Spooky

"Trick or Treat is a request by children on Halloween; they pass from door to door asking for goodies and threatening to play tricks on those who refuse."

Give your Trick or Treaters candy
and a spooky, heroic fantasy story

Golden Book Award Winner, spooky and funny heroic fantasy adventure for middle-grade children and young adults.

​​“Szabo and Bonadonna’s story crackles with action and excitement. Their storytelling moves with the speed of lightning, but never lets the reader get lost. The atmosphere is just spooky enough to be fun but never enough to be too scary.” 

Nikki and her impish cousin, Jack, find a mysterious black pumpkin in the forest on Halloween. A wise talking skeleton, Wishbone, tells them that the ghosts of the Trinity of Wishmothers are trapped inside the pumpkin and can’t be freed without their wands.  The children offer their help, so the skeleton takes them on a journey to the world of Creepy Hollow to retrieve the three wands he hid long ago in Red Crow Forest, the Tower of Shadows, and the Cave of Spooks. Ghoulina, the beautiful vegetarian ghoul, and Catman, who was once a man, join them on their quest. They must face danger and conquer evil every step of the way as they search for the Wands before the wicked Hobgoblin and his henchman, a Tasmanian Devil, can get their hands on them. This is a fun, humorous and touching story for kids, with plenty of character interaction woven into a backdrop of scary danger, heroic action and lessons to be learned.

Nikki and Jack return to Creepy Hollow in this new, action-packed fantasy adventure for middle-grade children and young adults.
On her 13th birthday, Nikki discovers she has magical powers. During a surprise attack by the giant Mutanto, his henchmen Howler and a gang of Werewolves, Wishbone, Ghoulina and Catman arrive to save the kids and tell them about Evila the Grim Witch’s plans to conquer Creepy Hollow. Nikki also learns the truth about what happened to her parents twelve years ago. She and Jack go back to Creepy Hollow with their friends to help them defeat Evila. Jack discovers he can talk to animals when they meet a herd of Wild Horses and he becomes friends with Champ, the clumsy young colt, and Sparky, the orphaned dragon.
Together, Nikki and Jack conquer their fears and gain courage, and in the final battle against Evila and her minions they grow into the warriors they were destined to become.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0763YFWRJ
Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/7644595
​Coming to more stores soon

A short excerpt:
“Hello, my name is Jack,” he said, sitting down in front of the young dragon. “Can you talk? Can you understand me?”
The little dragon wiped his tears. “Yes, I do,” he said.
“Why are you crying?” asked Jack.
“It’s my parents’ Sadiversary,” replied the dragon.
Jack frowned. “What’s a Sadiversary?” he asked.
“It’s like an anniversary, but not a happy one,” the dragonet told him. “For us dragons, a Sadiversary marks another year since the death of our loved ones.”
“Oh, I’m very sorry,” said Jack. “How long ago did your parents die?”
“Almost thirteen years ago,” said the dragonet.
Nikki cautiously approached them, not wanting to frighten the baby dragon.
“Hello!” the dragon greeted her.
“I can understand you! I have the Gift!” she said.
“This is my cousin Nikki,” Jack told the dragon.
The dragon nodded. “Hello, Nikki,” he said. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you don’t possess the Gift. Dragons can speak to and be understood by humans, animals, and magical creatures, too.”
“Oh,” said Nikki, sounding a little disappointed.
Jack said to the dragon, “You said your parents died almost thirteen years ago. So, what happened to them?”
The little dragon frowned and his green eyes darkened. Wisps of white smoke floated out of his nostrils. “The Grim Witch murdered them!” he cried.
The dragon went on to tell them how Evila had plotted to enslave the great dragons who once dwelled in the northern realm of Dragon’s Den. Her plan was to use her magic powers to force the dragons to serve her, to fight for her, to burn the towns and villages of anyone who got in her way. The race of dragons, being a peace-loving species, fled south, across the Gonji Ocean. The dragonet’s parents were the last to leave their realm, moving slowly because they had a brand-new baby with them. So it was that when they stopped to rest one night, Evila and her minions caught up with them and killed them.
“My mom hid me in a cave, and she and dad tried to fight off Evila and her gang of witches and Wolfmen, but the Grim Witch was too powerful,” said the dragon. “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know about me.”
“Well, we know all about Evila,” Jack said.
“You do?” asked the dragon.
“Yes,” said Nikki. “We’re on a mission for the Wishmothers—a mission to destroy Evila and rescue my parents and my friends’ baby.”
“Oh, wow!” said the dragon. “Can I come with you? Maybe I can help? I’ve been so lonely all these years, and it will be fifty years before I reach my full size and I can fly across the ocean to search for the other dragons. I still can’t fly very far. I’m only thirteen years old and I’m not that strong.”
“Sure!” said Jack. “I don’t see why not, and you won’t be alone anymore. Right, Nikki?”
“Right-O, Jack!” Nikki agreed. “And I’m thirteen years old, too!” she told the dragon.
“Oh, thank you!” said the dragon. He flapped his wings, rose into the air and flew over to Jack, landing on his shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind, Jack.”
“Not at all,” Jack told him.
“Looks like you have a new friend,” Nikki said to Jack.
Jack smiled, scratched the dragon behind his tiny ears, and stood up. “Come on, our friends are waiting for us,” he said.
Together they walked back to where their companions waited for them. The dragonet perched on Jack’s shoulder like a parrot on a pirate.
Champ, the young colt, rose to his feet and ran to Jack. When he saw the dragon on Jack’s shoulder, Champ whickered happily, bucking and prancing about with great joy.
“This is Champ,” Jack told the dragon.
“Hello, Champ,” said the dragon.
The little foal neighed happily, jumped straight into the air, kicked backwards with his hind legs, and then settled on his hooves again.
Jack introduced everyone to the dragon, and the dragon said hello to everyone.
“What’s his name, Jack?” asked Catman.
“I don’t know,” Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Everyone has a name,” said Wishbone.
Ghoulina turned to the little dragon. “What’s your name, little one?” she asked.
“Oh, my parents didn’t have a chance to name me, they called me by my baby name, Kicsisarkany,” said the dragon. “Can you find a good name for me, Jack? Dragons are named on their second birthday, but I’ve been all alone. There was nobody to find a good name for me.”
Jack thought about it for a while.
“Come on, Jack,” said Nikki. “We don’t have all day!”
“I’m thinking! I’m thinking!” said Jack.
Then, just as Jack turned his head, the dragon sneezed and tiny sparks flew from his mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” he said.
Jack turned to his friends and smiled. Both his eyebrows were singed. “Oops, remind me next time not to stand too close to this little rascal. Sparky,” he said, wiping the snot off his forehead. “I’m going to call him Sparky.”
The little dragon clapped his wings and said, “Sparky, I like that!” Then he bowed his head. “Sorry about the eyebrows.”
“No biggie,” Jack said. “They’ll grow back.”

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