Spotlight: The Avocadonine and Spring Stone by Patrick Barnes
Inside the Book:
Title: The Avocadonine and Spring Stone
Author: Patrick Barnes
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: January 26, 2015
Pages: 334
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Book Description:
Praised by many as one of the best YA fiction books you’ll ever read.
Rey Naresh, a likeable kid worth rooting for, is going into the ninth grade at Pemota High. He’s not sure what to expect being fresh off a visit with a gypsy who may or may not have been psychic, but he’s hoping in ninth grade he’ll get to meet his crush, the pretty green eyed, Christy Lane. He’s wanted her to notice him since sixth grade and keeps a letter to her in his backpack. The school bully, Huxley Core, and his friends, who call themselves Nadine’s Puppies, threaten to publish something about Rey in their libelous newsletter. As Rey looks up at the stars one night he realizes he will have to confront Huxley and be man enough to make Christy fall for him.
One day, on the bus, fellow ninth grader, Ryan O’toole, says to Rey that there’s something wrong with something the students are drinking and that electronics are making a humming sound when he’s near them. It sounds to Rey like looney toons, but are other students having a similar problem? Rey and Christy unite and embark on a quest that seems to have to do with mind control by an evil administration and provides a quandary for philosophical thought. A mystery seems to have taken hold of Pemota High, one that may stretch back generations to a malicious woman and a story of her relationship with a student named Spring Stone.
Book Excerpt:
Christy didn’t feel like changing the channel, largely because she was exhausted from the afternoon’s events. Her purple phone rang, two short rings and then a long one, and she picked it up. When she heard Annette’s voice she smiled.
Christy didn’t feel like changing the channel, largely because she was exhausted from the afternoon’s events. Her purple phone rang, two short rings and then a long one, and she picked it up. When she heard Annette’s voice she smiled.
“Hey Christy. You sure get around,” Annette said with mock
disapproval. This always made Christy
laugh.
“Annette, who told
you?” She said.
“Freddie Prinze Junior
and Orlando Bloom.”
“They’re always talking
about me. It’s so not cool.”
Annette laughed. “Speaking
of sluts, is the bitch back yet?” She
imitated a movie advertiser’s voice.
“This fall, from Leander, ‘the bitch is back.’”
“No, she’ll be home at
four-thirty.” Christy laboriously got up
and put her feet on the floor letting out an expression of exasperation.
“I just got back from
volleyball practice. We kicked major
butt. Did you do your math homework
yet?” Annette had transferred out of
standard math because she thought it was too easy. Ms. Aster, however, was not one to be a
pushover, and Annette had to call Christy nearly every night for help with math
homework because she had missed so much material from the beginning of the
school year.
“No. I haven’t been home.”
“Where have you been?”
Annette asked.
Christy blew her bangs
off her forehead. “Running from Huxley.”
“Get out.”
“You sure you want to
hear this?”
“Yes, darlin’. Spare no detail.”
Christy told her all
about the trials of the afternoon. She
told her how Rey had offered to walk with her, about confronting Huxley, Der,
and Joe, and running through the woods.
She even told her about the deserted home, the turret, and the basement
like door. Annette interjected every
once in awhile with a question or a quiet, “Oh my God.” Christy finished by explaining that she was
able to walk home in peace, that they weren’t waiting for her.
“Christy do you think
they might really hurt you?”
“No. They just wanted to scare me. I hope.”
Then after a long silence on the line: “I have no idea.”
“Saying that to Huxley
must have been such a rush.”
Christy looked at an
8-ball on her desk, as a meaningless message rose to the surface. As she had walked down Daphne St., she had
put her feelings about the afternoon’s events into words. Christy and Annette had been friends for
almost two years. They met in seventh
grade swim class when Annette had told Christy she really needed to cut her
toe-nails and this had started a discussion filled with laughter. To this day, Christy rarely went a few days
without checking to see they hadn’t grown too long.
Christy sighed. There was a silence on the line. “All the time, no matter where I am, I feel
this feeling. Like a weight. Like a storm cloud. That was the first time I didn’t feel
it. Running from Huxley.”
“What do you think causes
it?”
“Brianna. And being second.”
“Christy, you can’t spend
your whole life competing with your sister.
Who cares what Brianna thinks?
And especially, who cares what Huxley thinks. The only reason Huxley said all that stuff is
because he thinks your sis is hot.”
“It really hurt my
feelings.”
“Well, hopefully you
really hurt his.” Annette was suddenly
struck by a notion. “Christy, maybe you
should go out with him.”
Christy put the eight
ball down and stood up. “With who?”
“With Rey Naresh you
little bimbo. Who else?”
Rey was all right looking
she supposed, but Christy had never had a boyfriend before, and would never
have expected to start a relationship running from Huxley and friends. “I don’t know.”
“You so should. Do you know Mike Elsetta kissed Gabrielle
Reese?”
“Yeah. You told me.”
Christy hit the power button on the remote and turned off Skywarriors.
“Have you met Mike
Elsetta’s foreign exchange student?”
The ninth grade French
class was doing a foreign exchange program and the Americans had spent the summer
with their student in France. “No.”
“Her name is Blanche Dupont
and she thinks she’s the prettiest girl ever.
Last Friday, Mike wanted me to hang out with him and Blanche at the
reservoir in the middle of the night.
And...”
“What’s at the reservoir
in the middle of the night?”
“The towns water
supply. And drinking Bud Light.”
“Oh.” Why hadn’t Annette invited her? Maybe Annette thought she’d never go for it.
“Blanche was there and
all she did the entire time was talk about her face, all the flaws on it, which
there are none of course. And every time
Mike said something about her looks she would blush. That’s the last time I’m hanging out with Blanche
Dupont.”
“All the guys think she’s
hot.”
“Yeah, well, guys will
think any French foreign exchange student is hot.”
“Huxley likes her.” Christy only realized that now because she
had noticed him talking to a pretty girl she hadn’t seen before in the
hallway. That must have been Blanche.
“Huxley can blow horses
for all I care. Today he pinched Viola
Speck’s butt and offered to sell her to Jason Masago for three dollars.”
“That’s so messed up.”
“Viola is such a sweet
girl Christy. I mean she can’t help that
she’s fat. Besides, she played volleyball
like all the time to try to lose the weight.
She stopped playing volleyball this year though and no one knows
why. She was the best setter and
everyone loved her. There’s some rumor
going around about her and Mike said that it’s too horrible to repeat. I’ve got to know what it is.”
Christy fell down on her
bed; a short silence. “I don’t know
Annette. It is horrible.”
Annette was chewing on a
Nutri-grain bar now and Christy could hear her munching as she said, “Tell me.”
Christy felt her eyes
tearing up. She wiped them with her
hands. “Her father beats her.”
“Oh no. Who did you hear that from?”
Christy heard noises
downstairs. She listened for a moment
and heard Brianna coddling Ruffenstein.
Christy rolled her eyes when she heard Brianna say to the dog, “Hey
Ruffenstein. My warrior prince.”
“Brianna’s home.” She adjusted her weight on the bed. “I heard it from Blair Carlyle in science
class. I think everyone in the ninth
grade is talking about it.”
“Christy we have to do
something.”
“Have you ever met her father?”
“Yeah. Lots of times. His name’s Jack. He’s very macho. But I mean so is Dwayne Johnson. Yet, I did see him at The Pub every time we
went this summer.” Annette sounded
disappointed in herself, like she should have stopped the abuse before it
started.
“Why did you go to The
Pub?”
“Lois, my brother’s
girlfriend, would drive us. We would go
there and order cheese fries. When we
had the munchies.” Annette sounded a little
too happy to just be talking about cheese fries.
“You were smoking?”
“Only a couple times.”
Christy knew she would
never smoke marijuana even if they legalized it. She felt a distance growing between her and
Annette. Annette was acting
loose-tongued. Perhaps Annette was
trying to measure up to Christy’s interesting story about Huxley with stories
of her own.
“Christy, come downstairs,” Radelle called.
“And say hello to your sister for God’s sake.”
“Jeez,” Christy said.
“Christy, don’t worry,”
Annette said. “I’m not going to smoke at
all during the school year. It was just
a couple times. Because Lois does it.”
“No. That wasn’t what I was saying jeez to. My sisters downstairs. I have to go.”
“All right. Call me later. I need your help on section 3.2. And we’ll talk about Viola.”
“Okay. Bye Annette.”
She hung up the phone.
The patterns on the ceiling seemed to be calling her attention like
clouds in the sky that took certain fortuitous shapes. She stared for a short while before going to
face her family.
For More Information:
The Avocadonine and Spring Stone is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads
Meet the Author
Patrick Barnes lives in Charleston, South Carolina. The Avocadonine and Spring Stone is his second book. It has been awarded a five star review from Readers Favorite, and a four and a half star average among critics on Amazon.com. He has a Bachelors Degree in Film and Writing from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters in Library Science from the University of South Carolina. He has won first place in Arts and Entertainment Writing at the Yankee Penn Journalism Conference, and has worked as a Librarian at the Folly Beach Public Library. When he’s not writing, he likes to walk on the beach with his dog, and watch movies.
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