From the Author

A Coming of Age Story

When I was in middle-school, I lacked confidence in myself. My confidence sunk even further in high school when I joined the wrestling team. My brother had been team captain, so I had big shoes to fill, at least in my own mind. In my first year, I lost my first eight matches in a row. Then, one day, something just clicked. I was behind in a match in the third period, and I threw a head and arm and pinned my opponent for my first win. After that, I started winning. That one moment changed everything for me, not just in wrestling, but in every aspect of my life. The confidence that first win gave me was dynamite.

I wanted to capture this idea in a middle-school environment with four friends who are picked on, made fun of, and ostracized for being different. 

While the kids think they need magic to change their luck, what they need is a confidence building moment that will change their lives.

About Discovering Dynamite

Four Kids Searching For A Hero Discover Something Far More Important

Eleven-year-old Luke McCowan believes life would be great if only he were one of the cool kids in school. His best friends, Reggie, Byron and Lou (Louise), wholeheartedly agree, each for their own reasons. Junior high would be a whole lot better if they were just different. 

Reggie wants to be basketball star like his dad, but doesn’t seem to have the aptitude, size or ability. Byron, whose family owns Big Doughnuts, is force fed a steady diet of the doughy treats giving him low self-esteem and a weight problem. Lou, dresses in period costumes every day to disguise her yearn to fit in and to stay close to the leader of the group, Luke, who fears girls, buses and the bullies who pick on him endlessly. 

When the four friends have had their fill of being picked-on and humiliated, they turn to their confidante, Jazzy, a hip, Jamaican malt-shop owner who presents them with an ancient magic elixir. For the magic to work, the kids must mix the potion with the “essence of that whom they wish to emulate.”