Description
Rats! Juliet Dove’s worst nightmare is about to come true: People are going to start noticing her.
For anyone else, that’d be no big deal, but Juliet Dove isn’t like anyone else. Whenever she’s teased, shy Juliet defends herself… by saying the sorts of mean things that should never be said.
It is Juliet’s vicious mouth that sends her fleeing to Mr. Elives’ magic shop, but it is her tender heart that causes her to leave with a beautiful amulet. The ancient bauble casts a powerful spell on every boy she meets: each falls hopelessly in love with her. Worse still, Juliet can’t take the amulet off… and its power seems to be increasing.
A sidesplittingly funny, heartbreaking whirlwind of a novel about the high cost of loving—and the courage it takes to speak from the heart.
“Although humorous, the story has surprising depth, with musings on honor, power, strength, courage, and, above all, love. Juliet’s journey through the tale in which she finds herself helps her to achieve a greater appreciation for herself, her family, and friends. “Every love story needs an ending” and this tale has an optimistic and open one, with possible future adventures indicated. Coville capably interweaves mythological characters with realistic modern ones, keeping readers truly absorbed.” — School Library Journal
“Coville’s easy style works well in a tale that has it’s share of both humor and heartache. Fans of the Magic Shop series will enjoy this latest installment. ” — Booklist
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Chapter One
Killer Strikes Again
“Hey, Killer! How’s your boyfriend?”
Juliet Dove felt her cheeks begin to burn. Why couldn’t Bambi Quilp just leave her alone? Why couldn’t everyone just leave her alone?
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she said softly.
“Oh, we’ve seen you walking with Arturo,” said Bambi knowingly.
“Yeah, we’ve seen you walking with Arturo!” repeated Samantha Foster, who was sort of Bambi’s official leech.
That Bambi and Samantha had seen Juliet and Arturo walking together was no surprise. Arturo Perez was Juliet’s across- the-backyard neighbor and they had been walking to school together since first grade.
“Artureo and Juliet, the love story of the century!” cried Bambi. Clasping her hands she placed them against her cheek and fluttered her eyelids. “How Juliet does luh-uve that may-unn!”
Juliet flared. “Look who’s talking, you pea-brained metal-mouthed boy-chaser! Did you ever see anything in pants that you didn’t want? You’ll probably have to wait to get the tin off your teeth, though. I hear boys don’t like the taste of stainless steel!”
Juliet knew she’d made a mistake the moment the words left her mouth. Bambi had only been wearing braces since Monday and she was still sensitive about them. But Juliet had been desperate to turn the attention away from herself, and the blistering comments had escaped her lips before she even had a chance to think about them.
Explosions like this were what had earned her the ridiculous nickname “Killer” to begin with — ridiculous because, in truth, Juliet was the most painfully shy person in the entire Venus Harbor Middle school. Or the entire state, by her father’s calculation. But Mr. Dove was given to poetic exaggeration.
Juliet hated the nickname, especially because the ferocious comments that earned it for her had never been spoken out of anger. It was just that the minute someone started teasing her about personal matters she felt such an acute panic that she would say anything-anything-to get them to leave her alone. Unfortunately, whenever she tried to explain that she did this because she was shy, people laughed.
“It’s because you’re so good at it,” Arturo had told her once. “I mean, when you set your tongue on slice and dice, it’s like you’ve got a Ginsu knife between your teeth.”
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