Koolura and the Mayans
Koolura Series #3
by Michael Thal
genre: YA Science Fiction
Koolura, a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, is back again with pal Leila. The duo is off to Mexico for Koolura’s father’s wedding. When touring a Mayan archeological dig, the girls uncover a mysterious device that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time?
The burly teen picked up speed as he withdrew his gun. But when he ran by Koolura, she stuck out her foot.
The teen fell to the ground eating dirt. Spitting out a mouthful, he looked up.
“You! We’ve been hunting for you for days.” He quickly stood, reached out with one of his huge paws to grab Koolura.
Koolura jumped up. With a flawless roundhouse kick, she connected with the teen in the chest. From that contact, Koolura knew his name.
Ad-Em landed on his rump.
Koolura made a mad dash in the opposite direction in which Nacon had fled, not having time to check on Leila.
Ad-Em scrambled to his feet, pulled a communication device from his pocket, punched a few buttons, and took off after Koolura.
Koolura did not want to use her powers. The less these people knew about her abilities the better her position would be in a real emergency.
As the burly teen dashed after Koolura, two other Vanilla teens came from opposite directions quickly converging on her.
Just as they were about to reach Koolura, Leila galloped by on a stolen mule. She put out a hand to Koolura who took it, jumped onto the mule’s back and off she and Leila galloped, leaving the teens in the dust.
Unfortunately, this mule was hungry. When they passed a cart filled with fruit, the beast skidded to a halt, throwing the girls into a nearby bale of hay.
Meanwhile, teen reinforcements arrived with hoverboards. The hoverboards were large silver discs supported and propelled by a cushion of air. Each teen held on to his craft by a curved metal pipe that acted as a rudder. The boards seemed to defy gravity and sped a few inches off the ground like skateboards without wheels.
Koolura and Leila hurdled carts while spilling over kiosks to block the path of their pursuers.
Led by Ad-Em, nothing seemed to slow the Vanilla teens. They had the power to levitate their boards many feet into the sky to avoid disaster.
Koolura and Leila didn’t have that kind of luck. They crashed into two villagers carrying baskets of food. Fruit, vegetables and cloth spilled onto the dirt road.
After scrambling to their feet, they took off with the Vanilla trio riding their tails.
That’s when Leila spotted a huge cart filled with manure. She signaled Koolura to stop in front of it. The girls stood before the cart as the hoverboards approached. At the last second, Koolura and Leila leapt away from the cart. The teens, unable to stop the momentum of their boards, slammed right into the dung-filled cart.
As Koolura and Leila ran away, Ad-Em popped his head dripping with poop and shook his fist. The duo headed back to the village laughing.
The teen fell to the ground eating dirt. Spitting out a mouthful, he looked up.
“You! We’ve been hunting for you for days.” He quickly stood, reached out with one of his huge paws to grab Koolura.
Koolura jumped up. With a flawless roundhouse kick, she connected with the teen in the chest. From that contact, Koolura knew his name.
Ad-Em landed on his rump.
Koolura made a mad dash in the opposite direction in which Nacon had fled, not having time to check on Leila.
Ad-Em scrambled to his feet, pulled a communication device from his pocket, punched a few buttons, and took off after Koolura.
Koolura did not want to use her powers. The less these people knew about her abilities the better her position would be in a real emergency.
As the burly teen dashed after Koolura, two other Vanilla teens came from opposite directions quickly converging on her.
Just as they were about to reach Koolura, Leila galloped by on a stolen mule. She put out a hand to Koolura who took it, jumped onto the mule’s back and off she and Leila galloped, leaving the teens in the dust.
Unfortunately, this mule was hungry. When they passed a cart filled with fruit, the beast skidded to a halt, throwing the girls into a nearby bale of hay.
Meanwhile, teen reinforcements arrived with hoverboards. The hoverboards were large silver discs supported and propelled by a cushion of air. Each teen held on to his craft by a curved metal pipe that acted as a rudder. The boards seemed to defy gravity and sped a few inches off the ground like skateboards without wheels.
Koolura and Leila hurdled carts while spilling over kiosks to block the path of their pursuers.
Led by Ad-Em, nothing seemed to slow the Vanilla teens. They had the power to levitate their boards many feet into the sky to avoid disaster.
Koolura and Leila didn’t have that kind of luck. They crashed into two villagers carrying baskets of food. Fruit, vegetables and cloth spilled onto the dirt road.
After scrambling to their feet, they took off with the Vanilla trio riding their tails.
That’s when Leila spotted a huge cart filled with manure. She signaled Koolura to stop in front of it. The girls stood before the cart as the hoverboards approached. At the last second, Koolura and Leila leapt away from the cart. The teens, unable to stop the momentum of their boards, slammed right into the dung-filled cart.
As Koolura and Leila ran away, Ad-Em popped his head dripping with poop and shook his fist. The duo headed back to the village laughing.
This was a really fun, light-hearted middle grade read! While I've never read the first two books in the series, the author takes care to properly introduce the characters and some background stories right at the beginning, making it extremely easy to just jump right in. There's no dull moments in this kool book! Immediately, you're whisked off to an exciting adventure that blends the past with some high-tech alien culture. The whole book is fast paced and just keeps you hooked all throughout. I really enjoyed this fun book and would recommend it to any YA who likes adventure!
Michael Thal is the author of five published novels--Goodbye Tchaikovsky, The Abduction of Joshua Bloom, and The Koolura Series--The Legend of Koolura, Koolura and The Mystery at Camp Saddleback, and Koolura and the Mayans. He is also a columnist for the Los Angeles Examiner writing articles about parenting and education.
Moving from the frigid Northeast to comfy Southern California in 1973, Michael taught elementary and middle school for 28 years until a freak virus left him deafened at the age of 50. He reinvented himself as a writer composing over 80 published articles in print magazines as well as novels for middle grade and high school aged students.
You can learn more about Michael Thal on his website and blog at www.michaelthal.com. His books can be purchased on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in print and as e-books.
Links
Website: http://michaelthal.com
Blog: http://michaelthal.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.thal
Twitter: https://twitter.com/koolura
Amazon Purchase Links:
Goodbye Tchaikovsky: http://amzn.to/1iLT46V
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://amzn.to/1Vro1K4
The Legend of Koolura: http://amzn.to/1iLTiv2
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://amzn.to/1M2aSSL
Barnes & Noble Purchase Links:
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://tinyurl.com/h9tawtf
The Legend of Koolura: http://tinyurl.com/j9hm8ek
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://tinyurl.com/gkq6y44
Publisher Links:
Goodbye Tchaikovsky: http://tinyurl.com/bh95ht7
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://tinyurl.com/zd3es8p
The Legend of Koolura: http://tinyurl.com/h4pqry9
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://tinyurl.com/zl6mvlm
Moving from the frigid Northeast to comfy Southern California in 1973, Michael taught elementary and middle school for 28 years until a freak virus left him deafened at the age of 50. He reinvented himself as a writer composing over 80 published articles in print magazines as well as novels for middle grade and high school aged students.
You can learn more about Michael Thal on his website and blog at www.michaelthal.com. His books can be purchased on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in print and as e-books.
Links
Website: http://michaelthal.com
Blog: http://michaelthal.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.thal
Twitter: https://twitter.com/koolura
Amazon Purchase Links:
Goodbye Tchaikovsky: http://amzn.to/1iLT46V
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://amzn.to/1Vro1K4
The Legend of Koolura: http://amzn.to/1iLTiv2
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://amzn.to/1M2aSSL
Barnes & Noble Purchase Links:
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://tinyurl.com/h9tawtf
The Legend of Koolura: http://tinyurl.com/j9hm8ek
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://tinyurl.com/gkq6y44
Publisher Links:
Goodbye Tchaikovsky: http://tinyurl.com/bh95ht7
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://tinyurl.com/zd3es8p
The Legend of Koolura: http://tinyurl.com/h4pqry9
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://tinyurl.com/zl6mvlm
How did you get started writing?
A Deafened Teacher Turns to Writing
I arrived in Los Angeles in 1973 and worked for five years as a substitute teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Back then, teaching jobs were scarce. Eventually, I found a full time tenured position working as a middle school English teacher and then a reading specialist in Glendale, California. In 1994, while teaching sixth grade, I suffered from an overnight hearing loss caused by a virus. The little bug returned six years later robbing me of the hearing in my right ear and causing a severe hearing loss in my left. As a teacher, even with hearing aids, I couldn’t understand what my students said to me. The ENT specialist suggested disability.
Frustrated with my inability to hear at work, I grabbed at the opportunity and decided if I couldn’t teach kids to read, I could write the books they’d like to read. So I taught myself to write.
Royal Fireworks Press released my first published novel in 2012, Goodbye Tchaikovsky, the story of a deaf violinist. I was motivated to tell David Rothman’s story because I needed to explore what my life would have been like if I lost my hearing as a teen. Though it is a work of fiction, it reads like an emotional autobiography of hearing loss. The novel has won a few awards including Second Place in the 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards.
When my daughter was in sixth grade she wouldn’t read. She was at the age where everything she saw or did was “cool”. So I suggested writing a book about a very cool girl. She agreed to read that, which she did a decade later when The Legend of Koolura was finally published. The novel is about a girl with extraordinary psychic powers. I based her personality and appearance on my daughter and naturally fell in love with the character. Subsequently, I wrote book 2, Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback and book 3 in the Koolura Series, Koolura and the Mayans. In each book Koolura’s powers expand.
Solstice Publishing published Koolura and the Mayans March 19, 2016. Here’s what it’s about:
Koolura, a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, is back again with pal Leila. The duo is off to Mexico for Koolura’s father’s wedding. When touring a Mayan archeological dig, the girls uncover a mysterious device that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time?
Today, I’m in the process of researching my next project. The novel has the working title of “Gem of Peace: the Story of a Deaf Girl in Iran.” The novel will be based on the early life of my beloved Jila, who died last year of colon cancer.
We all travel through life with expected goals and accomplishments. I anticipated a life working with children as their teacher. But life throws us curves. So it’s REALLY important to prepare for those curves by getting the best education we can in order to navigate beyond our expectations.
I arrived in Los Angeles in 1973 and worked for five years as a substitute teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Back then, teaching jobs were scarce. Eventually, I found a full time tenured position working as a middle school English teacher and then a reading specialist in Glendale, California. In 1994, while teaching sixth grade, I suffered from an overnight hearing loss caused by a virus. The little bug returned six years later robbing me of the hearing in my right ear and causing a severe hearing loss in my left. As a teacher, even with hearing aids, I couldn’t understand what my students said to me. The ENT specialist suggested disability.
Frustrated with my inability to hear at work, I grabbed at the opportunity and decided if I couldn’t teach kids to read, I could write the books they’d like to read. So I taught myself to write.
Royal Fireworks Press released my first published novel in 2012, Goodbye Tchaikovsky, the story of a deaf violinist. I was motivated to tell David Rothman’s story because I needed to explore what my life would have been like if I lost my hearing as a teen. Though it is a work of fiction, it reads like an emotional autobiography of hearing loss. The novel has won a few awards including Second Place in the 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards.
When my daughter was in sixth grade she wouldn’t read. She was at the age where everything she saw or did was “cool”. So I suggested writing a book about a very cool girl. She agreed to read that, which she did a decade later when The Legend of Koolura was finally published. The novel is about a girl with extraordinary psychic powers. I based her personality and appearance on my daughter and naturally fell in love with the character. Subsequently, I wrote book 2, Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback and book 3 in the Koolura Series, Koolura and the Mayans. In each book Koolura’s powers expand.
Solstice Publishing published Koolura and the Mayans March 19, 2016. Here’s what it’s about:
Koolura, a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, is back again with pal Leila. The duo is off to Mexico for Koolura’s father’s wedding. When touring a Mayan archeological dig, the girls uncover a mysterious device that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time?
Today, I’m in the process of researching my next project. The novel has the working title of “Gem of Peace: the Story of a Deaf Girl in Iran.” The novel will be based on the early life of my beloved Jila, who died last year of colon cancer.
We all travel through life with expected goals and accomplishments. I anticipated a life working with children as their teacher. But life throws us curves. So it’s REALLY important to prepare for those curves by getting the best education we can in order to navigate beyond our expectations.
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