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Pitch Wars Showcase

Please note: These are the entries for the Pitch Wars season beginning in 2021 and continuing through 2022. Please note that our Agent Showcase ends at 9:00 p.m. ET on Monday, February 14, 2022. Agents will not be able to leave comments requesting material after that time.
MG #22: THE CURE FOR INFINITY (Historical Novel-in-Verse)
Mentee:
Susan Vizurraga
Mentored by:
Nicole Panteleakos
Book Title:
The Cure for Infinity
Category:
2018 Entries
Genre:
Historical Novel-in-Verse
Word Count:
18,500

Pitch:

With a love of math, a new best friend, and an Army nurse sister who returns damaged from Vietnam, seventh-grader Jane uses poetry to document and deal with the injustices she encounters as a girl in 1969-70 America.

 

Excerpt:

Janie Mueller

September 2, 1969

Mini-skirt

I wear my new skirt

for the first time

orange plaid

so short

I can feel the torn vinyl bus seat

beneath me

 

my new shirt

a zipper

at the neck

with a big metal ring

that I fidget with

 

my arms

held over my chest

almost as embarrassed

to be wearing a bra this year

as I was

to not be wearing one last year

ashamed

to be so tall

my legs and arms

sticking so       so        so        far        out

of these clothes

 

I sit up

tuck one leg under me

look around the bus

at the other girls

seventh and eighth graders

in beads

and fringe

plaids and stripes

short short skirts

almost all of us

tugging, smoothing, adjusting

 

But

when Mr. Lasky

turns on the radio

we ignore the boys

in their same old boring

shirts and pants

we sit up straighter

smooth our skirts

square our shoulders

tuck our hair

behind our ears

listen to Stevie Wonder

and

imagine ourselves

models

posing by the Eiffel Tower

each of us

someone’s

Cherie Amour

 

Janie Mueller

September 8, 1969

7th Grade Spelling

Our bonus spelling word is from current events:

ASSASSINATION

 

Easy.

Spell “ass,” twice. “I.” “Nation.”

 

I could tell Jimmy Nelson this

he’d laugh out loud and tell the whole class

as if he had thought of it himself

 

but I keep it to myself

like all the other things I’ve thought are interesting

all the answers to teachers’ questions

since they started ignoring my raised hand

to call on the boys instead

9 responses to “MG #22: THE CURE FOR INFINITY (Historical Novel-in-Verse)”

  1. I’m intrigued. I would love to read more! Please send the query and full manuscript as word doc attachments to hilaryquery@ktliterary.com with PitchWars in the subject field.

  2. Lauren Spieller says:

    Congratulations on completing Pitch Wars! I really enjoyed this and I’d love to see more. Please send your query in the body of an email, plus your full manuscript and a synopsis (attached). I look forward to reading!

    Lauren Spieller
    TriadaUS Literary Agency
    lauren@triadaus.com

  3. Heather Cashman says:

    Really love this.
    If you think we’d be a good fit, please send the full to heather.stormliteraryagency@gmail.com with Pitch Wars Query, your name, and the title in the subject line.
    Thank you and good luck!
    Heather Cashman
    Storm Literary Agency

  4. Rena Rossner says:

    I’d love to read this full manuscript. Please send it attached as a word document to: rena@thedeborahharrisagency.com

    Thanks!

    – Rena Rossner
    The Deborah Harris Agency

  5. Adria Goetz says:

    Hi Susan! I’d love to read more. I love novels in verse. 🙂 Can you send the full manuscript to me at adria@martinlit.com? Thanks!

  6. Christa Heschke says:

    I really enjoyed this. I have a soft spot for novels in verse and historical! That said, I’d love to read on! Please send the query, synopsis and first 100 pages to chquery [at] mcintoshandotis [dot] com with Pitch Wars request in the subject line. –Christa Heschke, McIntosh and Otis

  7. Shannon Hassan says:

    I would love to read more of this! Please send a query + 50 pages to shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.com. Thanks, Shannon

  8. Nicole Payne says:

    I’m intrigued! Please send the query, synopsis and first three chapters to nicole@goldenwheatliterary.com with Pitch Wars in the subject line. Thanks!

  9. Sandy Lu says:

    Hi Susan, I’ll never think of the word assassination the same way again! Please send the full manuscript with complete synopsis and author bio (all in one Word document) to sandy@lperkinsagency.com. Looking forward to reading!