Atticus Everheart, Fifth Grade Tutor, and Monster Hunter?

by C.L. Colyer

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GENRE:   Middle Grade Action Adventure

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BLURB:

Nothing frightens Atticus Everheart more than monsters, thanks to his older brothers, who often threaten to feed him to the beastly creatures.
Fearing that’s what they will do if he doesn’t replace the book he accidentally ruined, he takes a job tutoring a boy in his neighborhood.

Although nervous about the job, Atticus soon discovers there’s a lot more in store for him than teaching. Never in a trillion years would he have imagined he’d be hiding from monsters, working with ghosts, or searching for werewolves and witches. He’s not brave, and he has no plans to change.

Until he’s forced to.

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EXCERPT

“What?” called Atticus to his retreating student. 

He had to have heard wrong. Drago hadn’t said, “dead.” He’d said, “red.” No, the color didn’t make sense either. “Fred.” That’s what Drago had said; it was probably short for Frederica. 

Feeling better, Atticus made a mental note to clean the wax out of his ears when he got home, then jogged up the stairs after Drago. 

“Please take the spelling test! We’re supposed to be studying!” Under his breath he added, “You don’t struggle with lessons, do you? You’re easily distracted.” 

Drago had a shorter attention span than Evie, and that was saying something. Atticus’s littlest sister bounced from subject to subject faster than his father surfed TV channels. 

“Look, take the pretest, and then you can introduce me to your grandmother.”

“I’ll take it after you meet her.” 

Atticus tripped over a step, caught his balance, and continued his ascent, keeping one hand on the railing. Would Drago’s mother fire him if she found out that Atticus hadn’t taught Drago a single word? Was it Atticus’s fault? He had tried to choose easy words, but home did have a silent e. There’d been a time when Atticus had forgotten about it too. 

“Is home too hard? How about batty?” said Atticus, throwing out the first word that came to mind. Batty described his student. B-a-t-t-y, meaning nuts, wacko, cuckoo. 

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Author Interview

1. What is the first book that made you cry? I’m not sure if this was the first book to make me cry, but I had to have a box of tissues next to me when I read Fault in Our Stars, and I remember skimming one of the chapters because it was just too sad. I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys contemporary YA. Just read it with tissues nearby.

2. How long, on average, does it take you to write a book? Six months to a year, depending on how much I have going on. Atticus Everheart, Fifth Grade Tutor and Monster Hunter? took about nine months from first draft to last revision.

3. How do you select the names of your characters? I tend to make a mental note of names I hear and like, and then I use the name in the next book. Atticus got his first name from a show I was watching. His last name just popped into my head one day and stuck. Naming Drago was slightly more difficult. At first, I wanted him to have a name that meant dragon. I went to the website Behind the Name and searched for names meaning dragon. Draco came up, but I didn’t want to use the name of a well-known character from Harry Potter, so that was out. While searching the site for other options, I found Drago, and I thought “Drago Dracul” had a nice ring to it. 

4. What are your top 5 favorite movies?

• Practical Magic – I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen it.
• Sweet Home Alabama – I’m a sucker for the second chance-romance in this one.
• Dracula Untold – And not just because Luke Evans is in it.
• Mean Girls – Don’t judge! It’s a great example of a movie that shows character growth and the clicks in high school.
• Harry Potter – Always.