Total Catastrophe

AUDIENCE: Cat lovers, cat haters, and video-game fanatics. VIDEO-GAME TIE-IN: Total Catastrophe is the name of the novel as well as the video game our young heroes can't stop playing. TEASER: Your principal says you're lying. Your friends are freaking out. When life's a total catastrophe, play games! SUMMARY: Total Catastrophe (also known as "Total Cat") has two twelve-year-old heroines as well as two female villains. And weird cats, which are part of both the main story line and the video game (Total Catastrophe) that the kids of Wahoo Middle School are obsessed with. The villains in our story aren't just determined, they're vicious. They use lies like switchblades and see truth as an inconvenient obstacle that must be kicked aside. "Glee-less Gleason" (the new principal) and Maggie Quinn (age twelve, Mrs. Gleason's hand-picked helper) know that gaining respect takes time. Fear works faster. Our middle-school heroines are Emma Pratt and Samantha James. Em is unfairly accused of cheating by the principal, then has an award stripped from her while the entire school watches. Sami's nemesis is classmate Gerald Ferguson, who has cheated his way into the drool-worthy status of being a super-GoG. She's certain that Gerald isn't worthy of this honor but she can't prove it - not yet. Gerald's not satisfied just to humiliate Sami during video-game competitions; he trashes her reputation. And Principal Gleason isn't content with obedience, she demands trembling subservience. But Em and Sami are tougher than they look. They bow to no one. Together they're determined to restore their reputations and reveal the true character of their accusers. Curriculum Tie-In: Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible (about girls who are unfairly accused of practicing witchcraft) is being studied in Sami and Em's English class. WEBSITE: www. LeeSmyth.com