Excerpt
Michael Vey 4 andlt;link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../styles/9781481424400.css"andgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;a id="ch01"andgt;andlt;/aandgt;andlt;a id="page_7"andgt;andlt;/aandgt;andlt;img src="../images/ch01.jpg" alt="Images"andgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;My best friend, Ostin Liss, told me that there is an ancient Chinese curse that says:andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMESandlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;My name is Michael Vey, and Iand#8217;m definitely living in interesting times. Just a year ago that wasnand#8217;t true. In fact, my life was about as exciting as one of Ostinand#8217;s clogging recitals. I was just an average, no-name freshman at Meridian High School in Meridian, Idahoand#8212;a small town where the only thing above average is the cow-to-human ratio. Donand#8217;t feel bad if youand#8217;ve never heard of Meridian, Idaho. Neither has anyone else.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;I lived with my mother, who worked as a checker at the grocery store, in a tiny apartment with eggshell-white walls and green shag andlt;a id="page_8"andgt;andlt;/aandgt;carpet. I walked to school every day; avoided bullies, the principal, most types of math, and organized sports; and played video games with my best (and only) friend, Ostin, six out of seven days of the week. And I watched Shark Week twice a year. That pretty much summed up my life.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;I suppose the only thing vaguely interesting about me was my Touretteand#8217;s syndrome, which isnand#8217;t really that interesting because I donand#8217;t do any of the fascinating things that some people with Touretteand#8217;s do, like shout out swear words in public or make animal noises. I mostly just blink or gulp a lot. I know, boring.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Actually, what I just said about Touretteand#8217;s being the only interesting thing about me isnand#8217;t really true. Thereand#8217;s something about me that has always been very interestingand#8212;Iand#8217;m just not allowed to tell anyone. Iand#8217;m electric.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Which is whatand#8217;s led to my new and very interesting life. For those keeping score, in the last year Iand#8217;ve done the following:andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Made friends with a group of kids with electric powers like mine.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Been locked up in a cell and tortured.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Shut down a private school.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Scored a really hot girlfriend. (Still canand#8217;t believe that one.)andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Flown to Peru and rescued my mother.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Been tied up and almost fed to rats.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Blown up a major power plant.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Made Peruand#8217;s list of most wanted criminals.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Been chased through the jungle by helicopters with flamethrowers.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;a id="page_9"andgt;andlt;/aandgt;and#8226;and#160;Lived with the Amacarra tribe in the Amazon jungle.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Attacked the Peruvian army and rescued my friends before they could be executed for terrorism.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8226;and#160;Blew up the Ampere, a billion-dollar superyacht, before the Elgen could take over and enslave the entire island nation of Tuvalu (which, like Meridian, Idaho, youand#8217;ve also never heard of).andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Now weand#8217;re preparing to fly to Taiwan to rescue a nine-year-old Chinese girl from the Taiwanese army and a group of Elgen superninjas called the Lung Li.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;I have a feeling things are about to get a whole lot more interesting.