Melly Mills is very tall. Freakishly impossibly tall. Basketball hoops come up to her hips, and most people are only a bit taller than her knees. She looks down on giraffes, and has to bend down to peek into a second-story window. She's just a bit shy of 18 feet and, as far as she can tell, nobody else has ever been anywhere near as tall as that.
Her mother died when Melly was twelve. Her father passed away last fall, and fifteen-year-old Melly suddenly found herself alone in a world that knew nothing of her existence--until the day she strolled into town and caused a bit of a scene. The name of her blog is taken from that day's newspaper headline: "Giant girl rampages through town".
Melly has been taken in by the Appletons, who own an orchard adjacent to Mills Farm, which makes it convenient for her to continue caring for her beloved cows. She is being tutored by her physician, Dr. Crisp, and expects to attend public school for the first time, starting in the fall.
What Is A Blog-Novel?
A blog-novel, such as "Giant Girl Rampages," is a novel written in the form of a blog and published online using a blogging platform. The story takes place in real time, day by day, as you are reading it. Readers can interact with Melly by leaving comments and help shape the flow of the story in the process!
"Giant Girl Rampages" is conceived and written by a team of four published authors with a combined total of 27 years experience writing for children and young adults. Together we have fifteen novels and non-fiction books to our credit.
We've come together to create an innovative story using web technology, instant-publishing, and real-time storytelling techniques. We call our project a blog-novel and, as far as we can tell, ours is the first ever to be written for specifically middle-graders or teens. We estimate an equal chance of this project either failing spectacularly or succeeding beyond our wildest dreams.
Our publishing houses and literary agents are not involved in this project and, at the moment, have no idea what we're up to. Therefore, we are required to be stealthy and anonymous for at least a while longer.
Melly in the Library
Response from libraries and library systems has been overwhelming so far, with over a hundred of them friending Melly's MySpace page. This is gratifying because Melly is definitely a reader--and the local branch will hopefully continue to ignore the couple dozen overdue books stacked up in her barn.
We encourage Melly's library friends to let young patrons know about the story. We will keep our library friends informed of new developments and thank you for your support!!!
Spread the Word!
Please help to spread the word by passing along the story link (http://bigmellymills.blogspot.com) or adding the story widget below to your website or MySpace profile.
Come to the Breaking Dawn Release Party at the Library on Monday August 4th at 6pm. Dress up as your favorite character for a chance to win a copy of the book, there will be a trivia contest and raffle for more chances to win! Sign up for the Breaking Dawn Party here!
