What do you call it when a book gets 73 straight rave reviews and you haven’t heard of it yet?
You could call it a cult classic. And you’d be right.
You could say that’s just the folks at Kindle Nation Daily doing their job for us readers. And you’d be right.
Or you could call it THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY by Betty Dravis. And you’d be right again.
The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley
Here’s what readers are saying about THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY by Betty Dravis:
- “The next movie toon phenomenon!… Hollywood needs to recognize this novel as a guaranteed motion picture gold-mine. We all know that children’s novels and animated movies have blockbuster sales potential… The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley is a unique and very well written book. The sentences are totally visual and the subject-matter deals with Computer Toonies as opposed to the typical Animal Toonies that the public is already familiar with.” – J. Buchanan, author (N. Hollywood, CA)
- “Reminiscent of Oz creations! …Between the unique description of the Mischief Makers, and the distinctive “good guys”, it was reminiscent of some of Baum’s magnificent creations in his classic Oz series….” – T. Burger, (Chicago) Top 100 Amazon Reviewer
- “A unique novel for all ages! …I was quite mesmerized by the fact that the plot of the story was so original and unique, and truly held my interest from beginning to end… With her fabulous imagination, Dravis obviously has the potential to become one of the great children’s authors of our time.” – Erica Sorocco, (Southern California), Top 500 Amazon Reviewer, newspaper writer
- “Modern James and the Giant Peach! …Betty Dravis’s ability to present real people, places, and things in the midst of a fantasy story is very close to what I strive for in my own writings…. The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley is truly a modern James and the Giant Peach or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory kind of tale.” – J. H. Sweet (Texas), author of The Fairy Chronicles
- “Already a cult classic. Three cheers for Betty Dravis!”—Linda Collison, author of Star Crossed
- “Toonies is what I would call a modern, high-tech fairy tale, probably one of the first of its kind. Hans Christian Anderson, you of the old school, eat your heart out!” – DC, Amazon Reviewer
- “This is a great science-fiction fantasy story for kids of all ages, or for those who are young at heart. Although the story of good versus evil has been told thousands of time, it’s never been told quite like this. You’ll appreciate Ms. Dravis’ insight into the behind-the-scenes workings of a young teenager’s mind, and laugh-out-loud at the humorous scenarios her humans and Toonies find themselves in. This story is a real winner!” —Jennifer Wardrip reviewer for TeensReadToo.com
Check out the book trailer, or better yet, enjoy the free excerpt below — but don’t miss this book!
An excerpt from
The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley
by Betty Dravis
— Chapter 1 —
Is Jeremy Going Nuts?
The day the Toonie leaped out of Jeremy Kern’s computer and landed smack-dab in the middle of his life, he thought he was going nuts. Was he imagining things? Or was the funny little cartoon character for real?
The Toonie’s name was Doog and if he was real, Jeremy had a big problem. Doog was the main character in a popular cartoon strip he had created called “Doog Days,” which dealt with children’s problems.
At the young age of twelve, Jeremy was already well known in Silicon Valley, and Doog was very popular with the Valley kids. They followed Doog’s adventures in the cartoon that was featured weekly in the San Jose Mercury News, the closest large newspaper to the Kerns’ rambling hillside home in Los Altos, California. When Jeremy had created Doog with Wise-guy––his pet name for his Orange computer––the boy never dreamed that anything like this would happen.
But here Doog sat, staring at Jeremy with a big, bold, mischievous grin. And he wasn’t INSIDE the computer. How could that be?
Angry voices echoed down the hallway, pulling Jeremy back to reality. He frowned as he thought of his parents, Arthur and Jessica Kern. They were always arguing these days and when they raised their voices, it frightened him. Shut up! Shut up! he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, but he couldn’t bring himself to defy them.
This had been going on for five killer weeks. Weeks that pitted his father against his mother, with him in the middle. Weeks that only saw an end to the raised voices, slamming doors and banging cupboards when one of his parents stormed out of the room…or the house.
The atmosphere in the house was so oppressive, Jeremy stayed in his room most of the time, escaping into his computer. He couldn’t face his parents or his friends, so avoided everyone. And he missed them, especially his best friend, Buddy O’Hara. And, yes, he had to admit he missed Buddy’s little tag-along sister too. Ashley was Buddy’s twin and the three had been friends since first grade.
Jeremy knew he was chicken for not talking to his parents, or at least sharing his problem with his friends. But he just couldn’t talk about it yet.
Sheesh!… Would he ever be ready?
Up until they began the constant bickering, his parents had been so perfect he was the envy of all his friends. Jeremy had everything he could want: decent, successful parents, good friends, a good education and plenty of good food…lots of pizza.
But now he was so confused he didn’t know what to do; so sad he’d bet a CD that even Buddy couldn’t make him laugh. Every time his parents raised their voices, his pulse raced, his stomach churned and sharp pinpricks of pain stabbed him behind the eyes. He was afraid they would do the ugly thing–the divorce thing–like so many of his friends’ parents.
Jeremy was pleased with all the attention his cartoon strip was bringing him, but his parents’ arguments were really getting him down, making it almost impossible to be creative.
How could he think straight when his life was such a mess?
That had to be why he was imagining things now. How else could he explain the twelve-inch Toonie with the bushy red eyebrows that was standing beside his computer?
–Chapter 2–
Jeremy’s Problem
About two hours before Jeremy discovered the Toonie, his parents had another nasty argument during dinner. He had been biting into a piece of roast beef when his stomach turned over and his heart began to beat faster. His mom made great roast beef, but with his folks bickering at each other, everything tasted like cardboard.
Jeremy wanted to excuse himself from the table, but the words wouldn’t form around the lump in his throat, so he stared at his plate and tried to finish his meal. Then, like a total nerd, he dropped his fork, spattering gravy all over the white tablecloth. His face tingled with a flush of embarrassment and anger as he scowled at his parents, then shoved his plate away with such force he knocked over a glass of milk.
Sheesh!…What a geek!
Unable to squeak out an apology, Jeremy jerked to his feet and stomped out of the room. And as usual, he ran to his room to escape into his computer. He was depressed as he booted up Wise-guy and went to work on “Doog Days,” but after about an hour’s work, he managed to forget his problems for a while.
Later, he studied the new sketches he had done, zoomed in on Doog’s image and put a few finishing touches to his drawing. Suddenly he began thinking about the day he had named his interesting little character. His parents had said it was “a perfect name” when he told them that Doog was “good” spelled backward, or short for do-gooder.
One thought led to another and Jeremy finally reached a painful decision: He decided to have Doog overhear his cartoon parents arguing, then develop a storyline around the idea. He was certain kids his age who read the cartoon would relate to parents arguing. And maybe–just maybe–his own parents would read it and realize what they were doing to him.
Jeremy disliked bringing his personal problems into the cartoon, but by solving Doog’s make-believe problem, he might be able to solve his own real problem. That should please his parents; they were always after him to be self-sufficient. “Use that noggin, son,” his father often said. “That’s what God gave it to you for.”
Jeremy closed that cartoon strip, then went to work on his new idea. Dragging his mouse control around the computer pad, he created Doog’s on-screen bedroom. He was drawing a sad expression on Doog’s face, similar to his own, when his parents began arguing again. He leaned into the computer and drew a few more strokes, trying to concentrate. Finally, he covered his ears to block the noise coming through the walls so he could focus on his drawing, but it didn’t work.
Sheesh!…Why couldn’t his parents behave themselves? Why couldn’t they talk it out? They were always telling him to talk his problems out. Yeah…right.
Since he was unable to focus on Doog, Jeremy gave an exasperated huff, shoved the mouse aside, slammed his fists on the workstation, then pushed his chair away from the computer.
Still hoping to block the noise, he had run to his bed, flopped down on his back and was pressing a pillow against his ears when he heard a squeaky voice: “What’s the matter, Jer?”
Startled, Jeremy dropped the pillow and jerked up. Who said that? Had Buddy stolen in, up to his usual tricks? He scanned the room, his eyes darting in all directions, and was confused when no one was there. He grabbed the pillow again and just as he fell back against the mattress, he heard the voice again.
“It’s me, Jer… Doog …”
“Doog? But that’s impossible,” Jeremy blurted. He felt so foolish his cheeks flushed redder than his Stanford sweatshirt. “Talking to myself––yuk!” he muttered. “I’ve really flipped out this time.”
Spooked, Jeremy shook his head to clear it when a sudden movement on the computer screen drew his eyes. He thought he saw Doog wink at him, so he dashed over to the computer where his hand shot out to check Doog’s eye.
And that’s when it happened! The cartoon character leaped feet-first out of the computer onto the boy’s desktop, elongating as he flowed through the screen.
Jeremy was so shocked he almost jumped out of his skin. He stared in fascination at Doog. As the cartoon kid slid out of the computer into the world, he grew to about four times his on-screen height, but was flat, like a sheet of paper. When drawing his characters, Jeremy had always thought of them as three-dimensional–that was where his artistic imagination came in–but to see Doog so definitely one-dimensional blew his mind.
And what was that strange, eerie glow all around Doog? It looked like a fluorescent green vapor. And it smelled funny, sort of like when his mother was ironing clothes.
Fearing he was going bonkers, Jeremy froze. As his hand hovered over the mouse control, it trembled like a nervous hummingbird. Looking as though a wizard had zapped him, the boy stared at Doog, his jaw hanging open.
To Jeremy, except for a few dimensions, Doog looked the same off-screen as on. His orange hair fell impishly across his forehead and he had so many freckles it looked like someone had thrown a bowl of oatmeal at him. Jeremy’s mother called freckles “fairy footprints,” but Doog’s looked like brown stars to Jeremy. And Doog’s green eyes were twinkling, alive with curiosity, but the one feature that captivated Jeremy most was Doog’s bushy, untamed orange eyebrows. They clumped up in wild spikes and were totally bizarre.
I did a good job on those brows, darted through Jeremy’s mind.
He rubbed his eyes to erase the vision and when he opened them, Doog was still standing there, his bold, bright brows arched to his hairline. Jeremy remained motionless, speechless as he gawked at Doog.
Wow!
Doog couldn’t be real…. He couldn’t be standing there OUTSIDE the computer like that. What the heck was going on?
Jeremy’s mind was racing from reality to fantasy, somewhere between Los Altos Land and Cartoon Land. He was overwhelmed with visual data that contradicted what he’d been taught all his life. He was stunned.
At that point, Doog broke the silence. He lifted his flat paper hand, saying in a bird-like little voice, “Give me five, dude.”
As Doog’s hand fluttered out, Jeremy automatically slapped his fingers against Doog’s in the familiar, high-five greeting. The strength in Jeremy’s friendly gesture sent the cartoon character swirling to the floor. Landing on his back, Doog grinned up at Jeremy. “Easy, Jer. I’m a lightweight…paperweight, you might say.” Then from his spot on the carpet, Doog glanced around the room, taking in Jeremy’s collections. “Oh, wow, for a computer whiz, this room’s not bad…a regular treasure chest. CDs, DVDs, computer hardware…cartoon collectibles…”
Still in shock, Jeremy shook his head, unable to believe what was happening. When he finally found his voice, he said, “M-man, I…I don’t believe this. How’d you get out?”
Drawing himself to his feet, Doog playfully snapped his bowtie and smiled–showing the gap between his middle teeth. “In Cartoon Land,” he said, “the only thing that allows us to have contact with humans is sympathy. When we see someone in deep trouble, then we can speak to him.
“As for getting out, I don’t know how that happened. As far as I know, the only one who’s ever been out is Uncle Wom. And that was a long time ago. But right now, dude, you need someone to talk to and I’m here to listen. After all, I’m always between a rattlesnake and a cobra, and you’re the one who writes me out of trouble. Hmm, come to think of it, you write me into it, too, but we’ll talk about that later.
“‘What goes around, comes around,’ as Uncle Wom says. Now it’s my turn to help you. I can’t do much, but I’m a good listener.”
Good listener? Jeremy thought. Doog talks more than Ashley’s girlfriends.
But just who was Uncle Wom?
Before he could question Doog, the Toonie clambered onto the keyboard where he pulled himself to full height…twelve inches to be exact. Tossing his mane of pumpkin-colored hair back like a proud stallion, he hooked his thumbs around his stars-and-stripes suspenders and stared intently at Jeremy.
Doog’s such a cool little guy, Jeremy thought. And funny too. He’s rockin’… Fine! So much better in real life than in the comic strip. But Jeremy wondered how Doog grew longer when he flowed through the computer screen.
Jeremy and Doog stayed like that–real-life boy, his mouth wide open, and cartoon boy, his stance challenging–for several heartbeats before Jeremy found his voice again. He tried to be cool like a teen his age should be, but no matter how hard he blinked them back, tears stung Jeremy’s eyes when he told Doog his father had lost his job at Orange Computer after twenty years of service.
Jeremy told Doog about his mother’s wish to get a part-time, temporary job and how his father objected to her working outside the home. He frowned when he explained about his father’s pride in being the family’s sole support and that he wanted to use some of their life savings until he found another job. That money was meant for Jeremy’s education and for his parents’ retirement, so his mother was against touching it.
“D-Doog, that’s why they’ve been arguing,” Jeremy said, his voice breaking. “They…they used to get along so good. They never argued about anything, but lately that’s all they do. Mom mentioned taking me and going to Grandma’s if Dad touches their savings. That really scares me. I d-don’t know what to do.”
As Jeremy spoke about his problems, Doog never shifted his gaze from his creator. But when the boy wound down, the bushy-browed cartoon character said, “That’s really tough, Jer, but you gotta talk to ’em, man. Let ’em know how you feel. You gotta be honest with your friends, too.”
Jeremy and Doog were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Jeremy’s mother. “Honey, I’ve come to say good night. May I come in?” she asked. The closed door muffled her words.
When Doog heard Mrs. Kern’s voice, he panicked. Jumping from the keyboard, he floated onto the blue carpet and, taking short little leaps, managed to hide behind a white metal file cabinet.
When Jeremy saw Doog take those comical little leaps and bounds, he was fascinated. Floating, fluttering, leaping and jumping seemed to be Doog’s quickest modes of movement. Jeremy smiled as he watched his clever little creation; hiding behind that cabinet, he looked just like a paper doll.
In fact, there were so many cartoon cutouts, storyboards and mock-ups around the room, Jeremy doubted his mother would even look twice at Doog if she did see him. She would simply think he was a paper doll Jeremy was using for a demonstration paste-up.
Jeremy had only seen Doog make leaping movements. He had not seen him walk yet and wondered if he could even get around like that. He was so thin, so flat, so weightless.
There was a lot the boy had to learn about Doog, so he hoped he would be able to get out of the computer often.
Jeremy’s thoughts were overpowered by a more puzzling thought that grasped him, spinning his mind completely around: He didn’t know if he could get Doog back into the computer, let alone let him out at will.
It was then that Jeremy realized Doog could be in serious danger. Could his life be at risk in the earth’s atmosphere? Now that was a sobering thought.
Jeremy had completely forgotten about his mother, so was startled when she walked up behind him. Tapping his shoulder, she said, “I thought I heard voices. Were you talking on the phone to Buddy…or Ashley?”
“No, Mom, I was just going over my comic strip, reading Doog’s lines out loud to see if they sound cool.” He hated to lie to her, but knew he couldn’t tell anyone about Doog…not yet. The truth was, he planned to tell his parents as soon as he figured out exactly what was going on, but first he needed to try to solve the mystery by himself. After all, he was growing up and grown-ups solved their own problems, didn’t they? At least, that’s what everyone said.
“Jeremy, your father and I are worried about you,” his mother said. “We think you’ve been spending too much time with Wise-guy lately and not enough with your friends. Are you okay, honey?”
Jeremy stared up at his mother. He wanted to speak so badly his chin trembled from the effort of clamping his mouth shut. His mind was swimming with questions and he knew this was the perfect time to open up, as Doog had suggested.
He wanted to say, Heck no, Mom. I’m not okay. Can’t you see that? I’m worried about you and Dad…but he still couldn’t get up the nerve. So he faked a smile, gave a polite nod and said, “Sure, Mom, I’m fine, but could you bring me some peanut butter and crackers in case I get hungry later?”
“Are you sure you don’t want something more nourishing?” she asked. “A roast beef sandwich…or chicken noodle soup?”
“I’m not that hungry, Mom,” Jeremy answered. Good old Mom, he thought as he fought to pinch back tears. It took a lot to upset her, so his father must have hurt her feelings pretty bad this time.
“Okay,” his mother said, “and since you’re busy, I’ll just put your snack on the table outside your door.”
After Mrs. Kern closed the door, Doog peeked out from behind the cabinet. His lips were pursed and he was shaking his head back and forth, a look of disappointment on his freckled face.
Jeremy slapped his forehead. “Sheesh! What’s the matter with me, Doog? Why am I such a chicken?” He was so disgusted with himself he couldn’t even look at Doog.
How the heck was he ever going to fix the problem if he couldn’t work up the nerve to talk to his parents? He had missed the perfect opportunity to tell his mom he was worried about them. Worried about what would happen to him. Who would he live with if they got a divorce? And no matter which one he lived with, he didn’t think he could stand being separated from the other one.
Once again Jeremy felt hot tears burning his eyes. He wasn’t only a chicken, he was a crybaby too. And teens weren’t supposed to cry…especially boys. Now he wasn’t so certain this growing-up business was such a rockin’ fine thing, after all.
Continued….
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THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY by Betty Dravis.
About the author:
Betty Dravis – already a Kindle Nation fave with 1106 Grand Boulevard!
“Betty Dravis is a fantastic mix of Shirley Jackson, Edna Buchanan and Janis Joplin. Don’t ask me how I came up with that unlikely comparison––I just feel it, and I haven’t been drinking much tonight….” – Mark LaFlamme, author of “Dirt: An American Campaign”, Box of Lies and more.
Betty Dravis is a retired, award-winning California journalist and newspaper publisher who also hosted a Cable TV talk show. She was listed in several Who’s Who books, is an honorary Kentucky Colonel, an esteemed “Dame of Dialogue,” a member of American Author’s Association, former member of Sigma Delta Chi and San Jose Newspaper Guild. She is the recipient of many California awards, including city, county and state and was a San Jose Woman of Achievement.
In addition to co-authoring Dream Reachers II, Dravis also co-authored the award-winning Dream Reachers (with Chase Von). This talented woman is also the author of three novels: 1106 Grand Boulevard, an epic romantic thriller; The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley, a young adult fantasy adventure; and Millennium Babe: The Prophecy, a supernatural mystery adventure. All three novels are also in electronic format (e-books).
She also has a number of published short stories, writes reviews for Midwest Book Reviews and is an Amazon top reviewer.
Dravis was born in Ohio, but is a long-time California resident. She has four surviving children, two angels in Heaven, nine grandchildren, four “greats” and a great-great granddaughter. The author now lives in Central California where she’s working on her first serial-killer thriller. For more info, visit her website: bettydravis.com
Betty is also working to promote Stem Cell Research, along with her daughter Mindy James, whose son Seth suffered a spinal cord injury in a motocross practice race.
Another of Dravis’s favorite things is interviewing; among those she has interviewed are the “living legend” actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood, country singer/actress Tanya Tucker, the late actress Jane Russell, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, Tanya Tucker, the late San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, actresses/singers Katherin Kovin Pacino and Jenny McShane, actor/producer/director Tony Tarantino, Bryant McGill and many more…the list keeps growing.
(This is a sponsored post.)