Today we get a sneak peak at an excerpt from
Boy at the Window (Lauren Melissa Ellzey)
Read on for more about Lauren, Boy at the Window, and the giveaway!
Meet Lauren Melissa Ellzey!
Lauren Melissa Ellzey—known as @autienelle on Instagram—is a Black multiracial, queer, and autistic activist and advice columnist. Her work has crossed paths with Healthline, BBC Minute, NeuroClastic, AbleZine, and Cripple Media. She completed her BA at Scripps College, where she won the Crombie Allen Award for creative writing, and her MS LIS at Syracuse University. Lauren Melissa lives and works in New York City.
About The Book: Boy at the Window
It all began with trying to fly. After jumping off the roof of his house in the middle of the night, Daniel Kim wakes up far from Neverland, his reprieve from the real world. Thrust into a mental health hospital and then into a brand-new high school, he struggles to hold on to reality while haunted by both his very-present past and his never-present parents. But when he joins Cranbrook Preparatory’s cross-country team, he starts to feel like he’s walking on his own two feet once again. He meets Jiwon Yoon—another cross-country runner, who may be the first person to join Daniel in his Neverland daydreams. Or maybe Jiwon is the one who will finally break Daniel free.
~Excerpt~
Boy at the Window (Lauren Melissa Ellzey)
The door clicks open. Light spills from the hallway and across the bed. Daniel closes his eyes at the blinding intrusion. Even though his shoulder aches beneath his weight, he can’t bring himself to uncurl from a fetal position. Midnight approaches, yet he hasn’t slept a single minute. He loves the nighttime, when the clinic is finally quiet and his daydreams whirl for hours on end.
“Having trouble falling asleep tonight, Daniel?” asks the nurse in a sweet tone meant for six-year-olds, not sixteen-year-olds. “It must be hard to rest when you’ve only got two more nights here.”
Daniel blinks. Rickety wheels squeak toward him. The shadowy shape of a portable vitals monitor settles beside the bed. As his eyes adjust to the new light, he makes out Mrs. Chaney’s salt- and-pepper ponytail and wispy arms. Her scrubs brush together as she approaches. She kneels until their eyes meet, but Daniel widens his focus like a camera lens blurring a landscape.
“Sweetie, why don’t you take a sleeping pill,” she states without a hint of question. She leaves, only to return moments later with a small plastic cup of water and an even smaller paper cup that rattles.
“Sit up now,” she says, but her arm already supports him up from the waist. She shakes the paper cup next to his hand. Daniel places the capsule on his tongue. She passes him the water cup. He swallows the pill. He doesn’t need any help resuming his fetal position, his light brown hair brushing against the coarse hospital pillow.
“Good night, Daniel,” she whispers as she wraps a blood pressure cuff around his forearm even though he’s reclining. The familiar whir of pressurized air hums as Daniel shuts his eyes. Mrs. Chaney smells like ammonia, and he considers whether that might be the scent of fear. He pretends to be asleep for the nurse’s benefit, but he isn’t anywhere near tired. His daydreams call him to a world even better than sleep. He’ll stay awake and go to Neverland.
As Mrs. Chaney’s loafers pad out the door, Daniel’s footfalls pound into the earth like ripened apples cast from heavy trees. He wishes he could lighten his steps, but he can’t manage to run swiftly and softly at the same time. The cacophony of his comrades’ retreat echoes through the forest. Neither bird nor squirrel makes a sound. All of nature keeps a sage silence. If the Lost Boys are fleeing, nothing good can be in pursuit.
Daniel spies a hollow trunk and takes shelter. He needs to catch his breath and conjure up a plan. This mission marks his third failed attempt to reclaim the Lost Boys’ stolen treasure. Sure, the Lost Boys themselves had not-so-chivalrously nabbed the chest of golden sea stars from the merfolk, but Daniel always intended to return the gold. The people of the sea would much prefer it if the Lost Boys borrowed their treasure for a few weeks, over whatever the wicked pirates have planned. Pirates never return anything, except an eye for an eye.
“I can smell the rotten stench of your fear, boys!” shouts none other than the most deranged pirate of them all: Captain James Hook. The callous timbre of his sea-faring accent rekindles a sharp pain in Daniel’s shoulder. A bloody crust stains the green fabric of his tunic where the captain’s hook-for-a-hand grasped him just as he’d leapt from the pirate ship. While the pirate managed to tear through his skin, he failed to pull Daniel back aboard. Daniel can only hope that all his boys have been as fortunate.
“Come out, you cowardly rascal,” Hook howls from a safe distance.
Daniel’s ego sparks, then roars. Cowardly is the complete opposite of his character. He hates the word almost as much as bedtime or boredom.
Proudly, he exits the hollow and cups his mouth with his hand. “Chicka-chicka-roo!” he crows, calling the Lost Boys into position. From the trees, they will wage war. If Hook wants a fight, he’ll have to pay the price.
Book’s Title: Boy at the Window
Author/Illustrator: Lauren Melissa Ellzey
Release Date: February 15th, 2022
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
ISBN-10: 1636790925
ISBN-13: 978-1636790923
Genre: LGBTQ+, Coming of Age, Romance
Age Range: 14-18
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Five winners will receive a signed paperback copy of Boy at the Window (Lauren Melissa Ellzey) ~US Only
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
Sounds kind of interesting. Not positive if it’s up my alley, but I’m always willing to try something new.
I like the book cover. This sounds like an interesting and unique story.