School of Deaths
Author:
Christopher Mannino
Genre: YA
Fantasy
Thrust into a
world of men, can a timid girl find bravery as the first female Death?
Thirteen-year-old
Suzie Sarnio always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a
skeleton with a scythe. Now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she
finds herself training to bring souls from the Living World to the
Hereafter.
The task is
demanding enough, but as the only female in the all-male College, she quickly
becomes a target. Attacked by both classmates and strangers, Suzie is
alone in a world where even her teachers want her to fail.
Caught in the
middle of a plot to overthrow the World of Deaths, Suzie must uncover the
reason she’s been brought there: the first female Death in a million years.
Excerpt:
“This is
the World of the Dead?” she asked. Cronk nodded.
“Can’t be,” she
continued. “This seems like home, even nicer than home, in fact. And it smells
like strawberries.”
“This is the
La-La-La-land of Deaths,” said Cronk. “A ni-ni-ni-nice place.”
“But where are
the skulls and fires and stuff?”
“Wou-would you
ra-rather have those?”
“No, of course
not.”
“Come on,” said
Cronk. He led her away from the forest and down a hill. They were on a path,
leading away from a small stone on the spot where they had first appeared. The
moon above shone bright, and though nighttime, she could see.
Cronk led her
beside something shimmering. The reflection of the moon glistened on the water,
probably a pond or small lake. Cronk held out a finger, pointing.
She leaned over
and let out a gasp. A girl stared back at her: her reflection, yet, unlike the
one she had seen at home for months. The girl staring back was fleshy but not
plump. Her features were pretty. Her usually stringy black hair looked thick
and smooth, hanging like silk around her lightly freckled cheeks. Her cheeks
were full; the skin didn’t cling to her skull. Even her gray eyes seemed to
shine. The skeletal girl she had come to expect in the mirror was gone.
“Is that me?”
“Yes, your
tr-tr-tr-true self. This is your home now.”
She gazed again.
She wasn’t her old self, she looked better than she ever had. She smiled, but
glanced up. The smile faded as she remembered.
“I’m only here
for a year. Then this nightmare will be over.”
Cronk shrugged.
“Few p-p-pass the test. Too ha-ha-hard.”
“What’s on the
test? What makes it hard?”
Cronk shook his
head. He either didn’t know or wouldn’t tell her.
“You can’t tell
me?”
Again, he shook
his head. He motioned her to follow and they walked along the shore, climbing a
rise, moving away from the water. They reached a flight of marble steps and
Suzie followed. Small lights stood on either side of the steps. They lit up
when Cronk walked near them, and turned off behind Suzie. She peered closer,
bending down, and realized they were flowers. Each flower glowed brighter the
closer she got; the lit ones shined like hot flame. Cronk coughed and she kept
moving.
They climbed
higher and higher. From the top of the steps, a vast plain opened, stretching
beneath them. A path was lit with flowers, and many men in black robes walked
beneath two enormous mountains. Or were they towers? The two pillars stretched
for miles into the sky, like enormous stalagmites: great columns of twisted,
gnarled rock pocked by thousands of tiny lights. They stood taller than any
skyscraper Suzie had dreamt of, yet were far too narrow to be mountains.
Author Bio:Christopher Mannino’s life is best described as an unending creative outlet. He teaches high school theatre in Greenbelt, Maryland. In addition to his daily drama classes, he runs several after-school performance/production drama groups. He spends his summers writing and singing. Mannino holds a Master of Arts in Theatre Education from Catholic University, and has studied mythology and literature both in America and at Oxford University. His work with young people helped inspire him to write young adult fantasy, although it was his love of reading that truly brought his writing to life.
Mannino is currently working on a sequel to “School of Deaths” as well as an adult science fiction novel.
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