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The Princess of Baker Street by Mia Kerick
Always wear your imaginary crown.
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design
Release Date: January 22, 2019
Length: Novel / 49,068 words / 180 pages
Heat Rating: YA
Pairing / Genre(s) / Keyword(s): Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Young Adult
Synopsis
“Always wear your imaginary crown” is Joey Kinkaid’s motto. For years, Joey, assigned male at birth, led the Baker Street kids in daring and imaginative fantasy adventures, but now that they’re teenagers, being a princess is no longer quite so cool. Especially for a child who is seen by the world as a boy.
Eric Sinclair has always been Joey’s best friend and admirer—Prince Eric to Joey’s Princess Ariel—but middle school puts major distance between them. As Eric’s own life takes a dangerous turn for the worse, he stands by and watches as Joey—who persists in dressing and acting too much like a Disney princess for anybody’s comfort—gets bullied. Eric doesn’t like turning his back on Joey, but he’s learned that the secret to teenage survival, especially with and absent mother, is to fly under the radar.
But when Joey finally accepts who she is and comes to school wearing lip gloss, leggings, and a silky pink scarf, the bullies make her life such a misery that she decides to end it all. Eric, in turn, must decide who he really is and what side he wants to stand on… though no matter what he chooses, the consequences with be profound for both teens, and they’ll face them for years to come.
Is there a chance the two teens can be friends again, and maybe even more?
Excerpt
I didn’t get this mature perspective on what went down with Mom and me by watching sappy Lifetime movies or by reading books about teenage challenges from the Young Adult shelf at Wild Acres Public Library. I’ve been in counseling since the week after I went nuts on Travis Jenkins’s face and got shipped off to live with Mrs. Marzetti. In counseling I got clued in on how hard it was for Mom to be a teenage single parent. She said Mom needed to mature and finally put her priorities in order. And I’m cool with Mom now because I think she did it…. I think she grew up while I was gone.
“I’m glad I’m back too, Mom.” We wave at each other awkwardly. All in all, this little goodbye is kind of lame, but I focus on the fact that it’s also kind of cool. And that it makes Mom smile. Still grinning, she pulls out into the high school’s big circle driveway, and I’m alone again.
I’m not all alone out on a ledge anymore, though.
When I look at the stretched-out brick school building, I smile too, even though I’m sort of scared to enter it. I suck in a deep breath, hoping it’ll give me the courage I need to move in the direction of the high school, and I run a hand through my freshly cut hair.
And I wonder if the bus stop is still in front of Emily Monterey’s house on Baker Street.
I wonder if Emily still lives there.
I wonder if Joey survived eighth grade, though I figure I would have heard about it if he’d succeeded in what he tried.
I wonder if any of the freshmen at the Wild Acres High School will remember me from last year.
I wonder a lot of stuff.
Meet the Author
Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another a professional dancer, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son, heading off to college. (Yes, the nest is finally empty.) She has published more than twenty books of LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing scholarship essays. Her husband of twenty-five years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it’s a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled people in complex relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature, and as a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of tortured heroes and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to her wonderful publishers for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.
Her books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine, and have won Rainbow Awards for Best Transgender Contemporary Romance and Best YA Lesbian Fiction, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, a Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award for Young Adult e-book Fiction, among other awards.
Mia Kerick is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology. Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com or visit at http://www.miakerickya.com to see what is going on in Mia’s world.
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