by Alesha Dixon
“My inspiration to create a superhero called Lightning Girl began with wanting my young daughter to feel empowered. It’s been a dream to create a strong role model that any child can look up to - I want my readers to see themselves in Aurora, who is dealing with trouble at home and trouble at school alongside her new powers.
I also have a love of precious stones and their healing properties; I have always been fascinated with their spectacular colours and the positive energy that they bring. As human beings we are always searching for something greater within ourselves and a deeper meaning to life and it’s my belief that we all have a light within us that can effect change and bring good to the world … we just have to harness it! :)
Enter Aurora Beam!”
Photo by Ian Arnold
Katy Birchall is the author of the side-splittingly funny The It Girl: Superstar Geek, The It Girl: Team Awkward, The It Girl: Don’t Tell the Bridesmaid and the Hotel Royale series, Secrets of a Teenage Heiress and Dramas of a Teenage Heiress. Katy also works as a freelance jounalist and has written a non-fiction book, How to be a Princess: Real-Life Fairy Tales for Modern Heroines.
Katy won the 24/7 Theatre Festival Award for Most Promising New Comedy Writer with her very serious play about a ninja monkey at a dinner party.
When she isn’t busy writing, she is reading biopics of Jane Austen, daydreaming about being an elf in The Lord of the Rings, or running across a park chasing her rescue dog, Bono, as he chases his arch nemesis: squirrels.
1
Suddenly, my foot slipped.
There was a loud gasp as I managed to just find my grip in time, stopping me from falling through the air. I clung on for dear life, my arm beginning to ache and my legs dangling. Finally, I found a foothold and hauled myself up into a stable position. I looked down at my audience and gulped.
“Don’t look down, Aurora!” Kizzy cried, standing on the ground directly beneath me, my dog Kimmy at her side. They both seemed miles away. “Remember, you’re a superhero! You can do this!”
I nodded and lifted my gaze to meet that of my enemy. He was just a few feet away. He spotted me and immediately narrowed his eyes to threatening slits.
“I can do this,” I whispered, repeating my best friend’s encouraging words. “I CAN DO THIS.”
I reached out towards him. He recoiled from my fingertips before swiping his arm at me. I just managed to pull my hand away in time, letting out a yelp as I tried to regain my balance.
“I can’t do this!” I wailed. “It’s all over!”
There was a deathly silence as Kizzy let my words sink in.
And then she burst out laughing.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Kizzy giggled, shaking her head. “It’s only a cat. And according to his owner, Mister Salmon is usually very friendly. Just grab him and get him down here. You’ve been up in that tree for twenty minutes.”
Mister Salmon looked quite content sitting on the branch next to mine, licking his paw, blissfully unaware of the chaos he was causing. I repositioned my feet on the branch and stretched my arm forward again, determined to complete the mission of rescuing this cat from this tree.
He took another swipe at me with his razor-sharp claws, hissing loudly. I let out a long sigh.
Being a superhero was REALLY overrated.
Scholastic Children’s Books
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2019
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2019
Text copyright © Alesha Dixon, 2019
Cover artwork by Steve Simpson © Scholastic, 2019
Cover characters by James Lancett represented by the Bright Agency © Scholastic, 2019
Inside illustrations by Mike Love in the style of James Lancett represented by the Bright Agency © Scholastic, 2019
The right of Alesha Dixon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.
eISBN 978 1407 19466 0
A CIP catalogue record for this work is available from the British Library.
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