1. THE TIMES of London
The Times/ChickenHouse Children's Fiction Competition
1. 10 January 2013
ChickenHouse longlistextract: Dangerand the Mystery of Camp Mova
We’re running extracts from the 16 longlisted authors in The Times/Chicken
House competition to find a great children’s writer. Patricia Bebe McGarry’s entry,
Emily Reddington has made a hugely exciting discovery at the dump. But when she
takes Danger the tiny T-Rex home with her she gets rather more than she bargained
for. Emily is promptly sent off to camp for the summer and has no choice but to take
her troublesome new ‘pet’ along. In this extract we hear all about Emily’s surprising
find.
Emily stopped at the “Dump” and was about to eat a peanut butter
sandwich she’d made.
“OWWW, UGGGHHHH, OWWWW, HRRRR, HRRR,” Emily heard.
Emily peeked around the corner. Dirt was flying everywhere. Was that a
dinosaur screaming and holding his stomach?
At first Emily was scared because she’d never seen anything like this.
Emily remembered that she’d picked up a bee, and she was brave.
Emily went a little closer.
“AHHHH, OOWWW, HELPPP, HELLLPPPPP, YEOWWWW,” she heard.
What drama, Emily thought.
“Ouhhhhh, eowwww, aahhhhhhhhh, ughhhhhhh.” Was that a dinosaur
rocking faster and faster?
“Yeooowwww, ohhhh, whhhhaaa, yeowwwwww,” Emily yelled rolling on
the ground.
The dinosaur, if that was true, looked ready to escape.
“STOPPPPPPPPP!” Emily yelled. She put her hand up and was in a
“Crow” pose.
“It” copied her.

2. Emily hopped around. “Emily-human”.
“Danger-T Rex,” Danger said, hopping around.
Danger, Emily thought, Danger. He was almost close enough for Emily to
touch. WOW, Wow, WOW, she told herself. Was this really what she thought it
was? Was it real?
..
Editorial feedback-Chickenhouse publishing 2013
DANGER AND THE MYSTERY OF CAMP MOVA
Patricia Bebe McGarry
Comic adventure story for 8+
Emily is eight-years-old and a bit of a madam – she runs away from home
because her mother got her tennis shoes instead of Puma soccer shoes. But
when Emily stops at the LA dump to eat a sandwich her life changes forever. Out
of the dump emerges a miniature T Rex, about 50 cm taller than she is,
munching on a mouthful of food he’s found there, and they become friends.
COMMENT: I really do think there’s something to consider here which is why I
have chosen it as one of my picks. There a wacky imagination at work and I also
think there’s great potential for a series. In its current form it’s geared to the US
market quite strongly, but there might be a way of toning down this angle and
giving it more general English-speaking appeal so that it has a chance of being
considered in the world market. A good literary agent would be able to advise
more on this of course.
E-books also spring to mind. I think it would benefit from having some
illustrations too which would really help to bring the story alive. Danger’s motto is
‘Harm no living thing!’ – not bad as a catch phrase these days – so I think with
some with some polishing, this could make a truly engaging novel which younger
children will adore.”