Danger & Doom: Brainless Brother (Volume 1)

“Exciting! … I could barely stop reading your story until I finished it!!”
— Christina (age 8)

“Hilarious!!”
— Martin (age 9)

“He laughed out loud. … An eight-year-old laughing out loud? Success!”
— Sarah, mother of Judson (age 8)

What would you do if your brother lost his mind… literally?

Unusual, amazing, and terrible things always seem to happen to twin boys Daniel and Dominic—that’s why they renamed themselves Danger and Doom—and today, fifteen minutes before the biggest test of the year at school, Danger loses his mind… literally. His runaway brain has a mind of its own, and it's on the loose! Now it's up to his bookworm brother, Doom, to find the clues, track down the brain, battle evil security guards and YouTube-crazy gamers at the greatest video game arcade in town, and somehow get the bitter and vengeful brain back into Danger's head before the test begins. Will he succeed? Or will he have a brainless brother forever?

Danger and Doom: Brainless Brother is the first book in a hilarious and exciting new middle grade action / adventure series for kids ages 8-10. (Short story, 6400 words)

Excerpt…

“The test is in fifteen—” Doom checked the time, “—no, fourteen minutes and there’s 600 pages. Class is a five-or-so-minute sprint from here, so that’s about…a page a second.”

“A page a second?!”

“Quicker, if you can.”

“Can’t we cheat like normal people? Or, ditch?” Danger asked. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. A few dollars were inside. “I still have some allowance, and they’ve got a new shooter game at Game Spot. We could—”

“Look, do you want an F or do you want a D?” Doom said. “This is the deal.”

“But—”

“You’ve already lost ten seconds. Go!”

“Okay okay,” Danger put his wallet back in his pocket, opened a book, and started speed-reading.

Doom stood over him, counting aloud, “Page one, one thousand. Page two, one thousand. Page three, one thousand. Page four, one thousand…”

Five pages in and Danger was already cross-eyed. “My brain hurts. It doesn’t like this.”

“We just started.”

“But I’m serious. It hurts.”

“You asked what I would do. This is what I’d do,” Doom said. “Show your brain who’s boss. No pain, no gain.”

Danger held his aching head in his hands. “Do we have to have the pain to get the gain?”

“Keep going!”

Danger kept reading, but with every page he felt more and more pressure behind his eyes.

“You’re falling behind,” Doom said. “Pick up the pace.”

“I think my brain is angry.”

“That’s it. I’m done.” Doom stood up. “Just tell Hatch you’re an idiot and he’ll automatically fail you. You won’t even have to take the test.”

“I’m not an idiot! I just can’t…I just can’t concentrate with you looking over my shoulder. Stand over there behind that tree,” Danger said, pointing down the tree-lined sidewalk.

“You’re wasting time!” Doom said.

“Go away!”

“Fine. See if I help you again,” Doom grumbled. He walked down the sidewalk and waited behind the tree.

“Alright, brain,” Danger said now that he was alone, “I don’t care if you don’t like this. Memorize this stuff—all of it—now, or no more video games for you. I mean it, brain. I’m the boss and you’ll do what I say, when I say, how I say, and—”

CLICK.

Danger never got to finish his sentence. His brain had had enough.