Excerpt: Neverland, NY 20217

WENDY MOIRA DARLING HOOK sat at her desk, idly doodling in her notebook, waiting for the lunch bell to ring, The teacher seemed to drone on endlessly, the minutes taking forever to tick down. She vaguely heard a question asked, and was taken by surprise when she was called on to answer. “Uh, be-because,” she stammered, vainly attempting to give some kind of response that made sense, “because the plates shift under the crust, causing vibrations?” She felt sure that was the right answer.

“Well done, Miss Hook,” the teacher said wryly, “If we were still covering earthquakes. Unfortunately we moved on to volcanoes yesterday.” Wendy felt herself blush as her classmates laughed. The teacher turned to the slight boy in the front row, the one they all called Tink. “Perhaps Josh can give us the correct answer?”

Tink pushed his glasses up on his face and said simply, “The lava cools as it travels down the surface of the volcano, creating volcanic glass.” He turned in his seat a bit, and shot Wendy a sympathetic look.

The teacher nodded, satisfied. He leaned over, made a note in his book, and said, “Miss Hook, please see me after class,” as he turned to the chalkboard, making a note on it of what Tink said. “Moving on to volcanic dust…” The teacher stopped as the bell rang. “Tomorrow, then. Homework tonight is to read chapters ten and eleven. Have a good day, everyone.”