☀☄ Life on Base: Quantico Cave - Tom and Nancy Wise

Welcome back for the Virtual Book Tour for Life on Base: Quantico Cave, a Middle Grade novel by Tom and Nancy Wise (23 December 2015, Koehler Books, 126 pages).

Don't miss our interview with author Tom and Nancy Wise.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis, trailer and excerpt below.  Read the Prologue with Amazon Look Inside.

Author Tom and Nancy Wise will be awarding a $20 Amazon gift card to two randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter during the tour.  

Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

Synopsis | Trailer | Teaser | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

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Synopsis

For Stephen, his life on base is much the same as most other children’s. The difference is in the details. Look both ways before crossing a tank path and be sure to check if the spent bullet casings you find in the long-abandoned trenches are actually empty. Sports stop at the sound of the evening trumpet call as he and his friends stand at attention while the flag is retired.

Quantico Cave is a story of friendship and competition, and when Stephen meets up with a friend he once knew at a previous home station, the contest hits a whole new level that places everyone at risk.

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Teaser: Excerpt

Chapter 1

Stephen’s breath hung in the air, white in the early morning sunlight filtering through fresh fog that tangled in the low brambles of the Virginia woods. He hunkered alongside his topographical map, head down, butt planted in the grass. This orienteering challenge was his chance to do what a real Marine can do. His chin was propped on one bent knee that jutted out like a pale, bald mountaintop from his blue jean shorts. He wore his favorite t-shirt, marine drab with a scarlet-red Marine globe and anchor emblazoned on the front. Watching Jimmy from the corner of his eye, Stephen pondered their next move. Get it right. Semper Fi.
      Jimmy looked like a deflated balloon as he stood next to Stephen. “We’re lost? Oh man. I can’t—”
      Stephen cut him off quickly. His head wobbled on top of his knee as he muttered, “Nope, we’re not,” without lifting his gaze from the map. “I got this.” And Dad is watching.
      “We ain’t?” Jimmy sounded hopeful. His eyes scrunched as he focused hard, trying to see the map folded to their location. “I can’t lose. My Dad’ll kill me.”
      “Stop. Alright?” Stephen mustered all the manliness of his twelve years and hoped his voice sounded more confident than he felt. He stole a quick glance toward the shadows. The camo-clad figure that followed the boys’ every move through the woods watched. Stephen tried not to look in that direction. Dad’s watching. He’s counting on you.
      “They’re struggling, too.” His head bounced on his knee as he talked. “Look.” His eye, against his will, darted back to the shadow as he pointed to the map with a grubby index finger. “Where the lines come real close,” he said, peering through the blond hair that hung over his eyes. “Remember?”
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     The map was a swirl of long, snaky black lines that defined the hills and cliffs of the Virginia woods in amoeba-like, concentric shapes. It was mostly green but showed a creek as a thin blue line through the center that served as a quick reference point for their location. Jimmy looked closely to see if he could locate the small clearing surrounded by a grove of pine trees in which they had stopped.
      “This is cool.” Jimmy looked away from the map to check out the small circle of Christmas trees. “We could use this spot.”
     “This is us.” Stephen traced the lines with his finger and glanced at Jimmy once again to be sure he was watching. “See the lines getting closer? The closer, the steeper.”
     Jimmy’s head bobbed in agreement. “Yep.”
     “Remember?” Stephen asked, recalling the briefing before they left the starting point. “You’re three years older than him,” his Dad had told him. Be a leader.
     “We could use this spot.”
     “Yeah,” Stephen agreed, taking a quick look around the clearing. “I like. So—” he began, when Jimmy cut him off.
     “So,” Jimmy jumped in, “these curves are the steep part, right here.” He quickly pointed down the hill and grinned, looking intently at Stephen. “Right?”
     We’re losing time. Take a breath and be calm, he reminded himself. Just like Dad said. “Okay. That’s north.” He pointed to the edge of the map and turned the compass dial so that N aligned with the red arrow. Stephen felt that queasy feeling creep into his stomach. Marines get it done. You want to be a Marine, then do this.
     Jimmy dropped to his knees, snatched an edge of the map, and pulled.
     “Wait.” Stephen held on.
     Jimmy tugged harder at the tightly creased paper.
     “Stop. It’ll tear.” We don’t have time for this. He took another deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to focus on the task. Dad is counting on me to beat Stan this time.
      “Let me show you.”
     Stephen let go and raised his hands in exasperation. “Fine. All yours.” He lifted his chin from his knee, leaving a deep, red, half-moon shape where his chin had pressed.
      “This way’s north,” Jimmy said as he spun the map and glanced over his shoulder.
     Stephen, feeling embarrassed, looked, too, toward the shadow of his dad, listening by the tall pine behind them. Be a leader.
     Jimmy continued to rotate the map until north on the map aligned with north on the compass again.
     “Here.” Stephen put his finger on the goal in an attempt to regain a leadership position. An X carefully scratched into the map with a sharp pencil marked it. Based on the tight, flat topographical lines bunched along the curve, they were approaching a sharp hill at the edge of what looked like a short cliff. “We need to get there pretty quick,” he said, looking southwest of their position.
     Jimmy abruptly stood and sighted a line with his arm. With his hand held flat, he moved his arm in a chopping motion to emphasize their path.
     “Pick a target,” Stephen told him as he carefully folded the map and tucked it inside his shirt. He could feel the pressure building inside. They had to move faster. Stay calm and be steady, his father's words played again in his head. He shoved the compass into his front pants pocket as Jimmy declared, “Got it.” He then took off in a short hop.
     “Hey.” Stephen’s shout was more like a loud whisper, but it was enough to cause Jimmy to stop almost mid-hop. “Slow is smooth.” Together they finished, “and smooth is fast.”
     “Gotcha.” Jimmy gave a thumbs up and moved off at a walk.

Life on Base: Quantico Cave
Available NOW!

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About the Author

Tom and Nancy Wise are award-winning authors.

Their first novel, The Borealis Genome, is the grand- prize winner of the Chanticleer Book Reviews Dante Rossetti 2013 Award for YA Novels and Award Lab Lit Category.

Thomas grew up in a military family moving from base to base as the child of a Marine, living the life of an officer's brat in times of war while Nancy was raised the youngest child of a WWII veteran.

When not working together on their novels, Tom teaches at University and authors articles on project management topics and nonfiction books published by Gower Publishing in the UK.

Follow Tom and Nancy Wise:

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Giveaway and Tour Stops

Enter to win one of two $20 Amazon GC
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Follow Life on Base: Quantico Cave's tour at:

April 18th
Just Us Book Blog ☀
Bloggin’ With M. Brennan ✍
Archaeolibrarian I Dig Good Books! ☀
Solafide Book Club ℚ

April 19th
Mythical Books ✉
Amy’s Review Obsession ☀
We Do Write ℚ

April 20th
BooksChatter ℚ
Movies, Shows & Books ☀
Book Junkie Reviews ✍

April 21st
Ali -The Dragon Slayer ✉
If It Has Words ☀
Around the World in Books ☀

April 22nd
I’m A Book Shark ☀
Gabic Reads ✍
Two Ends of the Pen ℚ
A British Bookworm’s Blog ☀



Mar 7: Rogue's Angels
Mar 8: BooksChatter
Mar 9: Edgar's Books
Mar 10: Mama Reads Hazel Sleeps
Mar 11: CBY Book Club
Mar 11: Books in the Hall
Mar 14: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
Mar 15: Stormy Nights Reviewing and Bloggin' ✍
Mar 16: Around the World in Books
Mar 17: Long and Short Reviews YA
Mar 18: The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

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