The Hedgehog of Oz

Product Description

The Wizard of Oz meets The Wind in the Willows in this middle grade novel full of “old world charm and adventure” (Kirkus Reviews) in which a theater-dwelling, Oz-loving hedgehog goes on the journey of a lifetime to find his way home in this tale of loyalty, friendship, loss, and hope.

Marcel the hedgehog used to live with his beloved owner Dorothy, but since getting hopelessly lost, he’s tried to forget the happy home he left behind. Now, Marcel lives a quiet life in the abandoned balcony of The Emerald City Theater where he subsists on dropped popcorn and the Saturday showings of
The Wizard of Oz.

But when he’s discovered, Marcel is taken far away from everything he knows and ends up lost once more. His quest to return to The Emerald City Theater leads him to Mousekinland, where he meets Scamp, a tiny mouse armed with enormous spirit (and a trusty sling-shooter). Before long, they’re joined by an old gray squirrel, Ingot, who suffers from bad memories and a broken heart, and Tuffy, a baby raccoon lost and afraid in the forest. And the travelers attract the attention of an owl named Wickedwing, who stalks them as they search for the old theater.

From field to forest, glittering theater to the gutter, the animals’ road home is a dark and winding journey. But sometimes you need to get a little lost before you can be found.

About the Author

Cory Leonardo grew up believing she’d replace Vanna White on 
Wheel of Fortune, but when that didn’t work out, she decided she’d turn letters and phrases in a different way (but minus the glittery dresses, sadly). A born and bred upstate New Yorker, she currently lives in the Syracuse area with her husband and three plucky children. Cory was selected and mentored in Brenda Drake’s Pitch Wars 2016 and has been an active SCBWI member for the past five years. She is the author of 
The Simple Art of Flying and
The
Hedgehog of Oz.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1: The Limes

CHAPTER 1 The Limes
MARCEL LISTENED AS GOMER DUPREE wrapped up the day’s battle against the old janitor’s sworn enemy: bubble gum. Blobs on the metal trash baskets, wads under seats, globs stuck like growths to the flying monkeys carved into the pillars.

When the last wad was vanquished, Gomer (getting on in years and stooped with arthritis) valiantly vacuumed candy and popcorn kernels from the seat cracks and scrubbed what soda pop glue he could from the floor. He missed some things.

When Gomer came back in after changing the marquee, Marcel perked up his ears.

The old man grabbed his empty thermos and keys, stepped outside into the dark cloak of early morning, and locked the glass doors. There’d be quite a few hours before he’d return for tonight’s showing of
Dragons of the Deep: A Love Story.

When at last the theater was quiet and Gomer Dupree was safely away, Marcel scrambled up the broken railing of the balcony and popped his nose over the edge. He gave the air a good sniff.

Ah. Breakfast.

“Two Licorice
Twithsts under seat 26D, a small bag of popcorn behind the trash bin—nearly full—and one lime Fruit Gem stuck to the exit sign in the north wing. I think there might be a yogurt raisin near the restrooms too,” Marcel said proudly. (He might depend on a strong pair of glasses—hedgehogs have terrible eyesight, particularly with the chandeliers dim, as they were now—but boy could he sniff out a yogurt-covered raisin when he needed to.)

But where
were his glasses?

Marcel looked away from the fuzzy sea of seats below and back into the balcony. He didn’t like creeping up on the sisters when they were still sleeping, so he cleared his throat and tried again.

“We could probably do without the Fruit Gem, huh?” he asked, squinting at the green mountain of lime gummy candies piled in a corner.

He was met with silence.

His
glasses. He needed them in order to get started, and…

He’d just remembered where he’d seen them last.

Marcel coughed into his fist