KCU Pitchfest Showcase 2023 (Top 50)
The Escape Artist
All eleven-year-old Rory wants is to be “normal.” But Rory has a secret: she has psychic powers. She tries to blend in at school but when a fight with a bully gets Rory suspended, her show biz parents drag her to their show upstate.
At the creepy old theater, twin child actors tell Rory an urban legend: an Escape Artist vanished during her act in the 1920s. Investigating the mystery means letting the twins in, but Rory’s not ready to share her true self.
When the girls uncover a shocking antisemitic incident from the past, they awaken a supernatural spirit defending the theater’s secrets. Rory must trust her friends and accept her psychic abilities to thwart the terrifying creature before it starts a deadly theater fire.
Age Range:
Middle GradeGenre:
Animals, Historical Fiction, Horror/Scary, Mystery, Neurodiversity Content, Paranormal, Social-EmotionalPage Count Estimate:
290
My Why:
I grew up with undiagnosed ADHD at a time when no one even knew girls could be neurodiverse. I didn’t know why my brain ran so fast or why my imagination and feelings were so big; I just felt different. In middle school, the books my teachers gave me were too small in scope to contain my experience: I saw myself in books about dragons and monsters but rarely as a real person.
I think of my style as American Girl meets Alien: hero kids fighting monsters from the past and present. Scary stories tell the truth: bad things are out there but we can stand up and fight back. Middle schoolers face and vanquish fears that adults can only guess at: they deserve to see themselves surviving and thriving with courage, big feelings, and big imagination.
Jenny Mannis
I am a costume designer turned author-illustrator. With over a decade of experience in professional theater, I have designed at theaters all over the country including The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Steppenwolf. I hold an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and am a member of KCU and SCBWI. When I’m not plotting the next two books in the Escape Artist series, I can be found trying to keep up with my two teens and two rescue dogs and dodging the monsters that live in the basement.
The Escape Artist
All eleven-year-old Rory wants is to be “normal.” But Rory has a secret: she has psychic powers. She tries to blend in at school but when a fight with a bully gets Rory suspended, her show biz parents drag her to their show upstate.
At the creepy old theater, twin child actors tell Rory an urban legend: an Escape Artist vanished during her act in the 1920s. Investigating the mystery means letting the twins in, but Rory’s not ready to share her true self.
When the girls uncover a shocking antisemitic incident from the past, they awaken a supernatural spirit defending the theater’s secrets. Rory must trust her friends and accept her psychic abilities to thwart the terrifying creature before it starts a deadly theater fire.
Age Range:
Middle GradeGenre:
Animals, Historical Fiction, Horror/Scary, Mystery, Neurodiversity Content, Paranormal, Social-EmotionalPage Count Estimate:
290
My Why:
I grew up with undiagnosed ADHD at a time when no one even knew girls could be neurodiverse. I didn’t know why my brain ran so fast or why my imagination and feelings were so big; I just felt different. In middle school, the books my teachers gave me were too small in scope to contain my experience: I saw myself in books about dragons and monsters but rarely as a real person.
I think of my style as American Girl meets Alien: hero kids fighting monsters from the past and present. Scary stories tell the truth: bad things are out there but we can stand up and fight back. Middle schoolers face and vanquish fears that adults can only guess at: they deserve to see themselves surviving and thriving with courage, big feelings, and big imagination.
Jenny Mannis
I am a costume designer turned author-illustrator. With over a decade of experience in professional theater, I have designed at theaters all over the country including The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Steppenwolf. I hold an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and am a member of KCU and SCBWI. When I’m not plotting the next two books in the Escape Artist series, I can be found trying to keep up with my two teens and two rescue dogs and dodging the monsters that live in the basement.