than a minute now! The other students around him became shifty in
their seats. Lauren R. straightened her books into a neat pile. Tommy’s
best friend, Evan Winger, groaned audibly as he tapped the desk. The
movie whirred on, ignorant of the students’ disinterest.
“Settle.” Mrs. Tither peered over her glasses, a stern disciplinarian to
the end. “Settle now or I’ll hold you after.”
Could she actually do that?
Tommy looked at Evan, whose face lost all color. His mouth hung
open. Other students gazed at each other questioningly, but no one
had the guts to defy Mrs. Tither’s order and risk having to remain in
the chalk dust–covered room a moment longer than necessary. Enough
of Atticus Finch. Enough of math and English. And as the prophetic
rhyme said, “No more teacher’s dirty looks.” What else could they do
with mere seconds left? They settled. They quieted. They tamped down
all the joy and exuberance and excitement. Down, down, down to the
bottom of their stomachs as the seconds ticked closer to 2:25.
Silence until the second hand found its home and the bell rang.
Tommy’s stomach lurched, ready to spew anticipation like a shaken
bottle of soda. But Mrs. Tither, that withered witch, had one last trick.
She held a finger up as she had so many times before: Wait.
Evan shot an expression of unbridled shock at Tommy. But the
bell had rung! This was the last day of elementary school, and summer
waited outside like an idling ice cream truck.
Where children once sat, only mannequins remained. No one dared
move a muscle, or speak, or question.
Mrs. Tither continued to hold her finger in the air like a dictator
brandishing some glorious blade of triumph. Her gaze held satisfaction,
authority, and yes, a smidgen of malice. Tommy long suspected
that Withered Tither hated children, and this last moment with her
confirmed it.
Tommy’s mother had once referred to his teacher as a schoolmarm,
and that word returned to him as he sat stationary, praying for Mrs.
Tither to lower her dreaded index finger, which had been imbued with
such power that a single gesture could hold a classroom of children in
their seats. What wizardry! What witchcraft! This raised finger alone
could cease invading armies, but she instead used her power against
innocent children wishing for parks and bike rides, ice cream and pools.
Her expression shifted and became villainous, a sneer quivering on
red-painted lips, revealing teeth stained yellow from nicotine. Her eyes
squinted as she gazed upon what Tommy assumed was her most satisfying
plaything: a classroom filled with hopeful children. The enormity
of that moment weighed upon young Tommy’s mind, as if for the first
time in his short life he understood the secret intentions of adults.
With her finger still stabbing the air, she said, “I expect you’d like to
leave now.”
Outside, the cheers and exclamations of luckier students rose into
the clear air like balloons on the wind.
Mrs. Tither gestured to the row of windows and shook her head.
“Go on then. Join your friends.” A smile teased at her lips. “Have a
wonderful summer, and promise me you will savor every moment.” She
lowered her finger as her expression shifted one last time to something
Tommy could not identify. Something sad and lonely.
But he was only eleven years old, and even though he reconsidered
his earlier judgment of Mrs. Tither, the thought was immediately
drowned out by his uproarious classmates leaping from their seats as if
they were on fire.
Sammy C. patted his shoulder and said, “See you at the new school.”
Lauren R. and Howard L. waved on their way through the door. There
were other goodbyes and sayonaras, but they blended together in the
miasma of excitement. Tommy grabbed his backpack and headed for
the door where he expected Evan was waiting, but his best friend had
left him behind.
His stomach twisted. Why did Evan leave without me? They had so
much to talk about. What would they do on their first day of summer?
Where would they explore? What games would they play? But he was
gone, and without so much as a word.
The hallways were crowded with bustling children headed to buses
or parents’ cars. Some lucky few lived within walking distance and as
fifth graders were allowed to go home on their own. A strange sensation
descended on Tommy as he made his way to the front door. A bad
kind of itch, somewhere between his heart and stomach. This would be
the last time he walked these hallways. The last time he sat through a
class with Mrs. Tither. No more lunches in a cafeteria that smelled of
warming trays and disinfectant. No more gym class with Coach Marvin.
No more field days, book fairs, or Hallway Halloween.
In the weeks leading up to this last day of elementary school, all of
those notions had seemed like blessings. But now, as he left the building
he’d occupied for five years, these ideas became awful. Would he even
have classes with Evan anymore? A sadness for the end of school he
never thought possible descended upon him, and it flopped around his
guts like a dying fish.
Deep down, he feared these notions were an omen of things to come.
Tommy and the Order of Cosmic Champions is a story by Anthony D. Grate that is written by Anthony J. Rapino. The writing is great and it appears professionally edited as there are almost no errors in the book, and that added to my enjoyment of the story. Tommy Grant is finishing elementary school with a best friend, parents that can still tolerate one another, and his undying love for Order of Cosmic Champions(OoCC). But things are quickly changing, and that's beyond puberty doing a number on his body.
It seems his friendship has just exploded for no known reason, the threads that are holding his parents' marriage seem to be fraying, and his OoCC relationship is bordering on insanity. But he finds some hope in his crumbling world when the Order of Cosmic Champions Magazine runs a contest that he can enter. This is basically a dream come true for Tommy so it lights a small ember of faith in him. But, will it work out, or will this further shatter his heart?
I will admit that when I started reading this book, I began wondering what I had gotten myself into. It was drastically different from what I imagined. It appeared more fantastical than I cared for. As it so happens, that was simply a stellar introduction to who Tommy is. And I cannot fault the writer for that, even though it nearly scared me off the book. When I read past that, I saw there was more to the story than met the eye. I am a sucker for a layered tale with multi-dimensional characters, and the Anthonys delivered on that.
Because it is a book about a prepubescent boy, it would be suitable for preteens and those in their early teenage years. The relevant themes of family and pubescent angst would make it relatable to such an audience. In this transitional phase of his life, there are other things that might hit a little too close to home for a potential reader. The book includes detailed descriptions of bullying which can bring some hurt back to the surface for some people.