KCU Pitchfest Showcase 2025 (Top 50)

Bug Eyes

Bug Eyes answers the question: What if Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’ took place in high school?

13-year-old Kit Sanchez has inexplicably woken up with the giant eyes of an insect. To make matters worse, it’s the first week of high school! This was the year he was going to come out of his shell. As Kit navigates the strangest week of his life, he can feel himself changing more and more into a bug. Not wanting to be a burden to anybody, especially his anxious father, Kit tries to pretend that there’s nothing wrong with his new buggy form.

Alongside his best friends, Kit must overcome the bullying and humiliation, learn who his true friends are, and find a way to turn himself back to normal… especially before his dad finds out!

My Why:

In Middle School I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, a disease that caused my thyroid to speed up my metabolism at a dangerous rate and create too many thyroid hormones. This also caused other side effects, most notably my eyes swelling and appearing to ‘bug out’.

‘Bug Eyes’ is the culmination of my journey in coming to terms with my hyperthyroidism. I want this book to speak to anybody who has grown up thinking that they are less of a person because of how they look. To this day, I can’t fully close my left eye. I get the occasional odd comment about my eyes from someone who doesn’t know. But these days, those words roll right off. Through ‘Bug Eyes’ I hope to help others realize what their worth is as well.