THE TOONIES INVADE
SILICON VALLEY
Juvenile
Adventure—Beware, citizens of Silicon Valley--the bad Toonies are on
their way. Led by the evil ape-bird, Dab, the Mischief-Makers have
escaped from Computer Cartoon Land. They are skulking in the shadows,
ready to pounce. Dab will do anything to stay in the real world, so
makes plans to take over Orange Computer, then Grape Computer, Banana
... and then the world.
$14.95
-- 1 --
Is Jeremy Going Nuts?
The day the Toonie leaped out of Jeremy Kern's computer and landed
smack-dab in the middle of his life, he thought he was going nuts. Was
he imagining things? Or was the funny little cartoon character for real?
The Toonie's name
was Doog and if he was real, Jeremy had a big problem. Doog was the main
character in a popular cartoon strip he had created called "Doog Days,"
which dealt with children's problems.
At the young age
of thirteen, Jeremy was already well-known in Silicon Valley, and Doog
was very popular with the Valley kids. They followed Doog's adventures
in the cartoon that was featured weekly in the San Jose Mercury News,
the closest large newspaper to the Kerns' rambling hillside home in Los
Altos, California. When Jeremy had created Doog with Wise-guy--his pet
name for his Orange computer--the boy never dreamed that anything like
this would happen.
But here Doog sat,
staring at Jeremy with that mischievous grin. And he wasn't INSIDE the
computer. How could that be?
Angry voices
echoed down the hallway, pulling Jeremy back to reality. He frowned as
he thought of his parents, Arthur and Jessica Kern. They were always
arguing these days and when they raised their voices, it frightened him.
Shut up! Shut up! he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs ... but
couldn't bring himself to defy them.
This had been
going on for five killer weeks. Weeks that pitted his father against his
mother, with him in the middle. Weeks that only saw an end to the raised
voices, slamming doors, and banging cupboards when one of his parents
stormed out of the room ... or the house.
The atmosphere in
the house was so oppressive, Jeremy stayed in his room most of the time,
escaping into his computer. He couldn't face his parents or his friends,
so avoided everyone. And he missed them, especially his best friend,
Buddy O'Hara. And, yes, he had to admit, he missed Buddy's little
tag-along sister, too. Ashley was Buddy's twin, and the three had been
friends since first grade.
Jeremy knew he was
chicken for not talking to his parents or, at least, sharing his problem
with his friends. But he just couldn't talk about it yet.
Sheesh! ... Would
he ever be ready?
Up until they
began the constant bickering, his parents had been so "perfect" he was
the envy of all his friends. Jeremy had everything he could want:
decent, successful parents, good friends, a good education, and plenty
of good food ... lots of pizza.
But now he was so
confused he didn't know what to do ... so sad he'd bet a CD that even
Buddy couldn't make him laugh. Every time his parents raised their
voices, his pulse raced, his stomach churned, and sharp pin-pricks of
pain stabbed him behind the eyes. He was afraid they would do the ugly
thing--the divorce thing--like so many of his friends' parents.
Jeremy was pleased
with all the attention his cartoon strip was bringing him, but his
parents' arguments were really getting him down, making it almost
impossible to be creative.
How could he think
straight when his life was such a mess?
That had to be why
he was imagining things now. How else could he explain the twelve-inch
Toonie with the bushy red eyebrows that was standing beside his
computer?
