Candor
Page 21
Dad shakes his head. “Just listen to the music, Oscar. Let your body heal. You’re getting better every day.”
“I want to be better now.” I shouldn’t sulk, but sometimes I hate being broken.
“Soon you’ll be back at school. You’ll finish the year and then you’ll go to college. All of this will seem far away.”
“I’ll study hard. I’m going to Yale.”
“Or maybe somewhere closer. We’ll see.” Dad pushes the hair off my forehead with his thumb, his fingers cupping my cheek. I close my eyes. It makes me remember being little. It’s always been just the two of us, since the day he adopted me.
“I’ll make you proud,” I promise.
“We’ll make sure of that, won’t we?” Dad smiles like he’s very proud of me. “See you at bedtime.”
After he leaves, I pull out my notepad. I write down the questions he asked me, with the answers. I’ll study them every two hours. I’ll stare at them until I know every single answer.
Eventually I will get everything right.
Then they will let me leave here. I can go back to being a normal Candor kid. I will make my father proud. I will be a model citizen.
I will make sure everything is perfect.
Acknowledgments
MOM AND DAD, thank you for boosting my every endeavor and buying the TRS-80 that I wrote my first (blessedly lost) novel on. Pattyri, first fan and dearest friend, thanks for the tough reads and good questions—and for never letting me quit.
JASON, I’D TELL you your days of dishwashing are over, but you’d know I was lying. There are lots of books left in me. Thank you for giving me the time and space I need to put them on paper. And then you are there, waiting, when I need commiseration and love.
AS FOR THOSE friends and family who ask about my writing—thank you. Such a simple gesture fuels me for days. I am so blessed that I cannot possibly list everyone’s names.
I AM GRATEFUL for the myriad teachers and librarians who fostered my love of books and writing, especially: Betty Chew, the staff of Ballston Spa Public Library, Pat Hodsoll, Ann Ellis, Dave Smith, the relentless and incomparable Emily Adams, and Norman Moyes.
I HAVE BEEN fortunate enough to be encouraged, critiqued, and prodded by many gifted writers, particularly Vivian Fernandez and Rebecca Rector. Thanks also to my supportive online family of writers. I never feel alone.
THANK YOU TO the SCBWI and its talented regional advisors for creating a community that taught me how to be a professional. My SCBWI colleagues show me anything is possible, so long as you keep going.
FINALLY, THANK YOU to Elana Roth, Regina Griffin, and the talented Egmont USA team. You believed in me, taught me, and elevated this book to reality.
EGMONT
We bring stories to life
First published by Egmont USA, 2009
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 806
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © Pam Bachorz, 2009
All rights reserved
www.egmontusa.com
www.pambachorz.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bachorz, Pam.
Candor / Pam Bachorz.
p. cm.
Summary: For a fee, “model teen” Oscar Banks has been secretly—and selectively—sabotaging the subliminal messages that program the behavior of the residents of Candor, Florida, until his attraction to a rebellious new girl threatens to expose his subterfuge.
[1. Brainwashing—Fiction. 2. Memory—Fiction. 3. Identity—Fiction. 4. Science fiction.]
I. Title.
PZ7.B132163Can 2009
[Fic]—dc22
2009016243
eISBN: 978-1-60684-116-7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.
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