jacques couvillon

the chicken dance
Don Schmidt grew up on a chicken farm in Horse Island, Louisiana where chicken-knowing is the key to becoming popular and people dance when they can't fly.

Don is a bit of an outcast at school because unlike all the other kids, he wasn't born in the town of Horse Island. So his classmates call him "new kid" and tease him because his mother tells everyone that they keep their chickens for ambiance. His mother doesn't allow Don to speak unless he is spoken to and his father only speaks when he is agreeing with Don's mother.

Without anyone to talk to, Don turns to the chickens on his farm and becomes friends with them. He takes care of them and learns everything there is to know about their lives. One day Don uses this knowledge to win the chicken-judging contest at the town Dairy Festival. Because he is the youngest to ever win, Don goes from being the "new kid" to the most popular person in town.

The eggs from Don's chickens become the most valued items in town and his mother soon cashes in on the situation. This ignites a chain of events that changes Don's family's life forever.

to get to the other side
This manuscript was formerly called, "Strut." However, like life, titles change. I'm not even sure if this will stay, "To Get to the Other Side," because I'm still waiting for feedback from my editor. However, the story will stay the same. Once we're closer to agreeing on the manuscript, I will give a more detailed description of the book. But for right now, I'll share with you that Don Schmidt goes to summer camp at Camp Otter where the slogan is, "You Otter Have a Good Time." Yet Don isn't having a good time. For the first time in his life, he is away from everything he knows. He doesn't have his parents or his chickens or even his best friend. As he struggles to get through the summer, he begins to see that there is a whole other world outside of Horse Island and that maybe he isn't as alone as he thought he was.