This is a fantasy book by M. T. Anderson, written for young people.

quote:

When Brian and Gregory receive an invitation to stay at a distant relative's strange mansion . . .well, they should know better than to go! Trips to distant relatives' strange mansions rarely go well. . . Uncle Max doesn't really know what century he's in. The butler boils socks. And the attic houses the Game of Sunken Places.

Send me your made-up first lines to this riveting story by PM or email!

Just commenting to pop this game to the top of the queue again.

Mine's in your mailbox!

[going UP!]

Come along, now, all of you writers - I only have 3 so far!

On its way.

The Game of Sunken Places by M. T. Anderson

Which is the correct first line?

• 1. There was a place where no one ever went, where no one ever wanted to go.
  
• 2. The day began normal enough.
  
• 3. I watched the boys walk up the path to the house knowing that they would never leave.
  
• 4. Sometimes children just disappear, and are never heard from again.
  
• 5. The woods were silent, other than the screaming.
  
• 6. Mother was calling me again, but I ignored her.
  
• 7. Gregory looked sour, but it was only because his mother was nagging him, again, to put his dirty socks in the hamper--for the thousandth time!
  
• 8. No.
  

Anyone may vote - even if you didn't submit an entry!

I'll vote for 6, please, though I do love 5, and am quite positive I know who wrote 8!

Wordmatic
(Voting from California is just like voting from home. "They" have "the Internets" here, too!)

None of them look very convincing to me.
1,3,4 and 7 are such obvious red herrings that it surely can't be them.
2's grammatical mistake could be a style choice by the author or a deliberate ploy to make me think its a style choice by the author.
I'm quite tempted by 8 but it seems a little too familiar.
That leaves 5 and 6.

What the hell. I'll have a large helping of red herring please. 4

Since I am in the middle of watching The Two Towers, again, for the umpteenth time, screaming forests seem natural to me.

So I'll have a nice helping of #5. With some whipcream and nutmeg please....oh wait, that was the hot buttered rum.

Well then, a plain #5, neat.

#4, please.

Yes, yes, yes I'll choose Number Eight.

Will we see the answer sometime soon?

Ooops - sorry! Was distracted by the holidays.

1. There was a place where no one ever went, where no one ever wanted to go. Bob's serious-er entry. I guess no one else wanted to go there, either.

2. The day began normal enough. Kalleh's, which I liked, actually, especially for a teen book.

3. I watched the boys walk up the path to the house knowing that they would never leave. This is one of mine. I guess it is overly dramatic.

4. Sometimes children just disappear, and are never heard from again. Asa's entry that fooled Bob and Kalleh.

5. The woods were silent, other than the screaming. This is the real first line of the book, correctly guessed by Jo - she's got the knack!

6. Mother was calling me again, but I ignored her. My second entry and I fooled Wordmatic.

7. Gregory looked sour, but it was only because his mother was nagging him, again, to put his dirty socks in the hamper--for the thousandth time! Wordmatic - I think she's read a lot of teen-ish books!

8. No. Bob sent this as a second suggestion just to keep it going. JT bought it! One of these days we're going to find a book that starts like this and we'll all be hoodwinked. If I'd been persistent, I would have found that book this time.

Thank you all for playing! Happy New Year!

Good entry, Asa, and I am especially glad that you fooled Bob since his comment about my bad grammar put the kibosh on mine.

Actually Kalleh I did consider yours. It's pretty common to put colloquial forms into the voice of the narrator and I really did think that might be the case here.

And I thought the real first line was hilarious and probably by Asa! Have I read a lot of "teenish" books? Yes, when I was teenishier than I am now! I have read every Harry Potter, though, and of course way after I was more than umpteen years old.

Wordmatic